Download - Photorealist Painting Techniques
PHOTOREALIST PAINTING TECHNIQUES
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PHOTOREALIST PAINTING TECHNIQUES
This is an example of a drawing of one of my photorealist paintings.
I’ll take you through the process of creating a photoreal painting, in this case one of Osaka City as well as using other works to
explain the techniques of photorealist painting.
Published by Mark Alan Russell
This version - 26th January 2010
FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON MARK’S ART GO TO
http://photorealistpainting.com
This book is self published by Mark Alan Russell and is free and subject to no restrictions imposed by the author. I believe in
free speech.
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CONTENTSTOOLS YOU WILL NEED 4SELECTING AN IMAGE 7COMPUTER WORK 10DRAWING 11BASIC COLOR THEORY 16PAINTING 18
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TOOLS YOU WILL NEED• MDF Board
• A mechanical pencil with a 0.5mm lead and some replacement leads
• A few HB pencils
• A good pencil sharpener
• An eraser
• A bowl (to put those messy pencil sharpening’s in)
• A large steel ruler (preferably at least a metre long)
• Some high quality acrylic paint. (See later article on paint colors and mediums)
• A minimum of two ice cube trays (for your paint palettes)
• Taklon haired brushes - 000, 00, 0 sizes are essential and a few larger ones come in handy
• A paint rag
• Several sheets of wet and dry sandpaper - 800, 600, 400, 320 and 240 grit
• A jar of water for cleaning brushes
• Cotton buds
• A water sprayer for keeping the acrylic paint at the right viscosity
• A desk capable of holding the board you will work on as well as the computer monitor
• A comfortable chair
• A computer with reasonable performance
• A scanner
• An image editing program like Photoshop or Gimp
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MDF BOARDMDF board is the perfect support for painting photorealist paintings. Why? Because it is smooth, strong, inexpensive, takes well
to being drawn on with pencil and when you need to use an eraser it allows it to be corrected with minimal problems. It also is
apparently long lasting and if prepared well stable; which when you have poured your heart and soul into a work, not to mention
hundreds of hours, is very important. It comes in a great variety of sizes and is available from just about every good hardware
store. When buying it be careful to check the boards because sometimes they can have damaged edges or surfaces that have
been scratched, banged into or walked on. I generally use 3 mm thick board for small work (up to 60 cm), 6 mm for medium
sized work (up to 90 cm) and 12 mm for anything larger.
PENCILS AND RELATED ITEMSA good mechanical pencil (I use a Rotring brand) is absolutely
essential because they make the drawing of fine objects so much
easier due to their even and consistent line width. A normal HB
pencil can yield, if sharpened to a very fine point, a hairs width line
and when dull, a thick line. Having to maintain an even line width
is impossible so I use a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil 95% of the time.
The rest of the time I use good quality Staedler HB pencils and a
high quality eraser and pencil sharpener. These are best obtained
from an artist supplies shop or equivalent mail order company. I also
find a common cereal bowl or dish comes in handy to put pencil
sharpening’s in.
RULERSYou will have to draw a grid, so at least a one metre stainless steel
ruler will be required, it will have to have at least one edge divided
into a usable set of units. I live in a country that uses the metric
system so I use a base system of either 10, 15, 20, or 25
millimetre squares when constructing my grid. I use three
sizes because some situations don’t require the use of a
large, unwieldy ruler, they are 300 mm, 600 mm and 1000
mm.
ACRYLIC PAINTBuy the best paint you can afford, and if you are new to
painting keep it very simple with color selection. I could
mix every color with just 9 colors if they were the right
colors! The difficult part is finding out where the paints
hue lie on the color wheel in order to make the right choice. Paint manufacturers aren’t always the most helpful but I will use
Chromacolour, for the paintings in this tutorial. I would recommend as a minimum 8 colors - they are; Chroma White, Chroma
Black, Chroma Violet, Chroma Blue, Chroma Green, Chroma Yellow, Chroma Orange, Chroma Red, I would also advise buying
their brush cleaners.
I would highly recommend using the Chromacolour brand because it is far superior in its opacity and covering power which are
important when painting in very thin layers and it also changes very little from wet to dry (normally acrylic paints will dry about
5% darker). The paint dries to a smooth matt finish and performs very much like any other acrylic - just better!
In the past I have primarily used the Luiqitex brand and a little bit of others like Windsor & Newton. I can certainly recommend
these two brand’s if you can’t get the Chromacolour acrylic paint.
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ICE CUBE TRAYSIce cube trays make the best acrylic paint palettes, they are cheap and can be obtained in a wide variety of sizes.
BRUSHESI buy taklon brushes, usually Roymac brand, and lots of them because they can get ‘splayed’ after use. No matter how well
you clean them this will happen and they will be difficult to use for fine work, but hang on to them, they can be then used for
mixing or sometimes you’ll need a brush to be used in a manner that deliberately gives a ‘textured’ mark. I would recommend
you purchase a minimum of three each of 000, 00 and 0 round sizes in a good quality brand. Cheap brushes will cause endless
frustration. It is also handy to have several flats up to about 30 mm wide. Also some sort of acrylic brush cleaner comes in
handy to maintain them.
PAINT RAGI use a variety of paint rags to clean
brushes and occasionally I need to wipe
up an accidental paint drop or smudge
and the best type is a ‘cheesecloth’ type
because it doesn’t tend to leave much
‘lint’.
WET AND DRY SANDPAPERBuy several sheets each of good quality
wet and dry sandpaper in 240, 320,
400, 600 and 800 grit. These are used
for maintaining a very flat and smooth
paint surface as you progress in building
up layers of paint.
WATER JARAn old jam jar will do perfectly well for the job, it needs to be clean and kept clean with a good wipe every time you change the
water.
COTTON BUDSI buy a box of 200 cotton buds from the supermarket and use them a lot, they are handy for blending and creating ‘effects’.
WATER SPRAYERA general purpose water sprayer comes in handy for adding a mist of water to the ice cube tray paint palette.
DESK AND CHAIRA good setup of chair and desk is essential because you will spend a lot of time working on painting photorealist work. The
desk needs to be quite big, preferably with a few draws to put your paints and equipment away when not used. Mine is around
1400 mm x 550 mm and when I work on large board I have to use something to prop up the overhanging board. I use a plain old
kitchen chair at the moment, but if I could afford it I’d certainly look at getting something that would ease the back strain!
COMPUTER, SCANNER AND SOFTWAREYou will need a reasonable computer to view the image that you will create. It also needs a good monitor which is set up
reasonably accurately in order to show colors as truthfully to the original as possible. I adjust mine by eye and with some
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experience but I notice many people have horrible settings on their computers so it is worth getting a second opinion and
sometimes I also use the original print source next to the monitor to compare. Photoshop is great software and is what I use
but their are many others available that will do the job - freeware like Gimp is more than capable. I use an old 600 dpi Canon
scanner to bring in a magazine page into the digital realm. Many of these items are quite common and as long as you can do
basic image manipulation, show a grid, use a set of layers and zoom in and out on your computer you’ll do just fine.
SELECTING AN IMAGEI select images to paint with two main questions in mind. One - is it a visually complex and interesting image? Two - what
does the image say? Most photoreal painters are only concerned with the visual aspects when considering their work, but I
believe that it is most important to say something other than ‘here is something nice and complex to look at’. I would strongly
encourage aspiring photorealist painters to look at Dutch art of the seventeenth century and its relationship with the community.
It was capable of conveying almost every facet of the society from wealthiest down to the poorest. We should strive to do
the same by bringing the good, bad and the ugly of our contemporary world to our work. One of the best ways to do this is to
use other peoples work by appropriating images from books, magazines, newspapers, and the internet. I have painted my own
photography and I encourage this in others but the sheer wealth of images is hard to ignore.
I believe that the first consideration should concern the technical merits of the image, specifically the sharpness and amount of
detail, followed then by the composition and narrative. Many a time I have been asked to copy an image that just isn’t suited to
photorealism - it’s been blurred by a shaky hand, or poorly composed by the center of interest being cropped awkwardly. I just
say no and explain that it simply isn’t good enough.
The second consideration should be the images ‘message’ that the average person would read. I have produced work that takes
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This image is simply not suitable for a photorealistic painting
due to the motion blur and all that refracted light of the
water. The text would also present an incredibly difficult
challenge to realistically ‘clone-stamp’ out.
this factor as my prime consideration. However this is a very
personal subject and I can’t ‘teach’ the answers to this.
There are other considerations however; is the image
within the artists ability?, and if the image is not your own
photography then the legality of copying it. The first question
is something the artist must consider seriously because it can be incredibly frustrating to find some way into producing the
work that you are way out of your depth and you have wasted a lot of hours with the only solution to abandon the work. If you
aren’t a professional artist and don’t intend to sell the work then the legal question shouldn’t stop you - go ahead and make art!
I consider copying the
photographic image to be
making work ‘after’ the
original photographer and
a huge complement. They
almost always have been
paid well for their work and if the work matches very closely the image
they should be proud, if not I would question wether they were truly an
artist or someone who does it purely for the money. I look to the Dutch
art of the seventeenth century for a defence to this attitude - copying
others work was the most important way for an apprentice to learn his
trade. The rest of the history of art is full of copying others images, some
extremely closely, some loosely.
When I was a young child my father had brought back this book simply
titled ‘Osaka’ from his trip as a merchant seaman to this city. It was
produced as a ‘trade publication’ for the 1970 Osaka World Fair. I spent
This is a stunningly beautiful image and
would make an impressive work due to
the sheer complexity of the composition.
It would be difficult and time consuming
to remove the text however.
Peter Robinson posing beside
this gorgeous Ferrari would
be an interesting painting,
it also is as sharp as a tack
and removing the words and
little graphic in the upper left
wouldn’t be to hard. It also has,
I believe, a strong conceptual
value because it talks about
both wealth and beauty at the
same time
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many hours looking at this book as a child. The images fascinated me, showing vast vistas of Japanese life and culture. This
image in particular has lead me to appreciate the complexity of this type of photo and then to become a photorealist artist. I
have had to wait until I thought my skills were at the level needed to give this important work in my oeuvre justice.
The image is so difficult that to do it accurately with less skill you must enlarge the scale of the work. I don’t particularly like the
really large, overblown proportions of much of contemporary art - it seems to be like a form of shouting. Now I will tackle this
work with a certainty of purpose and immense confidence that will hopefully stand the test of many centuries to come. I also
hope that others will appreciate this book on the painting of the image and maybe some can follow in my footsteps.
One of the image’s I will use to demonstrate photorealist painting techniques is the image of Osaka shown. I will go
through, step by step, and explain as best as I can the process so you can see just how something so complex can be copied.
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COMPUTER WORKFor the Osaka painting, I scanned the image into my computer at 600 dpi. Unfortunately the paper it was printed on had a fine
texture like canvas, so I had to use the dust and scratches filter (filter ¦ noise ¦ dust and scratches) at 2 pixels radius and a
little gaussian blur at about 2 pixels radius to remove this first. It’s quite common to have to use a similar process to remove the
screen effect that modern day printing uses, so play around with these two handy tools first. Then when I am happy with the
image and think it has that smooth
photographic look I save the
original .bmp file as a .psd. Then I
duplicate the original background
layer, and using this layer (I’ll give
it a name like edge) apply the find
edges filter (filter ¦ stylize ¦ find
edges). Then still on the edge layer
I then play with the brightness and
contrast (image ¦ adjustments
¦ brightness/contrast) a little to
remove the very fine ‘textured
detail’ that is unnecessary. I then
will need to decide on a scale to
produce the work, so I spend quite
a bit of time looking at the most
complex passages of the photo in
the drawing version, zooming in
and out with one question in mind -
can I draw and paint this section at
this scale?
If I make the work too big, which
is easier, it will lose a great deal of
visual appeal I believe. So my goal
is to reproduce the work on a scale
which is ‘just on’ that limit of tightly
packed detail. I decided that the
Osaka painting was not going to be able to be done on anything less than 120 x 128 cm. That means it fits nicely on a board (you
have to allow some edge space for framing) which comes in 123 x 200 x 1.2 cm thick. With some of the smaller paintings like
‘Carolyn Francis’ I have painted on a smaller scale than I would have preferred. This is because a smaller size is faster to finish
but more difficult to do well, and I like to challenge myself. If I were asked to do it to the most realistic scale I would have done
it at 60 x 78 cm, instead of 20 x 26 cm.
I then set the image size to suit this (image ¦ image size). I don’t want to resample the image so I de-check the box and change
the size to suit in the document size box. I then set my grid preferences (edit ¦ preferences ¦ guides, grids, slices & count) to
use a 1 cm grid. This is a ‘variable’ but after many years of experience I almost always use this scale of grid because it makes
for a more accurate drawing. Now I have one more thing left to do - drawing a blue colored dot on the centre of every fifth
grid square. This is to make ‘getting around’ a little easier and helps reduce timely drawing mistakes. It’s useful mostly in the
drawing stage but it also gets used in the painting stage, although mostly this layer will be off.
The find edges filter will provide you with a line drawing. It might not look ‘right’ but
copying this somewhat abstract looking view of the image is the key to my technique.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to get the preparatory stages right. So
make sure you always have a backup of the original image file before you go making
adjustments. You should end up with a psd file with three layers, the original image as
the background layer, the edge layer and the dots layer.
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DRAWINGDRAWING A GRIDNow I get the MDF board, measuring it up and marking the basic outside dimensions of the image. There is a planned offset all
around of around 12 mm which add’s to the size and then I cut this with a circular saw. In all cases of my painting I only had to
trim one side because I planned the size to fit the board. In all of the other cases I would make the image fit a store bought size.
The next step is to mark the grid up and if it is a smallish work (60 cm x 90 cm or less) then it is relatively easy as a 1 metre
rule will cover edge to edge. However large boards are more difficult because you need to establish a smaller set of grids within
the larger grid. This process requires a lot of measuring and checking because drawing the grid out by as little as 1 mm means
you will face problems in the drawing of the image later. So getting this stage right is very important, so do as I do and measure
and check and check again and if you make a mistake, rub the line out carefully with an eraser and redo it. It will take several
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hours. Osaka took me eight hours. A smaller work like ‘Carolyn Francis’ or the ‘old Yarra Glen railway station’ should less than an
hour including the time I would take in marking up the board to be cut and then trimming it from the larger sheet (I use 60 x 90
x 0.3 cm for small paintings).
I number every fifth square around my edges when marking out my grid and to aid in locating a particular square (there are
15,360 in Osaka) I carry this methodology into the internal squares by placing a small blue pencil mark in the centre of every fifth
square. If you look closely you can see these,
THE DRAWING I usually start in the bottom left hand corner in a large work like
Osaka, otherwise I will start with the most prominent or easy
segment of the edge drawing layer. On a large work like Osaka I
have to set the board up on my desk so that it sits flush with the
front edge and the overhang on the rest of the board is supported
with a couple of milk crates and an appropriate sized book.
The next step involves looking for long lines that form the edges
of the major structural components in the small area that you
will work on. You then start to mark those lines in. The basic
methodology of photorealism (well my way at least) involves
breaking the image down into these smaller versions by using a
grid. So when you draw you measure by eye where a line fits in
relation to its singular square.
Take the example above, I say to myself when analyzing the image on the computer (which is zoomed in to make the detail
easy to read); that line begins a little below the halfway point of that square, slightly to the right of the centre of the square
and rises ever so slightly across two squares and a bit, then it angles up to the right a bit and leaves that square slightly to the
left of the centre of the square. Then with that in mind I draw the line, checking it against the computer image. I proceed to
lay in most of the important, straight lines like this first, in my area of work (which often is only 5 x 5 cm). I also look for marks
that are somewhat like a known figure, things like a letter or a numeral are the most common that I can recognise. This makes
it easier to get their ‘shape’ right. In the example above I have noticed a stretched letter five and a letter J that form part of
other forms. Marks that are easiest to place are drawn first, then the rest is drawn in. You don’t have to finish one square before
finishing another, sometimes it pays to ‘take a line for a walk.’
One of the most annoying things about this process is it’s easy to draw the small area of work in the wrong area. That’s what
the dots are for but even then you must check often that you indeed are drawing in the right location. So I often double check
and even triple check by
counting the blue squares
on the computer (say fourth
square from the left, seventh
square from the bottom) and
then doing the corresponding
to the board. There’s nothing
worse than drawing for an hour
or so and then when you take a
break and look at the full view
of your work and realise - ‘hey
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I have outlined above, and when this is done very accurately you will have an easier time of the painting. However there are
going to be times when the drawing is extremely abstract or detailed that it seems worthwhile to skip on the quality aspect. It
can take me several hours to reproduce five squares wide by five squares high of such a chaotic tangle of lines and marks, but
it makes painting the image so much easier. In my earlier work I would get disheartened at some of the more difficult drawing
passages and when I came to painting found it was easier to do the drawing than try and paint it in. They were hard learnt
lessons.
If I have to paint an image like the Carolyn Francis one where there are extremely abstract areas like the grass and trees I don’t
put anything more than a few ‘markers’ in the drawing. These markers will be large outlines of highly contrasting areas. The
chaotic abstract areas would have been impossible to reproduce and I have to paint a ‘likeness’ in. These areas that are not
drawn in are almost universally things like gravel, leaves, grass etc. I will spend a bit of time to explain the painting process for
these areas in the painting chapters.
You have to discriminate however, not every mark gets put down because the ‘find edges’ filter finds even the slightest changes
in tonality within the image and shows a line. So switch between the two views and decide for yourself whether it needs to be
drawn in, a lot of it chaotic ‘noise’. Which goes back to the question you will have to ask yourself when doing the first computer
that doesn’t look quite right’. If this happens then rub it out and do it all again. I never said it was going to be easy.
Much of what you see in the computer generated drawing is rather abstract and it is going to be quite difficult to draw. It pays
to constantly look at the photographic version in order to understand just what it is you are drawing. However you should
always attempt to copy as faithfully as possible the drawing image, and not draw what you think it should be.
The process of drawing a complex image such as Osaka is often best broken down into a simple square by square process as
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work, (brightness & contrast adjusting after the find edges) - do I move the slider a little this way or a little that way? You
need some experience to make these decisions but I believe it’s best to leave a little noise in because you can always ignore it
later. Even though I said that it’s best to draw ‘square by square’, it’s not always necessary and is easy to make ‘wrong location’
mistakes like this so I recommend drawing the long unbroken lines that may dominate a small or large portion of the image are
that you are working on. Then you can return to fill in the small details, square by square. If you look at some of the photo’s
you can see many long lines that cross many squares. They are almost always drawn first when I move to a new section of the
work.
With the Carolyn drawing (which is only 20 x 27 cm.) you can see that details like the tree and it’s complex branches weren’t
even given an outline. When it came to work on these areas a simple dark wash of color was used to position the basic shape.
From there I could still see the square’s so I could still place the various features of the tree accurately. I still had to draw the
important elements like Carolyn, the seat and the basic outlines of some of the graves. This particular work took 23 hours all up
and only about two of them were needed for the drawing. This early stage of painting shows how in a photorealistic painting
a simple few basic washes over a good drawing can make a painting begin to work very early in the process. Elements like
the dress only required a few ‘internal lines to position the elements which are then finished with more detail by the painting
process.
When I drew the Vanquish painting I knew that the abstract textured areas of the gravel was impossible to draw so it needed
was just the basic lines that denoted the cracks in the ground. As you can see this work uses a larger grid square and there are
no blue dots in every fifth square. That’s because this was done many years ago and was not part of my work practice. It pays
to keep an open mind about techniques and to always consider any extra steps, or different approaches, in order to improve
ones abilities. With the sheer number of windows in the buildings I had to make written notes about these - something brief like
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‘32 x 54 for right building’ so I
could count them and check that
I’d got it right.
Every new work will present
new problems so sometimes
you have to be flexible with your
process.
With another small work like the
Old Yarra Glen railway station
piece I decided to take a little
more time with some of the
abstract elements like the trees
in the background. Some of the
detail was ignored but the basic
outlines were drawn in. The
grass in the picture was treated
in a similar manner because it’s
only important to get the general
location of these sort of things as the painting process itself is
where you’ll refine and pick up the detail. That’s a general rule
I have - if it’s highly detailed texture then just mark some basic,
high contrast, elements in the position they’ll take up.
A work like Osaka doesn’t really have much of this except at the top of the painting where the detail’s in the distance become a
blur the further they are from the camera. There are a few elements that stand out so they’ll get drawn. The rest will be put in
with the painting process.
The old railway station had a great deal of detail and it was necessary to choose where to apply it. The old locomotive was
full of rust stains and patchy paint so many years of experience tells me that they too can forgo the drawing stage. However
A good photorealist painter knows that he is actually
painting (and drawing) abstraction and then sets out to
duplicate the close up abstract elements as accurately
possible in the position of the picture that they occupy.
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elements like the basic outlines, windows and all the long lines that make up the handrails were deemed to be important to be
drawn as well as the myriad of ‘dots’ and small circles. I find that because these have an ability to make the basic underpainting
stages easier they are important and get drawn in with some accuracy. What happens is when you go to lay in a wash of color
you can just paint around them and they’ll still be there as you work on getting the color right and when that’s done a little dab
of color is all that’s needed to bring them back up to the fore.
BASIC COLOR THEORYFirst I need to explain that ‘color’ in the terms I will use throughout the book has three properties. If you are familiar with an
image editing program like Photoshop then you will know that a color can be measured and can be described numerically. You
can change the method of displaying this information in several ways. They are RGB, CYMK, Lab and HSB. We will use the same
concept as the HSB system of describing color. Any other ideas of primary, secondary or tertiary are also unhelpful.
HSB stands for Hue, Saturation, Brightness. They are the three separate properties that make up every color. Hue is the proper
term that most people use to describe the family of color. When we are talking about color we should say it’s a red hue or green
hue, or even more accurately we should refine this to a red - orange hue in order communicate it’s ‘color’. Please do not call
colors silly names like Irish moss green - that’s what paint manufacturers call their products and it’s not very helpful. Brightness
(or value) is simply a scale of black to white values or lightness and darkness of a particular hue. Saturation (or chroma) is the
scale of intensity or dullness of the hue, or its sometimes referred to as a colors key. These concepts are difficult to explain in
words and the best way of learning this is to use an image editing program and use the color picker, set to HSV and do just that,
pick a ‘color’ in the big square box and then proceed to adjust the three sliders and observe the effect it has on the final ‘color’.
When I paint I mix a range of expected colors but this often grows considerably, so I utilise many palettes and organise them in
groups of hue. I will refer to twelve hues - they are red, red/orange, orange, orange/yellow, yellow, yellow/green, green, green/
blue, blue, blue/purple, purple, and purple/red. Most paintings will have three or four of these hues dominating the image and a
few smaller areas will need the rest. The lesser needed hues can go in their own pallete but it is important to keep a separate
green palette, green/yellow palette and green/blue palette for a painting like Osaka which is primarily made of these three hue
family’s.
I’ll analyze the image before making up my palettes up. I’ll usually have
one row of lower key of the expected range of brightness for a hue and
one of more intense saturation. It pays to have many ‘wells’ in the ice
cube trays as you soon find that you’ll be modifying a color to suit a
particular passage of paint then when you need that original color - it’s
gone. That’s Ok - you’ll get plenty of practice in color matching when
painting photorealism.
When I paint I use a small halogen desk lamp to illuminate my
workspace, and when I go to mix or adjust a color I’ll often hold the
palette up under the light and compare it to the small image file that I
use to display a currently picked color (I find photoshop’s small square
box in the color palette to be too small). I have the color picker always
open and use the paint bucket to pour the sampled color into a small
untitled file. The color palette tells me exactly what I need to know - just
where the hue lies on the color wheel, its chroma and its brightness.
- HSB - hue, saturation, brightness. It’s very important to match your
color’s to what photoshop tells you, even when you think it’s wrong.
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I picked a random, relatively high key blue to begin this demonstration
of my approach to color. Notice that it is a blue that is ever so slightly
biased towards blue/purple and it’s 240 degrees around the Photoshop
Color Wheel. It also has a saturation value of 89%and a brightness of
93%.
I have typed 9 into the Saturation box and this reduces the intensity
of our 240 degreee blue making it a dull blue, a very greyed out light
blue. Note the brightness still remains at 93%.
Now I have altered the brightness to 20% which makes a very greyed
out dark blue.
Adjusting the saturation to 89% makes a very dark blue. Note that each
time I only adjust one of the three properties that makes up ‘color’.
Finally I enter the same values as the first example used but now the
240 degrees is 127 degrees which gives us a green hue of the same
saturation and brightness.
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PAINTINGGETTING READYYou need to think and plan ahead with your plan of attack. Analyze the image - are their broad areas of relatively unchanging
color, are there any strong geometric shapes in the image or are there very abstract areas full of ‘noise and chaos’, what, if
any, colors dominate? These questions when answered will inform your plan of attack. You should paint large areas of relative
unchanging color first, followed by strong geometric shapes, and then everything that’s left can be painted in. So with these in
mind you should place your drawn up board on a desk (or any horizontal surface really) and the computer monitor nearby with
all your brushes, paints, palettes etc. at hand. This can be a challenge with large works. I have managed to do with what I have
and if you are dedicated you’ll find some arrangement. One word of advice - be very careful with paint, keep a towel underneath
palettes if they are to sit on the board you are working on and be very careful not to knock them over! There’s nothing worse
than spending countless hours only for a moment of clumsiness to ruin it all.
MIXING THE FIRST FEW PALETTES With everything in place begin to mix those first few palettes of paint. I’ll use one of my paintings - Vanquish as an example.
First remember to organise your palettes according to hue. One each (sometimes I’ll even have two) for a particular hue. In the
case of Vanquish the sky was a blue purple, so I used ultramarine at one end of the tray and added a little black (to take the
chroma out a little) and then used a brush to place a small amount of this base hue in the following wells. The sky was almost
uniform but got paler towards the horizon. I would then add white in slightly differing quantities to give me a gradation of the
same hue but different values.
I would then ‘try them out’ on the board in a somewhat thin wash of paint, not to thin but thin enough so it still leaves the grid
easily visible. The problem with acrylic paint colors is they tend to dry a little darker than when wet so this is a test of your
color mixing accuracy, but it is okay if you don’t get it right first up, because there are many more layers going to be applied.
19
Lay broad flat areas down first and where they come up against detailed passages, take your time and use a smaller brush,
being careful to paint up to but not to paint over the edge (don’t fret when you do just use a cotton bud to clean it up). Painting
the first layer or two of the sky in the Vanquish painting would have taken many hours so don’t rush it. Once your happy with
that first layer you can start to mix up the other palettes for the next most prominent or easy areas. I would have needed
several for the buildings - red, red/orange, orange, orange/yellow, etc. - actually I would of needed to start mixing a lot of paint.
I have a word of advice don’t be confident that a particular color is spot on in any of the three measurements - hue, chroma or
value until your just about finished. Why? Because it’s very difficult for the eye to judge or compare with the original until all the
surrounding colors are painted in. So the process is one of gradually ‘bringing up the paint’ over the drawing. My paintings are on
average made up of four or more thin layers of paint.
Take the example on the right this is taken
at the halfway stage after maybe ten hours
of work, the basic colors are laid in but not
that accurate yet, you can still see the grid,
(better in real life than with the camera) and
from here on in you just use the view on the
computer monitor to inform - ‘what color, in
what shape, and where’. Now that might seem
a little weird but in this tutorial I can’t foresee
the many different challenges and problems
that viewers of this work will come up against
but I would always want to keep that previous statement in mind.
WHAT COLOR, IN WHAT SHAPE, AND WHEREThe best photorealistic paintings have a certain abstractness to their quality. Zoom right into a photo and you should see what
I mean, there is a somewhat chaotic bunch of different colored shapes essentially that when you take a more distant view
coalesce into the real, This is the true key to my photoreal painting. I try very hard to paint those exact same qualities that my
computer shows me. If you can see the passage you are working on as being what it is then a good solution would be to rotate
the image 180 degrees in photoshop and work upside down or maybe just turn the work 90 degrees. I had to paint most of my
larger paintings using this technique because I simply couldn’t easily reach the far end of the board.
For chaotic areas like the gravelly asphalt in Vanquish I would have painted in the yellow parts, the red parts and the cracks etc.
with a thin layer of paint and gradually layer by layer painted in an approximation of the type of chaos that I would see on the
monitor. I would look back every few minutes or so at the monitor and see just the sorts of colors and ‘motifs’ that went into
making the gravel look just like gravel. For areas like trees with leaves, if there is a basic drawing to follow - of say a prominent
branch here and there, then you can quite satisfactorily replicate the original in the photo. Take your time and remember to
follow the golden rule, - what color, in what shape, and where.
There are many techniques I use that are commonplace, hard edge, painting, wet in wet, blending, dabbing, dragging and
wiping with my fingers, a rag or cotton bud. This tutorial isn’t about these things (there are plenty of other books covering this)
but explains the things what I do, that aren’t common knowledge in the art world. And that’s where I had to create my own
techniques along the way. I have endeavoured to cover as much as I can but for many of you that take up the challenge of
photorealist painting you’ll encounter the same problems or new ones. I am quite happy to answer any questions you put to me
but I would urge you to reread this and see if there are any hints already provided that you might of missed.
20
1
THE PHOTOREALIST ART OF MARK ALAN RUSSELL
2
Published by Mark Alan Russell
This version - 26th January 2010
THE PHOTOREALIST ART OF MARK ALAN
RUSSELL
FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON MARK’S ART GO TO
http://photorealistpainting.com
This book is self published by Mark Alan Russell
and is free and subject to no restrictions
imposed by the author. I believe in free speech.
3
ContentsGROWING UP 4NECRONOMICON 10 5SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPE 6SEA SLUG 8KING OF DIRT 8FAST, BEAUTIFUL, DANGEROUS 10INTERFET 11EXPENSIVE TOOLS 12THE BIGGEST ARSEHOLE ON THE PLANET 13DECKEL MAHO GILDEMEISTER 14VANQUISH 15SELF PORTRAIT 16FLOWERS 16C IS FOR CHAMPION 18REBECCA AND HER CHILDREN 19THE SMALLER PAINTINGS 20JESUS CHRIST 20CAROLYN FRANCIS 21COWS IN A PADDOCK 22NEDA AGHA-SOLTAN 23RAILWAY TRESTLE BRIDGE NEAR YARRA GLEN 24ORANGE FLOWERS 24GLASS PLATE WITH FRUIT 25VINEYARD 25OLD YARRA GLEN RAILWAY STATION 26BERNARDINI 26THERION DRAWING 27
4
GROWING UP
I was born Mark Alan Russell on 27th March 1968 to parents Kathleen and Alan. Attended local
primary and secondary schools until leaving unceremoniously aged 15 to find work. Funnily enough there
was little in the way of practical art education at my secondary school and I gained nothing from it. I do
remember taking a class called ‘Art Appreciation’, it was occasionally boring but it did provide just what
it’s title suggests; art appreciation. On the other hand I really did enjoy a subject called Graphic Design,
which covered more of the Illustration and Technical Drawing sides to art. Nonetheless I found myself at
the young age of 15 embarking upon the journey of life. It’s sufficient to say that I struggled to hold down a
job - (50+) ranging from shop assistant to factory-hand followed, mostly finishing with my storming out over
some petty conflict or other.
MARK ALAN RUSSELL AGED 5
5
NECRONOMICON 10
Whilst I was struggling to ‘find myself’ and hold down a job I started to take a bigger interest in
the world around me. I would spend a lot of time at the library. One area of interest was art. I knew from
painting t-shirts in my teenage years I was good at art and enjoyed it. So one day I bought some canvas
board, paints and brushes and had a go at making something that I wanted to put on my lounge room
wall. I decided to ‘appropriate’ somebody else’s work. The first work was a copy of Necronimicon 10 by
H.R. Geiger an artist who’s work first came to my attention in the mid to late seventies thru my father’s
Omni magazines. Geiger’s work was a massive inspiration as the work was unrivalled in it’s uniqueness
and it’s ability to make one think about subject matter that was generally outside of the art realm.
Geiger’s complete lack of acknowledgement in books on modern art, despite probably having the most
known work of any living painter made me take the view that the art world was either largely corrupt or
couldn’t recognize talent due to their elitist avant-garde approach. I decided that I would paint solely for
my own pleasure and benefit (my family were horrified at the sight of my first painting).
MY COPY OF H.R. GIGER’S NECRONOMICON 10 - 1997
Whilst it isn’t strictly a photorealist work but it did lead to me learning much in the way of
my drawing and painting skills. I still look at this work and find it absolutely fascinating and it is very
important to me and isn’t for sale for this reason.
6
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPE
In the last few years of the millennium I began to paint. I had been inspired by the work of
the photorealists, particularly Richard Estes, who’s work mainly features views of New York city, using
reflective windows to make the viewers eye spend a considerable amount of time taking all the detail in.
The most appealing thing was the extraordinary time one could spend looking at the work, admiring the
skill of the artist.
The first true photorealist painting was taken from Snap, a BMX magazine, I had now learnt a grid
would enable a detailed drawing to be made, and that this was to be the key to creating my own photoreal
work. It featured a group of BMX riders in the first berm battling for position. I was always a keen cyclist
and had started riding at the local BMX track in my early 30’s discovering a passion that I’d missed in
the early eighties when it was going through its first surge of popularity. The picture features two riders
prominently – Christophe LeVeque and John Purse, who at the time were dominating BMX. The race was
called the So Cal Nationals and this became the basis for the title of the painting - ‘Southern California
landscape’. Metaphorically speaking this was perfect as an example of America’s worldwide cultural
influences. The addition of a commentator in a green jumper was added to create an idea that this art was
about commenting and not just a visual thrill.
A computer running Photoshop was used to view the work, which meant learning a new set of
skills. The original layout of the magazine article had several photos inset over part of the shadows of
the riders. I then had to work out what actually lay under the overlaid images, so I whited out them out
and with a pen had an educated guess. Once I was happy with the forms I painted them. Still unsure I
contacted the photographer Keith Mulligan who e-mailed a copy of the original. Much to my delight I was
very accurate in filling the shadows in! There were problems encountered, however, the background was
changed because it didn’t suit my needs and the use of canvas board didn’t lend itself to detail work, (I
RICHARD ESTES - SPIRIT
7
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPE - 1999
decided to use a different support for when starting the drawing for the next work).
IT’S A LITTLE BEAT UP - BUT THIS IS THE ORIGINAL
8
SEA SLUG (Nembrotha Purpureolineata) - 1999
SEA SLUG
My next painting was of a Sea Slug (Nembrotha Purpureolineata). It was a quick and easy painting
to do and was done for my friend Stefan who selected the image from a scuba diving magazine. There are
a number of wildlife artists who use photorealism in depicting their subjects. I guess that I am the first to
photorealistically depict a poisonous sea slug! It was a beautiful image and was largely painted with big
brushes and my fingers. It is the last work I did using canvas board. After a stupid argument I took the
painting back.
KING OF DIRT
BMX was to feature again in the next work, titled ‘King of Dirt’ after the contest series, it featured
a rider (TJ Lavin), mid-trick, (Backflip Turndown) over a big dirt jump. The actual contest took place on Pier
17 in New York City! The painting is also where I really began to use the incredible power of a computer
to manipulate the image to be drawn and then painted. In this case the image was changed to reduce to
the obvious curvature from the wide angle lens. Again the source was from the same BMX magazine and
the photographer was Keith Mulligan. However I felt the subject matter wasn’t serious enough and nor
9
KING OF DIRT - 2000
was it as hard as I had expected. I did continue to improve on many levels; the initial computer work, the
drawing stage and finally the painting stage. There’s a lot to making a photoreal painting work and there
were no teachers I could look to, no books or anything. I had to develop my own techniques and skills.
KING OF DIRT ORIGINAL
10
FAST BEAUTIFUL DANGEROUS - 2001
FAST, BEAUTIFUL, DANGEROUS
The turn of the millennium saw new, harder images being tackled. My first paintings involved a
learning process; everything had to be learned through trial and error, as I have had no formal art training
whatsoever. A Mercedes CLR sportscar in the pit lane at Le Mans was to feature in my next painting, the
formula one driver Mark Webber was to flip one of these, and another driver looped twice, prompting a
magazine called Racecar Engineering to do an article on the technical and scientific reasoning on why this
could come about. As an avid motorsport fan and fascinated by engineering this photo was perfect – it was
all there for a more serious approach to my art. The notorious narrative of its existence was important, the
people in the background going about their business was visually interesting and the technical complexity
of the surfaces of the car all made for an incredible work of art. I also thought it really cool that there was
even a photographer who appears to be taking the photographers photograph! I named the work Fast,
Beautiful, Dangerous.
There was a realization that so much time was going into the drawing and painting that a work
diary needed to be kept. The total time amounted to 295 hours! It took something like eight hours to just
draw the wheels. The original image was a somewhat limiting factor due to it being too small for what I
really needed - to have every little detail available for the computer to show. It was also difficult to paint
things like the silver blue paint with its reflective qualities and the many people’s skin colors but when you
try for a photorealistic copy these are what make the difference.
The work was entered in the local annual art show organised by local government but didn’t
win any prizes or sell. I was happy enough with the work and looked forward to producing more art that
focused on a more ‘technical’ view of the world.
11
INTERFET - 2001
INTERFET
As a keen observer of the politics of the world I was strongly in favor of the Australian military
deploying to East Timor in order to stop the horrific violence being enacted upon the local Timorese
population after a successful vote for independence. Immensely proud when they did deploy, I painted a
photograph of a sunburnt Australian soldier on top of a vehicle manning a machine-gun. Another soldier
stands further back as they patrol the streets of Dili, the capitol.
This picture was the first move into the truly conceptual realm. The painting wasn’t produced in
order to provide visual stimulus in order to satisfy; but was about an idea – of war and aggression and right
and wrong, and I believe this was a conceptual work even more than a piece of photorealism.
It was difficult to paint the flesh tones of the sunburnt soldier in the very bright sunlight and the
creases in the uniform - it ended taking 166 hours all up. When it was done I sold it to the lady who lived
in the front unit who bought it for her boyfriend. They broke up, she left for another state in a hurry and
he was left with the packing of her things for the removal van. He packed it in a way that when it arrived it
was badly scratched. As I paint with a system of very thin layers of paint and then use very find wet and
dry sandpaper to keep the paint surface totally smooth it was returned to me months later to be repainted.
This took 18 hours! However when I tried to contact the owner she had moved on again and I took
ownership again I guess. I decided that I would never sell a painting to anyone again unless it was framed
behind glass due to the very easily damaged surfaces.
This (and Fast, Beautiful, Dangerous which was done at the same time) were difficult pictures to
do as I had to have surgery to my left hand due to being assaulted by three young men. The surgery was
botched very badly and I had to undergo constant, painful hand therapy which yielded next to no results
and made my life very hard. The depression of not being able to work, and no action from the doctor
12
EXPENSIVE TOOLS - 2002
who’d operated on me, was immense. This was the lowest period of my life and I really struggled but my art
helped me get through it. Later I had the finger completely amputated.
EXPENSIVE TOOLS
Racecar Engineering contributed the original for the next painting, to be called Expensive Tools. It
features a trio of Makino CNC Machining Centres linked by a common palette loader which were producing
Formula 1 engines and cylinder heads. The scene is in a factory - Mugen’s in Japan. The painting is visually
exciting but also embodies the conceptual in that the process of painting photorealism is very much like the
machinery. Accuracy being the key to Photorealism is represented in a photoreal painting of a machine that
is accurate down to 1/1000th of a millimeter! The time spent painting the details was incredible, an example
being the series of holes in the lower right - they took 35 hours! All up the painting took 224 hours.
I feel that art which goes beyond straight photorealism and has a conceptual element to it is all
the more powerful for it. I often look to Dutch art of the seventeenth century and it’s all encompassing
view of daily life even to be an incredible inspiration. A perfect example of this is Rembrandt’s painting of a
cows carcass. This sort of painting would most typically have been purchased by a butcher, as the art was
reasonably affordable. Expensive Tools would best be appreciated if it were to be purchased and displayed
by an engineering company. Whether they would understand and appreciate the metaphor I intended to
make with the practice of producing photorealism is another matter.
13
THE BIGGEST ARSEHOLE ON THE PLANET - 2002
THE BIGGEST ARSEHOLE ON THE PLANET
September 11th 2001 was so shocking to witness that I had to paint a response to what I saw as pure
evil. Time magazine donated the source image of Osama bin Laden sitting in his tent; when it came to
composing the size of the piece it was decided to add the title to the work written at 90 degrees on the
right side of the board. This work was called ‘The biggest arsehole on the planet’, I don’t want my position
to be misunderstood.
The size of the initial photo from which I started with was quite small and I took little time to do
the work - 121 hours. When it came to doing difficult passages such as his beard I didn’t spend as much
time as I could have. The painting is meant to be 100% conceptual.
I fully expect to get in a lot of trouble with all sorts of Islamic extremists because of this work but
to be a true artist you have to be true to yourself and not worry about what the rest of the world thinks. I
am doing this art for myself - no one else. Future works will develop this particular theme of my thinking. I
have an image I have begun to draw. It is called Failed Mission and is discussed later in this book.
I am not the only one who has taken a similar view - Denis Peterson depicts the worst aspects of
our world by showing the homeless, and the poverty of the third world. He calls his work hyperrealism but I
have an aversion to the over categorisation of art. For me it’s all photorealism. Even artists like Damien Hirst
have taken photorealism as a medium to talk about unpalatable subjects. His theme is death and he has
had assistants churn out images of cadavers in morgues.
I think it is very important as an artist to show the world as it really is - both at it’s most beautiful
and at it ugliest. The worst indictment of the impressionists was there refusal to paint the horrors of the
French revolution, instead painting a wonderfully pretty world.
14
DECKEL MAHO GILDEMEISTER - 2003
DECKEL MAHO GILDEMEISTER
The idea behind the next painting is to return to comparisons between my art and the
extraordinary accuracy and repeatability of CNC (computer numerical control) machinery with the process
of photorealistic painting. DMG (Deckel Maho Gildemeister) are a company of the highest quality; a quality
that I consider to be at the cornerstone of my art. This machine is the most capable of all types of milling
machines due to it being 5 sided, 5 axis in its ability. Essentially it can machine almost any shape and this
particular machine is also extremely fast, powerful and it’s price is well in excess of the million dollar mark.
I am very proud of this work because it does set new standards for my work. The painting of the
lettering is incredibly difficult and due to my perfectionist nature I am still working on refining this in 2009!
It was however shown at a local library with another work in late 2003. At that stage it had taken 329
hours, it’s now at the 481 hour mark.
When people look at this work I want them to take the time to read the description and the table
of specifications, then look closely at the precision of the individual letters, then gaze at the images. I
want them to take it all in, then wonder why someone would paint something like this. I hope many would
arrive at the conclusion that it must be important to the artist. And it is, I want people to understand that
this work is actually talking about people’s art judgements. Much of the ‘art world’ haven’t a clue when it
comes to one of the most important subjects for an artist - his technique. It’s almost never discussed in the
contemporary art world and if it is probably because generally speaking contemporary artists have little
skill when it comes down to the truth of the matter.
15
VANQUISH - 2003
VANQUISH
The next painting was chosen mainly because it was a very difficult work, visually stunning, and
intended as a homage to Richard Estes’s work who inspired me to take up painting. Taken from Autocar
magazine it features the new Aston Martin Vanquish, the car was designed as the flagship for Aston by
its new owners Ford and represents a stunning mastery of all that represents the quintessential design
hallmarks that set this marquee apart. The car was driven before it’s release by a journalist across the USA
and photographed against an incredible backdrop of Houston city.
The two page spread had to be scanned into the computer before being joined, then the text
removed. Buildings like this were a time consuming challenge and took 150+ hours just to draw! All up 556
hours was invested in the work before it was shown at the local library. The windows were one of the
most difficult passages I’d undertaken and the gravel carpark wasn’t far behind in getting it to look just
right. The car by contrast was very easy.
One of the things that is good about using other commercial photographs to paint photorealism is
that you can start with a photograph that would simply be out of the reach for the average Joe. There’s
no way I could afford the ultra high-end costs of the photographic equipment nor could I have access to
subject matter such as this work and others. A perfect example is the Osama work!
Upon completion it was rather ironic that it was to be a Vanquish in the picture as Mark felt he
had truly conquered his mastery of technique, however I am ever the perfectionist and this work is being
retouched and is owing 579 hours.
16
SELF PORTRAIT
I painted a self portrait, despite having major issues with my appearance, however this didn’t stop
me from hiding any flaws. I saw it as absolutely dishonest to hide my many chins by simply toning down
the shadows that produce these forms. I strive to show things as they actually are. The good, the bad and
the ugly.
I only had a very low-tech, low resolution camera but the 640 X 480 pixel image was sufficient to
lay down a decent drawing. I learnt a lot about the color of human flesh as it relates to painting and this
work is not perfect but when I see other artists work I often cringe. It’s usually to high key for a start and
often looks like they have some weird, odd colored fake tan on! Hair is another thing that is problematic for
the photorealist painter. Often a camera doesn’t capture every hair it does reproduce many very difficult
passages for the artist to draw and paint. Due to the low resolution of the camera I used I found the result
not as satisfying as it could be. The time taken was only 84 hours.
FLOWERS
My mother asked me to paint a beautiful work of flowers next. The image was taken from a book
on flowers that had been provided and was quite easy to produce taking only 84 hours. It is an incredible
work who’s beauty is astonishing and a tribute to all the Dutch flower painters of the seventeenth century.
It takes pride of place in my parents lounge room of their home.
SELF PORTRAIT - 2003
17
FLOWERS - 2004
18
C IS FOR CHAMPION - 2008
C IS FOR CHAMPION
The ‘C is for Champion’ image when first seen would be so difficult to paint it just had to be
tackled. It was an incredible challenge as every square centimetre was complex and the title ‘C is for
Champion’ was a great metaphor for my boastful accomplishments. I had to paint it first and this work,
more than any would come to stand for my theme in art - to strive for perfection. Perfection being, in
my eyes, the ability to recreate just that - what my eyes saw. When people see this work almost without
exception the first thing people ask ‘is that really a painting?’
The painting was begun in January of 2005, but it isn’t complete and the photo was taken at the
midpoint of 2007. So far the time taken painting and drawing stands at 591 hours. Unfortunately my life is
becoming more and more difficult due to mental health problems. I estimate the time will be around 800+
hours! I want to be remembered for this work more than any other as it is such a difficult piece and was
undertaken through a period of my life when not much is going well.
I’ve tried to sell some of my work but come up against the ‘art world’ and have basically given up
on being a professional artist. However the reward of such an amazing piece of work slowly coming to
form keeps me going as well as the thought that someone, some day will see and love my work; and be
wealthy enough to pay what I ask for it. It is hoped that this work will be marveled at in centuries to come.
19
REBECCA AND HER CHILDREN - 2008
REBECCA AND HER CHILDREN
Late in 2007 I was forced out of my rented flat due to no circumstances of my own making. I went
to live in several boarding houses and early in 2008 met the subject of the next work - Rebecca Parker. I
took many photo’s and she rarely smiled but a few, like this one, she did. I had an argument with her and
we went our separate ways. I was feeling really bad about some of the things I had said to her so this was
what I made as a way of saying sorry.
The result is a stunning example of a loving mother and her two children. The mental health issues
I have resurfaced and we argued again soon after completion, and I fell out with Rebecca again. However
we made up and she allowed me to enter the portrait into Australia’s most important art prize - the 2009
Archibald Prize. It took 169 hours to paint and didn’t make the cut. It does bring a lot of joy to Ms. Parker
and that is all that matters. Although due to Rebecca’ drug addiction we have fallen out again and I fear
the painting has either been stolen or destroyed.
20
THE SMALLER PAINTINGS
A new series of works was started in late May 2009, inspired by the movement of a group of
artists who call themselves ‘daily painters’. They don’t form a coherent ‘style’ but all share a discipline
towards their work which generally means working every day on their art. Some can produce a new work
every day but my photorealist approach means this isn’t very practical.
I’ll add to the book as the paintings are produced and photographed, provide some basic details of
their size and maybe a brief explanation.
JESUS CHRIST - 2009
JESUS CHRIST
I painted this for Rebecca Parker. The work is Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board, approx. 13 x
30cm.
21
CAROLYN FRANCIS - 2009
CAROLYN FRANCIS
I had a very intense relationship with Carolyn which ended in many tears. This painting is in a
cemetery near to a home we shared. The work is Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board. approx 20 x 27cm.
22
COWS IN A PADDOCK
I live in a beautiful town in Australia called Yarra Glen and have decided to paint many of the
beautiful things I see on a daily basis. The work is Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board, approx. 20 x 27cm.
COWS IN A PADDOCK - 2009
23
NEDA AGHA-SOLTAN
As soon as I saw the horrible video of her dying in the streets of Tehran after being murdered by
the Iranian authorities I decided to paint her portrait. It’s part of the conceptual approach I have to my
work. The work is Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board, approx. 20 x 27cm.
NEDA AGHA-SOLTAN - 2009
24
RAILWAY TRESTLE BRIDGE NEAR YARRA GLENI’ve painted another beautiful part of the town I live in – Yarra Glen. As you come into Yarra Glen from
Lilydale there are a few of these trestle bridges left from the old railway line. This one thankfully wasn’t
burnt down in the recent bushfires that devastated the area. Painting photorealism on this scale is quite
difficult.
ORANGE FLOWERSI’ve spent a lot of time painting these flowers. Photorealism isn’t easy to do. It is quite surprising what
makes an image hard to do. It can be the colors, scale of the image or the surfeit of details. This painting
was all three. Apparently they are commonly known as ‘pigface’.
25
GLASS PLATE WITH FRUITOne of great loves is that which I have for Dutch painting of the seventeenth century - which I consider
to be the first era of photorealism.. I particularily love still life painting because they paint the surfaces of
things so accurately and it is a joy to the eye to see what a two dimensional, flat, colored, bit of board (or
canvas) can convey of the three dimensional world. When it is done well it makes me rather awestruck.
This is what I try for in all of my work but it’s not the only thing.
VINEYARDThis painting is of a vineyard in Yarra Glen, the heart of the Yarra Valley, famous for it’s wine, I painted it
hoping it would appeal to tourists. It was reasonably difficult to do because trying to get the realism just
right on this small scale requires acute observation and a very deft touch using the OOO brushes that I
use 80% of the time.
26
OLD YARRA GLEN RAILWAY STATIONThe good thing about photorealism is that you can paint scenes from a time well before you arrived. The
trains haven’t run for many, many years and the yellow locomotive has gone (you can still see the yellow
locomotive at Healesville railway station ) but the Yarra Glen railway station still looks pretty much the
same as this ten year old photo..
BERNARDINIThis painting is of an American racehorse named Bernardini. The original image came from a magazine on
racehorses (Bluebloods May 2009) after Joe from the Yarra Glen newsagents asked me for a photorealist
painting of his favourite subject.
One of the difficult aspects of duplicating an image such as this is the abstract and often chaotic
27
‘passages’ or areas which can be extraordinarily complex; both the ‘shapes’ and colors can present a huge
challenge to the artist if he is to succeed. This is the key to good photorealism. To get the colors to blend
sometimes you have to use the ‘side’ of the brush or a cotton bud and for this work I must of ruined 5 or
6 good brushes trying to get that effect.
Due to the depth of field issues of the original photograph the bacground is rather blured and non-descript
which I think works quite well in that it forces the viewers eye to look at the detail and the ‘surface of
things’. Like the silks on the jockey and the sweaty, muscular horse.
THERION DRAWINGIt took 19 hours to complete this drawing of Therion.
GALACTIC SPACESHIP HANDBOOK - 4027
PUBLISHED BY MARK ALAN RUSSELL
2CONTENTS
CIvILIAN SPACESHIPS 5ARIBOO 3 CLASS 6
AYAIL CLASS 8
AZIK 10
BAHLROUS CLASS 12
LIPOCK CLASS 14
MODIFIED VONX CLASS 16
MUBARIK CLASS 18
OORSTANISCLAV THE THIRD 20
RASERS CLASS 22
SRANTIS CLASS 24
TRISTRAN CLASS 26
ULIAS 28
VONX CLASS 30
WERPIS CLASS 32
GOvERNMENTAL SPACESHIPS 35ADARI CLASS 36
CBAHLRO 38
EFOSI CLASS 40
HASU CLASS 42
IJINT CLASS 44
NIZ CLASS 46
QUINCER CLASS 48
SAPROUS 50
TRANSTAR CLASS 52
MILITARY SHIPS 55ASP CLASS 56
DESMONDAR 58
GRESTICHA CLASS 60
KANDIREBS CLASS 62
MARTAN CLASS 64
NELLIA CLASS 66
ONISTUS CLASS 68
PRASTUS CLASS 70
VLADIMIR THE DESTROYER CLASS 72
WUSTINCH CLASS 74
YEBISAR CLASS 76
4
5CIvILIAN SPACESHIPS
The first spaceships that humans built were government craft,
but in the late 21st century, the large scale production of spaceships was
undertaken by commercial interests in order to meet Earth’s growing need
for rare elements which could be stripped from the asteroid belt. Now
80% of all spacecraft are civilian, the majority are freighters which travel
far and wide in the known galaxy. They range from personal spaceships
owned by the wealthy to colossus freighters many kilometers long,
weighing many millions of tons. Freighters create prosperity through trade,
corporate exploring craft open up new frontiers across the known galaxy,
passenger craft ferry tourists to exotic worlds and colossus colony ships
transport entire populations to new worlds.
The spaceship manufacturing sector employs many billions of
people in the construction of civilian spaceships and their greatest source
of income is derived from the construction of what many see as mundane
craft but the technology is often at the cutting edge, barely behind the
military’s. Their purposeful exteriors may not excite young teenage boys
but those in the know look to these craft as the true kings of space.
6ARIBOO 3 CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Ariboo 3
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Personal explorer / luxury transport
NUMBER PRODUCED 686
MANUFACTURERS Markil Engineering
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Golk
YEAR BUILT 4024 - 4027
COST WHEN NEW $42,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 20
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 4
ARMAMENTS Can be customised to support light weapons systems
CRUISING SPEED 240 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 355 light years per day
RANGE 17,700 light years
These spacecraft are some of the most
incredible vehicles available and yet are only
available to citizens of the wealthiest system: Golk.
They represent the ultimate in materialistic excess
today. Golk’s unparalleled productivity is due to vast
cybernetic systems which churn out machinery and
goods which are at the cutting edge of hi-technology.
Due to this, the four hundred million inhabitants of
this ultra-wealthy planet enjoy the highest per-capita
wealth in the known galaxy, even exceeding that of
the peoples of the Yark Empire by a factor of around
10 to 1!
The Ariboo 3 is an enormously popular
‘personal spacecraft’ of enormous size but fits the
category only due to it’s usage. It is often heavily
customized to taste and outfitted to sumptuous levels
with exotic surface finishes and art adorning the
interior. They are usually multi-capable with roles such
as galactic explorer, transporter or warship, which they
fill with aplomb equally. Ariboo 3’s are seen across the
7known galaxy and draw gasps when spotted due to
their extravagant nature.
Designed and built by the Markil Engineering
company they are heavily automated and require only
twenty flight crew, their medical facilities are entirely
robotised and the armaments are also fully automatic.
The navigation system is Level ZZZ precise and
incredibly fast and the Ariboo 3 class can even adopt a
form of ‘stealth cloaking’.
The most famous of these ships was the
vessel who’s registered name was unusual - 9764. This
ship was taken by it’s owner Ashaw Trilbort to find the
lost colony world of Hmashilt, and was involved in the
conflict which destroyed the nearby inhabited asteroid.
The ship was extensively damaged and still floats in
orbit around Hmasilt.
Most of these vessels are used for private
excursions to exotic planets for the most indulgent
form of luxury adventure holidays. Justine Redmond,
the owner of the Interplanetary Zoo on Golk employs
just such a craft to travel across the galaxy and
capture all manner of beasts and bring them safely
home. Her spacecraft aptly named the ‘Darwin’ is
equipped with a variety of ground transport vehicles
and can also boast of an extensive scientific laboratory
which is used for studying the specimens for disease’s
before bringing them out of their home system.
The interstellar customs and police have also
taken to the Ariboo 3 class because of their extensive
capabilities. They employ them as unmarked vessels
and this has lead to many a smuggler becoming a
victim of the Golk authorities entrapment.
Several of these craft have been offered in the
used spacecraft market and despite the high asking
price they are snapped up very quickly.
8AYAIL CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Ayail
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Large Freighter
NUMBER PRODUCED 32
MANUFACTURERS Zoorast Spacecraft Engineering
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Dilcom
YEAR BUILT 3980 - 3995
COST WHEN NEW $156,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 42
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS Can be outfitted with Crestex System’s Smart Missile System
CRUISING SPEED 132 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 150 light years per day
RANGE 1,145 light years
A very large freighter, the Ayail class is
designed to carry enormous containers that hold an
enormous open volume of just about anything that
needs to be transported around the galaxy - even
other spacecraft!
These craft are amongst the biggest civilian
spaceships that have ever been made and are a rare
sight indeed with just 32 being made. Made in the
Dilcom system which is one of the newer sectors of
space they have contributed much to the burgeoning
economy of the new colony world. They feature
advanced systems which would put many military
ships to shame, such as their sophisticated navigation
systems which can assist hyperspace jumps down to
an accuracy of several hundred metres! They also have
a secret anti-missile system which was only revealed
when the Redara military tried to intercept a fleet of
them. The Redaran military suffered no losses except
to their pride when they attacked with a barrage of
missiles which were rendered 100% ineffective within
9
ILOS 45A ENGINESCREW / ENGINEERING FACILITIES
/ WEAPONS SYSTEMS / CARGO
SHUTTLE STORAGE
PRESSURISED CONTAINER
a matter of minutes. The incident made the news on a
galactic level and created a sense of awe about these
special machines.
Extremely expensive they earn their keep by
performing freighter tasks that can’t be undertaken
by any others. They have moved everything from
fruit to unfinished destroyers with ease, and security.
The large containers are virtually an open-space
interior which can support a range of modular racking
which can hold container modules from K1 to AA
size. They also feature a small number of shuttles
to assist in loading but this is primarily handled by
third party shuttles capable of utilising the ‘Adaptable
Loader/Unloader interface’. This entails a shuttle
‘piggybacking’ the load in a similar fashion to the Ayail
class itself and when the craft meet they use a series
of robotic arms to pass the containers from shuttle to
freighter. It is quite elegant to watch for those who are
unused to such things.
The Ayail class has been used around the
known galaxy, having the enviable record of travelling
to 3080 of the known 3812 settled systems.
10AZIK
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Azik
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Custom built galaxy wide explorer
NUMBER PRODUCED 1
MANUFACTURERS Bix Spacecraft Manufacturing
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Hadron
YEAR BUILT 3870
COST WHEN NEW $65,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 100+
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 2
ARMAMENTS Plasma Cannon, 45 Smart Missiles
CRUISING SPEED 50 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 65 light years per day
RANGE 14,000 light years
11
12BAHLROUS CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Bahlrous
TYPE OF SPACESHIP General purpose freighter
NUMBER PRODUCED 250+
MANUFACTURERS Easil Spaceships
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Trin
YEAR BUILT 3956 - 3972
COST WHEN NEW $42,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 45
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 4
ARMAMENTS None
CRUISING SPEED 150 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 165 light years per day
RANGE 2,250 light years
speed is sufficient to transport the rare and expensive
Yaris fruit from the Fewish world to many of the
nearest planets in just a few days. The wealthiest
people across the sector can then enjoy the fruit at its
best, after their ripening.
The Deost conglomerate made them
somewhat famous when they featured strongly in
advertising wearing brightly multi-colored exterior
paint schemes which made many look differently to
the usual workhorse’s of space. The paint returned to
A very purposeful looking craft the Bahlrous
class of freighter is a common sight in the wealthy
Rulis sector of space. They were designed to transport
troops and their equipment in the Trin-Camult war,
but the first ship was completed 4 days before the
end of the conflict, leaving an enormous oversupply of
new freighters on the market. These were fast, very
defence capable ships and were snapped up by smart
investors. These days they ply their trade across the
Rulis sector in a timely manner. Their 50 lyd cruising
13
CARGO SHUTTLE STORAGE
RADAR HOUSING RECESS
POWERFUL JIS 438 ENGINES
normal after eight years but many still associate the
Deost conglomerate with the public relations ploy that
made it a household name, and the Bahlrous class
famous.
They also have been adopted by a few
pirates in the unruly Pasik sector, mainly for their
incredibly hardened exteriors which are incredibly
difficult to penetrate with the moderately powered
customs and police craft of the area. However they
are gradually becoming a rarer sight as they become
more difficult and expensive to maintain. Many of
the unique electronic systems are now starting to
show failure rates that are unacceptable to the local
authorities and all the spare parts have been owned
by the Easil consortium since manufacture. Their
unique, uncompromising, approach to design makes
them being copied by a rival spaceship manufacturer
prohibitive. Those that do survive however are likely to
continue for a few more decades yet.
14LIPOCK CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Lipock
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Small Freighter
NUMBER PRODUCED 55
MANUFACTURERS Daldis Corporation
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Masir
YEAR BUILT 3996 - 3998
COST WHEN NEW $12,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 7
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 5
ARMAMENTS None
CRUISING SPEED 55 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 70 light years per day
RANGE 2,260 light years
15
16MODIFIED vONX CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Vonx type 2
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Medium Freighter
NUMBER PRODUCED 27
MANUFACTURERS Ael Systems
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Telkis
YEAR BUILT 3965 - 3967
COST WHEN NEW $32,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 45
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS Custom Smart Missile System
CRUISING SPEED 155 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 200 light years per day
RANGE 8,500 light years
17
18MUBARIK CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Mubarik
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Colony ship
NUMBER PRODUCED 2,000+
MANUFACTURERS Fwing Tran Spacecraft
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Hajisk
YEAR BUILT 3789 - 3890
COST WHEN NEW $55,500,000
NUMBER OF CREW 65
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 4
ARMAMENTS None
CRUISING SPEED 12 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 14 light years per day
RANGE 5,000 light years
19
20OORSTANISCLAv THE THIRD
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Oorstanisclav the third
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Corporate ship
NUMBER PRODUCED 1
MANUFACTURERS Yark spaceyard
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Yark
YEAR BUILT 3623 - 3650
COST WHEN NEW $1,200,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 35,600
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 1
ARMAMENTS Multi, capable
CRUISING SPEED 200 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 250 light years per day
RANGE 15,700 light years
Oorstanisclav The Third is named after the
ruler of the Yark Empire who lived for 420 years after
inheriting the fledgling colony world from his father
Oorstanisclav The Second. It is unparalleled in its
combination of size and wealth it creates. There are
other corporate ships but none like this incredible
vessel, as this ship generates many billions of galactic
dollars per week as it traverses the galaxy. It’s ability
21to absorb many large freighters loads of raw minerals
daily and its ability to manufacture vast quantities of
hi-tech commercial wealth is simply awe inspiring.
At the time of construction this was the most
expensive spacecraft ever built but it soon repaid the
investment back to the wealthy owner - Oorstanisclav
The Third. It has been upgraded continuously but
essentially retains the same shape it was designed
with. It however was severely damaged in the Chalist
conflict of 3770 but was towed back to Yark for a
full rebuild. This time it was rebuilt with far greater
defensive and offensive abilities.
Incredibly fast, this ship travels from wealthy
sector to wealthy sector plying its trade in its vast
assortment of goods. As an enormous automated
manufacturing facility - it requires a supervisory and
maintenance crew of around 25,000. In addition there
are over 10,000 flight crew. They live permanently on
the ship, rarely leaving for any length of time, due to
the fact they share amongst themselves 40% of the
profit!
It is rumored that a sister ship is to be built in
the Yark colonies, however the government strongly
denies this. If it were true it would have a severe
economic impact on many worlds. It is more probable
that a new clean sheet design is being considered,
if this is the case then knowing the wealth chasing
culture of Yark it is likely to be even bigger, more
powerful and productive than the original.
22RASERS CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Rasers
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Medium Freighter
NUMBER PRODUCED 24
MANUFACTURERS Baf Cos
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Slipshow 2
YEAR BUILT 3992 - 3994
COST WHEN NEW $37,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 145
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS None
CRUISING SPEED 125 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 135 light years per day
RANGE 2,600 light years
The Rasers class freighter is a very rare ship
and is almost never seen outside the Dvelk worlds,
however there are few ships which enjoy the notoriety
that this class of vessel does. Due to the galaxy wide
coverage of the Yabba Terrorist campaign these
vessels are etched into the minds of many billions.
Rwasid Honjak the enigmatic leader of the Yabba
Enlightenment Movement chooses to use a fleet
23
of seven Rasers Class to bring horror to those who
choose to ‘dishonor’ his backward belief system.
Three invaded colony worlds form the basis of his
supporters which number in the tens of millions. One
of there best tools for coercing other people to bow
to his movement are these very capable ex-freighters
converted to military use.
The unusual asymmetrical design was first
intended to be a very capable fast freighter and was
produced in the Slipshow 2 system by a new company
- Baf Cos. They served for the first ten years doing
just as they were made to do - move goods from
system to system quickly and cheaply. The invasion
of Qradtok the home planet of the Slipshow 2 system
by YEM lead to 18 of these vessels being captured
and subsequently modified to accept the Mretish
Frequency Dispersal System. This is a weapon first
developed 600 years ago and due to it’s outrageous
horror was banned by the then Galactic Government.
It basically uses a chaotic wave energy which can
turn all organic matter into ‘mush’ within seconds. It’s
range depending upon it’s power could be as much as
a radius of five kilometres. The Rasers Class is a very
capable vehicle in atmospheric flight and can even out
manoeuvre some dedicated atmospheric fighters! It
has extremely powerful gravity effectors which came
into being because the Qradtok planet has variable
gravity, being between 1.2g and 1.7g.
24SRANTIS CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Srantis
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Medium Freighter
NUMBER PRODUCED 10,000+
MANUFACTURERS Various commercial organisations
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Across the many Srantis settled worlds
YEAR BUILT 3860 - Now
COST WHEN NEW Estimated $40,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 200+
MEDICAL FACILITIES Very limited
ARMAMENTS 4 Plasma Cannons
CRUISING SPEED 50 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 68 light years per day
RANGE 4,000 light years
25
26TRISTRAN CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Tristran
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Luxury Passenger Transport
NUMBER PRODUCED 10
MANUFACTURERS Zoorast Spacecraft Engineering
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Dilcom
YEAR BUILT 3870 - 3877
COST WHEN NEW $70,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 400 - 700 First Class passengers
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 2
ARMAMENTS Not disclosed but proven to be very defence capable
CRUISING SPEED 70 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 90 light years per day
RANGE 3,500 light years
27
28
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Ulias
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Research ship
NUMBER PRODUCED 1
MANUFACTURERS Unknown
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Unknown
YEAR BUILT Unknown
COST WHEN NEW Unknown
NUMBER OF CREW 240
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 1
ARMAMENTS Extensive - details unknown
CRUISING SPEED In excess of 100 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED In excess of 200 light years per day
RANGE Unknown
ULIAS
``
29
30vONX CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Vonx
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Medium Freighter
NUMBER PRODUCED 7,300+
MANUFACTURERS Ulyian Consortium
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Earth
YEAR BUILT 3920 - 3995
COST WHEN NEW $24,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 150+
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS Custom Smart Missile System
CRUISING SPEED 145 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 170 light years per day
RANGE 7,500 light years
This class of freighter is the most common
medium sized freighter in the known galaxy.
Manufactured for 70 years by the Ulyian Consortium
in their vast facilities in Earths orbit, they are the
backbone of most freight companies who need an
inexpensive, versatile and dependable vessel to
move cargo. They have a rather brutal but purposeful
design which was penned by the noted spacecraft
designer Augustus Russell before he was famous
for his more extravagant designs that were used
by the Gelk Corporation. The Volk class represents
the stereotypical view that the public has of what
a general purpose freighter looks like, and for good
reason - they are extremely common and many other
freighters have been designed with a good deal of the
Volk’s features.
Initially they were a custom ship built for Tralis
Freighters in the Lhasa system but their very low cost
31and reasonable performance had them being built in
ever increasing numbers for many others. They have
been used as the basis for numerous conversions to fit
other roles, and some are even the mainstay of small
military fleets.
32WERPIS CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Werpis
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Asteroid processing plant
NUMBER PRODUCED 1,600 +
MANUFACTURERS Dershoo Astro Engineering
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Earth
YEAR BUILT 3901 - 4016
COST WHEN NEW $155,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 1,200
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 4
ARMAMENTS None
CRUISING SPEED 20 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 24 light years per day
RANGE 4000 light years
Produced in vast numbers these specialised
craft are the result of an intense effort by the Earth
systems many factions to regain a market share once
diminished to very low levels by outdated equipment.
The Nostoilabesh class of Asteroid processing plant
had dominated the industry for several decades and
eventually driven the Earth system economies to the
brink of collapse. The Nostoilabesh were produced by
33
CREW ACCOMMODATION
MINERAL STORAGE /
LOADING AREA
HEAT EXCHANGE VENTS
the Qart species and had flooded the mineral market
with very cheap products to such a degree that the
Earth system central government were forced to
embark on a concentrated building program.
The design work was handed to the Dershoo
Astro Engineering Company and this helped restore
the once great conglomerate to profitability again.
After the initial batch of 35 were completed their
efficiency was noted by other companies; and various
governments, and then the orders started to come
in rapidly. Due to their size and length of build time
these orders went into a backlog queue and the sheer
demand meant they occupied the shipyard facilities for
over 100 years!
Over this time they were refined in their
design and their manufacture. They still remain the
dominant asteroid processing plant today. They are
weird looking craft and are rarely seen except by their
crew as they leave or arrive for their often several
month long shifts.
34
35GOvERNMENTAL SPACESHIPS
36ADARI CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Adari
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Patrol ship
NUMBER PRODUCED 550+
MANUFACTURERS Senter Corporation
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Theta
YEAR BUILT 3890 - 3912
COST WHEN NEW $18,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 43
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS
CRUISING SPEED 65 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 80 light years per day
RANGE 3,270 light years
37
38CBAHLRO
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS
TYPE OF SPACESHIP
NUMBER PRODUCED
MANUFACTURERS
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE
YEAR BUILT
COST WHEN NEW
NUMBER OF CREW
MEDICAL FACILITIES
ARMAMENTS
CRUISING SPEED 83 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 100 light years per day
RANGE 2,300 light years
39
40EFOSI CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS
TYPE OF SPACESHIP
NUMBER PRODUCED
MANUFACTURERS
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE
YEAR BUILT
COST WHEN NEW
NUMBER OF CREW
MEDICAL FACILITIES
ARMAMENTS
CRUISING SPEED 118 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 134 light years per day
RANGE 1,000 light years
41
42HASU CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS
TYPE OF SPACESHIP
NUMBER PRODUCED
MANUFACTURERS
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE
YEAR BUILT
COST WHEN NEW
NUMBER OF CREW
MEDICAL FACILITIES
ARMAMENTS
CRUISING SPEED 150 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 168 light years per day
RANGE 3,400 light years
43
44IJINT CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Ijint
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Pirate defence / customs / police
NUMBER PRODUCED 22
MANUFACTURERS Vranos Galactical Engineering
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Tolp
YEAR BUILT 3625
COST WHEN NEW $62,750,000
NUMBER OF CREW 285
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 2
ARMAMENTS 32 Masers - various size, 50+ missile launchers, several thousand missiles-
various types and extensive defensive capability.
CRUISING SPEED 45 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 110 light years per day
RANGE 3,800 light years
45
46NIZ CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS
TYPE OF SPACESHIP
NUMBER PRODUCED
MANUFACTURERS
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE
YEAR BUILT
COST WHEN NEW
NUMBER OF CREW
MEDICAL FACILITIES
ARMAMENTS
CRUISING SPEED 90 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 115 light years per day
RANGE 3,100 light years
47
48QUINCER CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Quincer
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Patrol ship
NUMBER PRODUCED 800+
MANUFACTURERS Plas Spacer Systems
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Eshaw
YEAR BUILT 3920 - 3935
COST WHEN NEW $25,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW Minimum of 8, has facilities for up to 45
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS 2 small masers, 3 missile launchers, 100 smart missiles.
CRUISING SPEED 20 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 26 light years per day
RANGE 3,500 light years
49
50SAPROUS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Jail ship
NUMBER PRODUCED
MANUFACTURERS
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE
YEAR BUILT
COST WHEN NEW
NUMBER OF CREW
MEDICAL FACILITIES
ARMAMENTS
CRUISING SPEED 45 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 80 light years per day
RANGE 16,000 light years
51
52TRANSTAR CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS
TYPE OF SPACESHIP
NUMBER PRODUCED
MANUFACTURERS
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE
YEAR BUILT
COST WHEN NEW
NUMBER OF CREW
MEDICAL FACILITIES
ARMAMENTS
CRUISING SPEED 62 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 80 light years per day
RANGE 1,350 light years
53
54
55MILITARY SHIPS
Military ships across the galaxy have reached the zenith of the art
of spacecraft manufacture. They are almost without exception the largest,
most powerful, stealthy and ultimately destructive objects that humankind
has ever made. They range from small spy satellites to thunderous
battleships many kilometers long.
56ASP CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Asp
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Military grade support ship
NUMBER PRODUCED 17
MANUFACTURERS Davis Manufacturing
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Swistor
YEAR BUILT 3895-3897
COST WHEN NEW $32,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 68
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 4
ARMAMENTS Very limited, 30 Redmond Class defensive missiles
CRUISING SPEED 110 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 135 light years per day
RANGE 800 light years
57
58DESMONDAR
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Desmondar
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Battleship
NUMBER PRODUCED 1
MANUFACTURERS Illiajan Astro Engineering
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Vankor
YEAR BUILT 3965
COST WHEN NEW $120,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 1,200
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 2
ARMAMENTS 2 Large Accelerated Maser Cannons, extensive missiles, mines
CRUISING SPEED 180 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 230 light years per day
RANGE 95,000 light years
59
60GRESTICHA CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Gresticha Class
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Battleship
NUMBER PRODUCED 22
MANUFACTURERS Ford Manufacturing
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Swiport
YEAR BUILT 3980 - 3994
COST WHEN NEW $345,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 4,500
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 2
ARMAMENTS Numerous Laser Cannons, missiles
CRUISING SPEED 230 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 275 light years per day
RANGE 5,000 light years
61
62KANDIREBS CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Kandirebs
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Cruiser
NUMBER PRODUCED 4
MANUFACTURERS Hre People
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Hre
YEAR BUILT 3825 - 3834
COST WHEN NEW $129,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 2,360
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS Numerous Laser Cannons, missiles, 340 Gre Class Space Fighters
CRUISING SPEED 78 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 100 light years per day
RANGE 2,200 light years
63
64MARTAN CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Martan
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Frigate
NUMBER PRODUCED 319
MANUFACTURERS Gonshar Corporation
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Gonshar 2
YEAR BUILT 3945 - 3948
COST WHEN NEW $45,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 75
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS 2 Maser Cannons, 200 Derishaw Class Automated Missile Drones
CRUISING SPEED 60 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 80 light years per day
RANGE 1,900 light years
65
66NELLIA CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Nellia
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Spy satellite master ship
NUMBER PRODUCED 327
MANUFACTURERS Klish Stellar
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Yex 3
YEAR BUILT 4000
COST WHEN NEW $45,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 450+
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS Very limited - usually accompanied by a destroyer and frigate
CRUISING SPEED 100 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 145 light years per day
RANGE 6,700 light years
67
68ONISTUS CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Onistus
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Cruiser
NUMBER PRODUCED 65
MANUFACTURERS Lowra Industries
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE (Multiple) - Federated Gral Planets
YEAR BUILT 3875 - 3877
COST WHEN NEW $110,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 1,900
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 2
ARMAMENTS Numerous Laser Cannons, Julias Missile System
CRUISING SPEED 145 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 173 light years per day
RANGE 5,000 light years
69
70PRASTUS CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Prastus
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Battleship
NUMBER PRODUCED 5
MANUFACTURERS Lan Spaceship Manufacturing Corporation
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Brak 2
YEAR BUILT 3895 - 3902
COST WHEN NEW $450,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 12,000+
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 1
ARMAMENTS Vast offensive / defensive capabilities, details unknown
CRUISING SPEED 400 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 650 light years per day
RANGE 18,500 light years
This vast class of battleship has patrolled the
Brak 2 system for over a hundred years and rather
successfully, no raid on the wealthy homeland of the
Brak species has even come close to the bejewelled
home planet. Much of this is due to the enormous size
of the Prastus Class, which at almost 16 kilometers long
is capable of housing an incredible arsenal of weapons,
both offensive and defensive.
Designed and built prior to the Euwis species’s
hostile engagement of all its neighbours in 3903, this
proved a decisive weapon in the conflict. The attack on
Brak 2 was thwarted initially by just one ship of this
class - Qafist, and when the Euwis returned with their
entire fleet - 2400 ships - these too were defeated
- by the remaining four vessels which had returned
promptly.
The Prastus class remains one of the most
capable military ships ever built, but little detail is
known about the armaments that she contains. It
is known that they house several thousand fighters
which are incredibly fast, maneuverable and armed
with a powerful anti-matter cannon. These alone
71probably accounted for over half of the losses by their
enemies. They also have a well shielded hull which
can only be breached by a constant barrage of energy
weapons which can cause an overload and then allow
a breach.
These vessels are also quite fast and known
to be extremely accurate in their hyperspace jumping.
The two Davis Energy Field Engines are the largest
built ever and give of a familiar red glow when idling.
They sit half exposed at the rear of the spacecraft and
are a rare sight in most sectors of space, despite the
Brak species having offered the technology for over
two hundred years to any spacecraft manufacturer
that can afford the licensing costs.
72vLADIMIR THE DESTROYER CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Vladimir The Destroyer
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Destroyer
NUMBER PRODUCED 210+
MANUFACTURERS Flijist Consortium
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Kiestra
YEAR BUILT 3985 - 4001
COST WHEN NEW $84,500,000
NUMBER OF CREW 245
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 3
ARMAMENTS 4 Medium Maser Cannons, numerous defence/offence missiles
CRUISING SPEED 180 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 221 light years per day
RANGE 3,200 light years
73
74WUSTINCH CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Wustinch
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Battleship
NUMBER PRODUCED 12
MANUFACTURERS Pret Fan Ship Construction
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Dwal 6
YEAR BUILT 3923
COST WHEN NEW $450,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 11,000+ flight crew, 100,000 ground troops
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 1
ARMAMENTS Extensive offensive / defensive capabilities
CRUISING SPEED 450 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 495 light years per day
RANGE 7,400 light years
75
76YEBISAR CLASS
NAME OF SPACESHIP / CLASS Yesibar
TYPE OF SPACESHIP Battleship
NUMBER PRODUCED 4
MANUFACTURERS Davis Manufacturing
SYSTEM OF MANUFACTURE Ralton
YEAR BUILT 3956 - 3957
COST WHEN NEW $230,000,000
NUMBER OF CREW 2,300+
MEDICAL FACILITIES Level 1
ARMAMENTS Extensive offensive / defensive capabilities
CRUISING SPEED 275 light years per day
MAXIMUM SPEED 300 light years per day
RANGE 6,000 light years
77