Transcendence: Art by Randall Ensley

 

This is an idea I'd had for over a decade sketching different variations of it until I stumbled across an old educational toy comprised of Moire Array patterns. I finally felt that that was the missing piece, to comprise the rays emanating from the central figure of moire type patterns, very symmetrical, to achieve a hopefully somewhat psychedelic effect. 

I've also been influenced here by Indigenous Australian Art that I've seen.  Some of the artwork vibrates and stimulates the eyeball.  There is movement on the canvas created by the strobing effect, the indigenous art uses mostly dots and points and I chose to use alternating rays.

Contact me at randallensley@hotmail.com for art and print information.  The original artwork is currently for sale and will be shown at The Art Studio, Inc. in Beaumont, Texas during a solo show in November 2024. 

Transcendence 

Pen and Ink on Paper 11" x 17"

Copyright Randall Ensley 2022

Assignment: Eternity

 Fans of the original series of Star Trek (TOS), like me, are enamored with the episode with Teri Garr and Richard Lansing, Assignment: Earth.  I stumbled across some "extended universe" type Trek books, comics, etc. , among them Assignment: Eternity written by Greg Cox. Pick it up and read it if you're a fan of the original episode.

Serial Killers

Here's a couple of commissioned illustrations for Calcasieu SerialFest, a retro film festival celebrating

 the cliffhanger serials of yesteryear!

 

Beaumont Mural Festival: A Success!

 Wow, I had a great time at the Beaumont Mural Festival (Texas). I was invited to produce four murals on a street art cube installation.

Here's some pics of the result

And a video of me and my granddaughter putting up a stencil for the 8 foot x 8 foot wall on one side of the cube.

@randallensley: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqHh4EgjSiS/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqHh4EgjSiS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Beaumont Mural Festival

I was invited to make some street art at the Beaumont Mural Festival in Beaumont, Texas this weekend. I was given a cube installation to paint and had a great time.  Had the opportunity to interact with hundreds of festival attendees and sold some art prints as well.

Everyone had a great time!

Beaumont Mural Festival

Beaumont Convention Bureau

 

Star Wars Commission Art/These are the Droids you're looking for

 

Click on the pic for more detail

This was a commission someone asked for for a huge Star Wars fan. I drew Star Wars scenes and characters in the border of my art print Transcendence. It came out pretty cool I think!  Some of my faves from this piece are the Darth Vaders, Darth Maul, the two Jawas on the bottom, Cloud City, the Death Star and the Probe Droid. (I like Star Wars too!)

Contact me if you are interested in something like this!

#sciencefiction #sciencefictionart #randallensley

The Art of Randall Ensley

 I'm using Canvy to display some of my artwork for online posts.  The app allows the user to display their art in a variety of virtual rooms with a selection of frames, sizing, and wall colors.

Here's the link:  www.randallensley.art

The pricing for Canvy is reasonable, I'm using the $15 per month option. You get a discount if you pay a year in advance which makes the cost about $12.40 per month. With these two options one gets access to approximately 500 virtual rooms and a website.  There is a free version available too, however, your art is displayed with a Canvy watermark and you only get access to a limited number of virtual rooms.

I recommend it!

Napoleon's March to Moscow: Infographic Extraordinaire

 Probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, this map by Charles Joseph Minard portrays the losses suffered by Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign of 1812. Beginning at the Polish-Russian border, the thick band shows the size of the army at each position. The path of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in the bitterly cold winter is depicted by the dark lower band, which is tied to temperature and time scales. 

It is a great illustration of the formidable size of Napoleon's invading army, numbered near 400,000, represented in tan, and the effects of winter and the repelling and ultimate retreat of the invaders shown in black. By the end of the campaign, Napoleon's force was reduced to approximately 10,000 represented by the thin black line near the end of the infographic.

This poster and more products by Edward Tufte can be purchased at the following link:

https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters

A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson

 

Finally got around to reading this classic by prolific author Richard Matheson.  Enjoyable and suspenseful with a good ending.  Richard Matheson wrote, among other things, I Am Legend, which the Charlton Heston film Omega Man used as source material.  

M.C. Escher exhibit begins in Houston March 2022

I am looking forward to this upcoming M. C. Escher exhibition at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Lovely wife Pam took me to an Escher exhibit at the New Britain Museum of American Art about a decade ago. The most meaningful, transcendent and transformative art exhibit I have ever been to. Escher's art, widely seen in books, posters and prints, is a different experience when the original is viewed three feet from your face. Highly recommended, this exhibition features over 400 of Escher's works.

#houstonmuseumoffineart #houston #escher #sciencefictionart #mfah #texas

https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/virtual-realities-art-of-mc-escher?fbclid=IwAR0nbpgSmunlp5HKRjhVxehe2NZXAB52n-VuI3KB36LpPnD8q245VDvaIwo

Pahoa or Bust: One

Pahoa Natural Groceries

Way back when, in the mid-80's, I went on a whirlwind trip to Hawaii, including Maui and Oahu.  I had an extra ticket, so, I took one of my buds with me...that was about the extent of the plan.  We had no hotel or other reservations and decided to "wing it".  I know it's hard to believe in the post 9/11 world, but, boarding an airplane was a much less intensive experience back then.  What I mean to say is, one of the items we used as luggage was a plastic 10 gallon gas can which we cut a door in, to be used as a prop when attempting to hitch rides in the Hawaiian hinterlands.  Yes, a red 10 gallon gas can was allowed on the plane with basically a little explanation and joking around as to its true purpose.

Me and the infamous gas can luggage

As I mentioned, we had no plans...once we touched down at the airport in Honolulu, we started walking to find someplace to hang our hats for the evening.  We proceeded down the road from the airport and we had our first success with the gas can.  A fellow in a white pickup truck asked us if we needed a lift.  We explained that, yes, we could use a lift to Honolulu, but the gas can was just a prop, yada, yada, yada.  He got a kick out of it and told us to hop in.  As it turned out, he was leaving the airport after checking on his plane, a Cessna type private aircraft.  He related that he was a school teacher in Honolulu and inquired if we had a place to crash for the night.  We explained that we had no place to stay and little plans for the entire trip.  He offered to let us stay at his apartment and then asked us if we wanted to fly to the north side of the island the next day...but we would have to wash his airplane.  A fortuitous beginning to our trip!

Pink Cave after Louisa Chase

Pastel on Paper

This is a rather large drawing I did about 28 years ago or so based on a striking painting by Louisa Chase, Pink Cave, oil on canvas (1983).  I saw it on a trip to New York, probably at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as that is where the work resides now.  I just loved it...here is a link to the original artwork by Louisa Chase Pink Cave
Additional information from original post:  I just found out that the artist Louisa Chase passed away in May 2016.  Very sad news. NY Times obituary here

Star Trek Gorn Sketch Card: I Will Be Merciful...

One of my favorite characters from Star Trek, the Gorn Captain, drawn here on a sketch card.  Loved many things about this episode, Arena...the war story, the Gorn, the landscape of the alien planet, a.k.a, the California desert...the Macgyver invention of Captain Kirk.
This card is currently available on eBay Star Trek Gorn Sketch Card by Randall Ensley

BayouCon June 24-26, 2016

Good news! I will be an artist guest at BayouCon in Sulphur, Louisiana June 24-26, 2016.  I'll be in Artist Alley and enjoy interacting with all.  Hope to see you there!

Free Comic Book Day

Me at a previous year's FCBD.


Click on the logo for the link!

Author's note: This post is from a couple of years ago.
Free Comic Book Day approaches. This year it is concomitant with the release of Iron Man so there should be a cool mini-figure given away free along with all the comics.
I will be appearing at Sarge's Comics in downtown New London, CT. Sarge's is a great (and large) comic shop in New London. I'll be selling prints and copies of the book "Writers of the Future Vol. XXIII" in which I have a couple of illustrations. There's always a large contingent of Stormtroopers and the true star of "Escape from New York", wrestling legend Ox Baker.
Come on down!

Fatal Error by Randall Ensley

Fatal Error copyright Randall Ensley

Fatal Error was based on an early Soviet-style cosmonaut helmet and suit combination.  The trope of showing dire warnings in the reflection of the space helmet had probably been around for some time when this was created back in the early 2000's, but I thought the effect I got from this black and white pen and ink illustration produced exactly the results I wanted.

Into the Mist

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season.  What a time for science fiction and fantasy in pop-culture!  It's like all the things I was interested in in the 1970's is now crazy popular...from movies based on comics to a new Star Wars movie in the theaters.  Crazy.

I'm looking forward to a lot of things in 2016, from a new Daredevil season on Netflix to Captain America: Civil War.  Would also like to be involved in a comic-con or two.  I have recently relocated to Southeast Texas and there is a con close by, in Sulphur, LA, Bayoucon, that I want to reach out to.  Worldcon 2017 may even be in New Orleans.  If so, I will definitely apply for the art show.  My first Worldcon was in 2004 in Boston, MA.  What a blast, and I met some great people and artists who I've looked up to for some time.  Joe Devito, Dave Seeley, Frank Wu, Bob Eggleton and more.  I was lucky enough to have one of my pieces win a Judge's Choice Award in the art show.  I had so much fun and would love to participate again.

Final Frontier copyright 2002 Randall Ensley

Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo

Although I wouldn't have expected it, the town library where I am currently living, Nederland, TX, has an extensive graphic novel and comics section.  One of the largest I have seen in a library.  While there tonight I saw they have the 6 volume set of Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo.  For those who have only seen the animated movie, excellent in its own right, I have to recommend you read the much more detailed and deeper manga version...soon! I read it a few years ago, mostly online at mangareader.net...great artwork and story.  There's a further connection with me, Akira and Nederland.  In the 80's I was visiting my wife's family here and found a comic shop in a quonset hut.  Went in and saw a book called Akira and flipping through it I saw some imagery that was impacting.  I guess it was the first issue translated into English.  Purchased it and that was my first experience with this classic story. So, read the books if you like science fiction - your library can likely get them for you even if they don't have a copy, through an interlibrary loan.  Great artwork.

Katsuhiro Otomo wiki
mangareader.net

Happy Easter to All!

Happy Easter everyone!  I took this pic today from one of the places where I am lucky enough to work, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, TX.  This is inside the epiphyte greenhouse where some of the orchids being displayed. 

Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center