Wednesday, January 4, 2023
Star Wars Commission Art/These are the Droids you're looking for
Thursday, March 10, 2022
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!
Monday, March 7, 2022
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.
This poster and more products by Edward Tufte can be purchased at the following link:
https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
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.
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
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
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Pahoa or Bust: One
Pahoa Natural Groceries |
Me and the infamous gas can luggage |
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Pink Cave after Louisa Chase
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Pastel on Paper |
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
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
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
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
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!
Friday, February 12, 2016
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!
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Fatal Error by Randall Ensley
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Fatal Error copyright Randall Ensley |
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Sunday, December 27, 2015
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.
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Final Frontier copyright 2002 Randall Ensley |
Monday, April 6, 2015
Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
Katsuhiro Otomo wiki
mangareader.net
Saturday, April 4, 2015
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
Friday, April 3, 2015
Retro Reading: Hugo Award Winning Books (or Books that I Thought had won the Hugo!)
As I am writing this, I was about to include Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, but I notice that it did not win the Hugo when it was published. I found it to be one of the more disturbing and memorable of the books I have read recently and I picked it up thinking it must have won the Hugo based on all the acclaim it has received over the years. I believe I have read that the Hugo wasn't given out the year it was published (1953) although it was nominated for a Retro Hugo in 2004...it didn't win!
The original three Foundation books by Isaac Asimov...didn't win the Hugo! But I read them knowing they were part and parcel of a science fiction readers lexicon.
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov was another collection of books that were so "classic" that I assumed were Hugo Award winners. They were fun and I could definitely see how they inspired ideas in many films and subsequent books, including Star Wars.
Arthur C. Clarke has won some Hugo Awards, but this book, The Songs of Distant Earth, wasn't even nominated. Written in 1986, it presages the internet and a few other contemporary aspects of life. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone...it deals with global calamity and escape from our world to survive, but the crisis does not come from climate change.
What books have you read that you thought had won the Hugo or other awards but hadn't? Or what books do you think should have been nominated?
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Recent Reads: Hugo Award Winning Novels
A couple of years ago, in between books that I was waiting to read, I decided how could I go wrong by catching up on some Hugo Award winning books? I started with Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh and followed it up with Way Station by Clifford Simak. A good start on my retro-reading journey.
I am a big fan of Starship Troopers and had a hankering to read The Forever War by Joe Haldeman for some time. Read The Forever War and found it so memorable and well written - absolutely loved it!
I am a really big Philip K. Dick fan, although his concepts are difficult for me to wrap my head around. I've read quite a few of his books and next on my Hugo winners journey I chose The Man in the High Castle, which has just recently been released as a TV pilot for a mini-series perhaps? Challenging writing but, again, very rewarding. I have recently begun reading the comic series Saga and am seeing elements of The Man in the High Castle in parts of it, or maybe it is my imagination.
Gateway by Frederik Pohl seemed intriguing, so, I snatched it up next...Wow! Very good, highly recommended! A well-deserved Hugo Award winner!
That wasn't the end of my plunge into old-school science fiction that I should have read 30 years ago but just getting around to recently. It turned out to be a winning strategy as they were all high rate! Will post more next time.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Primetime by Randall Ensley
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Primetime by Randall Ensley |
The contest is well worth entering for those who have a desire to create science fiction or fantasy art for books, magazines, role-playing games, etc. I made friendships which persist to this day and was treated very well during the workshop week, which culminates in a black tie awards ceremony. So many luminaries in the science fiction and fantasy world are in attendance that one can get a little starstruck. All in all a very memorable and rewarding experience!
I was lucky enough to be asked to produce two illustrations for the book because one of the winners dropped out. This illustration, Primetime, is for a story of the same name by author Douglas Texter. It is about a future where journalists are able to traverse time to record important events in human history, similar to a reality show/primetime news program. Things go amiss when one reporter attempts to record the bombing of Hiroshima.