Sometimes, a magazine’s cover art jumps right off the page, or at least appears to! Case in point: John Schoenherr’s superb cover illustration for the April, 1962 issue of Analog. A thorough perusal of the magazine’s contents reveals a complete absence of similar or related astronaut-like artwork, particularly for Mack Reynold’s cover story “Mercenary” (though I’ve not yet actually read that story) while the issue’s table of contents lists no information about the cover other than the artist’s surname. Given the “anonymity” of the painting, perhaps it’s simply meant to convey an air of adventure, exploration, and drama befitting the magazine’s theme and ethos.
Regardless, it’s a great painting.
Though at first glance the color palette seems to be very limited, with little more than shades of gray and tan with little detail or complexity, a closer look (that is, via scanning) reveals subtleties not apparent to the naked eye. The astronaut’s spacesuit – arms; legs; torso – is comprised of sets of parallel, curved, plates, that abut against each other without actually overlapping. Kind of like a metallic snakeskin. In this, the suit resembles a flexible exoskeleton wrapped around a tighter, inner suit, evident from the sets of curved indentations in the astronaut’s forearms.
The helmet’s an interesting detail, too. It looks like it’s illuminated from the interior. But, the astronaut’s environmental control unit – if he has one! – doesn’t seem to be working too well, as there seems to be condensation building around the edges of his visor. (Or, he could be exerting himself and breathing heavily?)
Color-wise, the scan (I use an Epson scanner), which enhances minor variations in color just as much as it does light and shadow, reveals that the suit is actually in tones of very (very!) dark green, to black-green, as is the glowing sky behind the explorer.
But, who is he? What’s he doing?
He could be in pursuit. (Of someone.) He could be attempting to escape. (Someone else.) He could be a solitary explorer who’s just sighted “something”: something that will catapult him into realms previously unimagined. He could be a simple “everyman” of the future, when space travel (after centuries of travail, civilizational apathy, fear born of complacency and abundance, and, indecision) has become commonplace as much as contemporary air travel.
He could be all these things and more.
Perhaps in time, he will be.
Perhaps, in time he will be.
Here’s what this cover says:
Adventure
Bravery
Confidence
Courage
Discovery
Exploration
Fear (conquered!)
Purpose
Wonder
