To wrap up #ScifiMonth, I thought I’d search around for an artist that does sci-fi inspired art—and voila! Today’s feature is: Pascal Blanché and his rusty, dusty, vermillion and chartreuse beings and universes. He’s apparently the Art Director of Ubisoft (creators of Assassin’s Creed) but he does his own projects on the side, one of them being a Tumblr project called “Stardust” in which he focuses more on compact starships and hulking space stations flitting and floating in the nebulae-filled backdrops of space. The works I’ve chosen for this post are my favorites of his. He calls his body of work windows into his “Derelict Planet“—and you totally do get a sense of worlds older than time, places preserved in the lost stillness of space, and beings with ancient eyes and far-flung thoughts.
I like his art because there is something very retro about it. Like, check out this alien’s gear! Those heavy cables and thick metal rods and segments look bulky and unwieldy yet she carries it all with grace.
Deep inside some ancient stone monument—a being finds a ball of something that looks like it’s made of cast-iron. I like the rust that seems to be slowly creeping over her armor/gear…does she ever take it off? Or is it merged with the organic part of her?
Satellite-esque starships zipping in a debris-filled zone full of floating mines or mini death stars.
This one has fantasy flavors in it, with the silver, almost celtic-inspired jewelry.
A war-wearied soldier waits for the shower of—what might is be? Bombs? Ships?—to fall. I like the detail of his shoulder patch, and the look of his comfortably-worn uniform and well-used gear.
This one has a very shamanistic vibe to it. I love the blazing color palette. Apparently many of Pascal Blanché’s works are inspired by classics like Frank Herbert’s Dune.
“Hypersleep” by Pascal Blanché
I get the chills looking at this one—what are these beings willing to do to achieve deep sleep? It reminds me of the dark, unstirred depths of the ocean.
I really like this one for its bone-white colors and pastel tinge. From his deviantArt page, Pascal Blanché explains that he “made this one, wondering what a space native would look like”. This alien being almost looks like a dessicated spore floating through space, waiting for optimal conditions before re-hydrating and waking up.
One of my favorites is this rusty-looking piece featuring a giant being and a tiny being engaging in some sort of silent conversation facilitated by all that ancient-looking gear. The color tones here are lovely and warm and give off this feeling of stillness and meditation.
I love this being’s skin tone and the rune-like symbols projected in the light around her add flavors of fantasy and mythology as well as a distinct alien-ness. It gives me the shivers!
A young huntress calming her partner at the sight of something threatening in the dust-filled horizon. When I saw this one, I had to add it into my top favorites list. Because…Dinosaur! This one is telling a story in a world that I want to read about!
From Pascal Blanché’s own words: “Based on the King’s arthur legends.. with a SCIFI twist, here comes Uther Pendragon, Arthur’S father and First Ruler of Britania”. Love it! It kind of looks like Uther sat down at his throne and just never left…becoming petrified from the constant blast of desert heat…becoming part of his stone throne.
Again, a gorgeous bright piece, treading the line between myth, fantasy, and science-fiction.
My last favorite of his works is Pascal Blanché’s imagining of Princess Irulan from the Dune-verse. We get a sense of the intimacy of the cozy, velvet-strewn and amber-lit room as well as the black-blue infinity of the galaxy—microcosmic and macrocosmic all merged within the power embodied in the being’s face. I love the symmetry of this piece!
Do you have any favorite sci-fi artists?
Always Dreaming 
Aw wow, these are lovely. I’m tingling that the Nomad has a USCSS Nostromo patch on xyr arm – I have such a soft spot for the early Alien movies, and there’s so much scope for having alien crew!
Imyril – Yeah, I like the detail of the patch and the references to the movie. The early Alien movies were so awesome 😀 Ripley is so awesome!!
Wow, wow, wow! These are gorgeous. I love in particular the Mermaid and Dinoblues.
Thanks for sharing these.
Lynn 😀
These are all so beautiful and detailed. I don’t keep track of sci-fi or fantasy artists enough. They do such a wonderful job of portraying a feeling, a scene, an idea. It really is wonderful to look at an artists work like this. Thanks, Sharry!
So beautiful! 😀
Jan – I don’t usually keep track of sci-fi artists, I mostly collect fantasy ones. But these ones were kind of toeing the line between both, probably why I instantly liked them!
proxyfish – Aren’t they? 😛
Lynn – You’re welcome! I’m glad I came across Pascal Blanche’s art, they’re so colorful and atmospheric! Dinoblues is one story I’d like to read/see 😀