Australian artist and illustrator Ashley Wood (probably best known here for illustrating Tank Girl: The Gifting) loves war and robots. He's a fine draughtsman, but it is in his painting that he really shows off his talent; and this painting (above) illustrates it, with three qualities in particular (four, if you count robots!):
- The composition gives a sense of tension and anticipation (the robot to the left, gun raised in readiness, the shadowed foreground and the crooked street sign in what looks like a modern city street all evoke feelings of disharmony and uncertainty).
- Wood's trademark muted palette, all browns of varying degrees of warmth, plays on conventions of war-reportage, economically and realistically evoking hot, dusty futuristic warfare.
- finally, eerie light effects, give the painting depth and add to the realism of the scene. The main subjects, are in the middle-ground in mid-tones, the empty foreground is bisected by shadows and squeezed off to the right by shadows from the building on the left and in the background pale, dusty ruins loom out of a paler void.
Nice one!
Inspired by Ashley Wood. And this:
'Everyone knows that [Asimov's] laws will not work, because human beings will not use them when they build robots. Humans are lazy and weak and greedy, which is why robots will inevitably decide to kill them. We should expect this and come to terms with it. We have had a good run.'
I, for one, would like to welcome our robot overlords!
