The Young Explorers	The Africa Nebula	Knights Of Thunder	Klingon Bird Of Prey (Cover- AMT ERTL Model Kit)
Klingon Battlecruiser Kor'Toh (Cover- AMT ERTL Model Kit)	U.S.S. Enterprise N.C.C.-1701 (Cover- AMT ERTL Model Kit)	Legendary Space Encounter (Cover- AMT ERTL Model Kit)	Earth's Hope (Cover- Analog Magazine)
Babylon 5 Starfury	Battlestar Galactica (Cover- Revel/Monogram Model Kit)	Moon Flower (Interior- Analog Magazine)	The Keveron
Realm of the Emperor (Cover- AMT ERTL Model Kit)	Planet E-Ar.124	The Crystal Lake	The Portrait Nebula
Behind The Stars (Cover- AMT ERTL Model Kit)	Cylon Base Star (Cover- Revel/Monogram Model Kit)	U.S.S. Enterprise N.C.C.-1701-B (Cover- AMT ERTL Model Kit)	U.S.S. Voyager (Cover- Revel/Monogram Model Kit)
The Artifact	Intergalactic Strip Poker	Seven Days On The Moon Cover- Artemis Magazine)	Intruder

Science Fiction Artist's Statement

Welcome to the Randy Asplund Sci Fi web page. I do most of my SF and Fantasy paintings and drawings on commission for publication and have illustrated Star trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Dune, Babylon 5, and other topics for my clients. My work has appeared on books, top SF magazines like Amazing Stories and Analog, on model kit covers, merchandise packaging, and collectible card games (CCGs).

I have always loved good stories of fantastic things, and embraced the notion that science and technology have an awesome power to shape our lives and our culture. To me, the art of Science Fiction is an exploration of this potential and a peek at what the future might bring. With that glimpse of what could be, we can consider better what should be. Science fiction has been used far more by our society to predict social trends and cultural changes than most people really realize. It has also been used as satire to comment on contemporary politics, and human abuses, as well as to show us heroes to be held as role models. Science Fiction is a safe way to look at ourselves because the fantastic nature of the story distances us as outside viewers while allowing us to observe and consider the concepts.

I love to let my mind race through the ages, to visit strange worlds, and to try to envision what might be out there amongst the stars. To me, Science Fiction art is the ultimate tool of creation and thought because there really are no limits. No context is bounded, and so the imagination is completely free to roam. But it is not in me to be haphazard with my visions. I often paint the details so that the viewer can believe that they are looking at something that could be real. To me, a Science Fiction painting is a story, and I believe a story is most successful when the audience finds it easy and compelling to suspend their disbelief. I like to paint many of my works realistically so that the viewer feels comfortable participating in the vision.

Not all of my Science Fiction art is for publication. When I can paint subjects from my own inspiration I usually find myself using my art to express concepts with some kind of message. This may be a comment on political or cultural issues, or the suggestion of a "what-if" situation to be considered by the viewer. For example, my painting The Young Explorers is based on a true story of how my nephew, growing tired of his third birthday party, eventually climbed into his little electric car and drove across the field and into the woods. It occurred to me that if he was comfortable doing this on his third birthday, he must have been doing it as a two-year old! And then I thought how in the future parents might be buying "smart" buggies for their children that would be able to walk into a forest with the whimsical push button direction of an even younger child. The machine might walk through any terrain while being smart enough to stay in the family's own back yard. The painting is about how in the future children will be learning to interface with technology at even younger ages, and how parents might tend to allow machines to take charge of their kids rather than taking the time to be with them themselves. Will the ultimate toy/babysitter remove the parent from the responsibility of participating in their child's formative years?