Kiss me, Hardy
01/12/2002 . Source: Paul Barnett 

Science fiction illustrator David A. Hardy interviewed. Very few artists have been able to tackle both comprehensively researched astronomical art and sf art with equal success. But David is a triumphant exception.

PS: You have an international reputation as a science fiction artists and another international reputation as an astronomy/space artist. Do you ever feel drawn more towards pursuing one of these two fields than the other, or is it that in your own mind there isn't really a division between them?

DAH: SF and an interest in space have always gone hand in hand. I started reading sf when I was about 13 (and there wasn't a lot about then - not a lot of sf, either), and picked up my first pulp mags on holiday in Blackpool with my parents.
I love roller coasters and such rides, by the way. Flying in small 'planes and helicopters when I get the chance, too.

Why do I mention that? Well, UK readers will know: Blackpool for many years had the best rides of that kind in the country. May still do. But almost as soon as I found I could draw and paint a bit, I started painting my ideas of other planets, spaceships and stuff. Much to the amusement of my school "friends", who used to draw me about going to the Moon, meanwhile sniggering behind my back.

Well we know who had the last laff, don't we?
However, there's a practical side to this question too. If I had relied on astronomical art, I would have starved. I've always had to do some sf art as part of making a living. I do see a division between them, but I would never paint a science fiction subject that was inaccurate scientifically. Not knowingly, anyway!

PS: Your covers for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction are well known. How did you, as a British artist, get into working for the magazine in the first place?

DAH: Yes, that was quite a breakthrough. I did my first published sf art around 1969-70 - I like to say (boringly) that this was also the time when science fiction became science fact). Firstly for Vision of the Future, a British mag edited by Phil Harbottle with Australian backing, with its covers printed (surprisingly well) in three colours.

Then, for the art show at SCI-CON, the annual Easter SF convention in London (though the art was actually shown in a mainstream gallery), I painted a 20" x 36" scene of Titan - with a huge Sphinx on it, being ogled by a couple of spacemen. I sent a 35mm slide of this to Ed Ferman at F&SF (which I read, of course), and he replied that, if I would do a vertical version, he'd use it. That cover appeared in June 1971.

In 1972 my book with Patrick Moore, Challenge of the Stars, was published. That was supposed to be a sort of 'modern' version of Chesley Bonestell's Conquest of Space (with text by Willy Ley), and F&SF had for years published Bonestell's "pure" space art on its covers. So it seemed natural for F&SF to print some of my space art from Challenge (which, incidentally, Patrick and I had first discussed back in 1954). In fact they used no less than five, consecutively.

Then Ed started sending me stories to illustrate, some of which were quite a challenge as they were outside my "normal" space art, but which I enjoyed greatly. I've always been grateful to Ed for giving me this opportunity, so can I say "Thanks, Ed!" publicly?

I have actually done 50 covers for F&SF to date, and the 50th (for "All the Birds of Hell" by Tanith Lee) was my first to be done all-digitally for the mag. Hey, it's amazing how writing stuff like this brings back your memory, isn't it?

PS: You've done a lot of stuff with Patrick Moore. What's it like working with Patrick? And are the two of you working on anything new at the moment?

DAH: I actually illustrated my first book for Patrick, Suns, Myths and Men, in 1954, when I was 18. I had to produce eight illustrations in five days before joining the Royal Air Force for National Service (conscription, draft, you know . . .), and it's been like that ever since!

I spent much of my spare time in the RAF Medical Branch (don't ask) painting illos for a hoped-for Challenge of the Stars, with all my materials spread out on the big table in the Dentists' Waiting Room. Then in 1957, when Patrick's The Sky at Night started on BBC TV, I was the illustrator - in black-and-white, of course.

That book never made it, but just after Challenge _was_ published, in 1972, I remarked to Patrick that I'd like to write my own books - probably for children at first. He encouraged me, and so between 1974 and 1979 I wrote and illustrated The Solar System, Rockets and Satellites, Air and Weather, Light and Sight and Energy and the Future for Heinemann/World's Work, culminating in the adult book Atlas of the Solar System.

Unfortunately, at some point early in this process Patrick somehow got the idea that I'd taken a children's series away from him (as if I would, or could!), and stopped using me. We have sorted all that out now, and are good friends, but it took many years, and we hope to work together again.

In fact . . . I had the idea of doing a New, NEW version of Challenge (there was a "New" edition in 1978), now that we have actually visited (by proxy) nearly all of the worlds shown in the first Challenge, and compare how the reality compares with our ideas of 20 years ago. I know that someone not a million light years from this interview likes this idea, so I still have hopes.

PS: Your nonfiction writing is well recognized, in books like Visions of Space and of course Challenge (the latter with Patrick Moore). Have you ever thought of putting us scribblers to shame and turning your attention to writing science fiction?

DAH: OK, we've touched upon Challenge quite a lot, but I guess it was a watershed in my life. I wrote all the captions to my illos myself, and input some of the text relating to my visions too. I had also written a lot of article for magazines, both art and science. Visions of Space (published in 1989 by Dragon's World) came about because of an article I wrote for New Scientist about a workshop to be held, in 1988, in Iceland by the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA), which the publisher saw.

I designed, edited and wrote it, obtaining work from 72 space artists, and it covers the history of space art from 1874 to what was then the present day. It was a labour of love; a lot of work, but I loved every minute. Again, this begs for a new edition . . .
Oh, and for the last three years I've been President of the IAAA - the first non-North American prez.

But you're talking about fiction aren't you? I've written quite a few short stories, a few of which have been published - mainly in rather obscure mags like the Dutch Orbit, though my first story actually appeared in 1952 in the Birmingham Evening Mail! A few years ago I realized that two of my stories, outwardly very different, could be linked and expanded into a novel. So, while illustration work was a bit quiet (i.e., I was "resting", as the actors say), I wrote a novel called A Child of Two Worlds, part of which is set on Mars (but it's not the sort of story you probably think).

Richard Evans at Gollancz kept it for about six months, and 'phoned to say that he liked it and wanted to publish it. My first novel! Sadly, he became ill and died suddenly shortly after that, and the editor who took it over wasn't so keen, so it has now sat on a shelf for some years. Perhaps I'll get up the enthusiasm to try again with it one day - if Richard, an experienced and well-respected editor, liked it, it must have some merit? I do have another novel partly written, but that's it.

PS: I assume astronomical artists like Chesley Bonestell must have had a pretty profound influence on you, both in youth and over the years since. What other artistic influences do you reckon have been important to you?

DAH: Chesley Bonestell was a huge influence in my early days, as were Arthur C. Clarke and his books with Ralph (R.A.) Smith, such as The Exploration of Space. It was the photographic nature of Chesley's paintings which impressed me, and I worked hard to achieve something close to that standard.

It was also important to study astronomy and science (which fortunately I loved anyway; at school I was equally good at art and science subjects, which made it difficult for everyone, not least myself, when it came to choosing a career) to ensure accuracy. My work for Challenge was checked and commended by NASA, which was nice (as someone said).

As to other artistic influences: too many to mention here. The chiaroscuro of Rembrandt, Magritte and Dali's surrealistic work - I could go on (but I won't).

PS: Like most of the other artists working in this field, you've started doing more on computer and less using traditional media. How have you found it adapting to and working with the new technology? And to what extent do you still work with the traditional tools?

DAH: I've always embraced new technology, and used it in my work when I could. I also tend to change direction every few years, which at least avoids getting stale, I suppose. (I hope.) So I moved from just painting to writing, and around 1980 I took up photography, setting up a darkroom in the cloakroom under the stairs.

I've also made use of xeroxes. So as soon as I thought computers had reached a point where they could be useful, I got one. An Atari ST 520, with 512k (yes, K) of RAM. I moved up through 1040, 2MB, then got a PowerMac 7100, until now I use a G3 400 with 512Mb - the same amount as I had k!

I'm definitely a Mac man. As it happens, as far as illustration work is concerned, if I hadn't moved into digital art I would now be almost self-unemployed, as 90% of my work is done in Photoshop 5. My last major job, an atlas of the universe, was for an Australian publisher, with the author in the USA. I sent JPEGs by e-mail for checking, and finally sent the files on CD. It's sf come true, isn't it? I love it.

I have built my own website, too, at www.hardyart.demon.co.uk, with lots of art, photos, and some "surprise" stuff. But: I still love painting. You can't beat the hands-on "feel" and smell of real paints, the textures, the impasto, the mess, all the stuff you can't really do on a screen. So my work has become divided into illustration, on the Mac, and Fine Art - commissions "for framing", mainly, though I do have a book full of ideas that I want to paint when I have time(!).

Again, I have some ideas for combining work done digitally with real painting. We'll see.

PS: Have you done anything apart from your book work?

DAH: Oh yes. I've always done work for television - programmes like Tomorrow's World, Horizon and, in the States, Cosmos, by the late lamented Carl Sagan, who also owned several of my originals; plus videos and more recently art for computer games and packaging.

I've done a surprising amount of advertising work too, for clients as unlikely as Guinness and Mecca Bookmakers. But I've also worked on several movies; some with American songwriter Kenny Young (Under the Boardwalk and many more), none of which have yet made it to the screen, sadly. But in 1982 I worked for six months in Munich on the film The Neverending Story, doing production art, which was a fascinating experience.

PS: Is there anything you would have liked to do, but never did?

DAH: I've always found the world of movies compelling, and in 1965 I almost worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey. That's also too long a story to go into here, but it did lead to me leaving my steady job at Cadbury's (yes, chocolate boxes; all right, but somebody has to paint 'em, don't they?) and going freelance, which I've been ever since.

What I would really have liked to do was matte art, though - you know, the sort of stuff that used to be painted on glass, so that you could show a castle or a spaceship or whatever on a real scene. I think my style would have suited that. But of course that too is all done digitally these days - and largely using 3D programs, which I've never really got into. I don't find them at all intuitive. I guess I'm destined to be either a paint-mover or a pixel-mover.

But then again . . .

PS: David Hardy, thank you very much.

You can see more of David's work at www.astroart.org or find out about his new book 'Hardyware' at Paper Tiger.

A version of this article originally appeared in The Snarl, Paper Tiger's reader zine. Many thanks to Snarl's Editor extraordinaire, Paul Barnett (www.papertiger.co.uk), for letting us recycle their prose.