Sailing the Seven Skies (30x15') Poster

"Sailing the Seven Skies" is a panoramic 3D rendering of a seascape in the Future That Never Was - where five adventurous rocket pilots have set out for who-knows-where, and are well on their way there as they come upon a rocky island and its mysterious, art deco complex - served by the ever-reliable monorail of the Retropolis Transit Authority. We must not quite have left civilization yet, if that's still possible. The rockets, as always, are my favorite open cockpit retro rocket roadsters - a mixture of some of my older ones and a couple that I've just modeled recently. The buildings are also a mixture of old and new; I nearly regret not using a maritime version of Potsdam's Einstein Tower - and I'm sure I'll do that one, one day - but the dome seemed to be much more what the island needed. You've got to pay attention to what these things are telling you as you work on them. The island grew out of some landscape modeling experiments I was doing last year, which continue to bear fruit. Neat stuff. The title is a phrase from "Wings Over the Navy" (1938), by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer. The version I listen to is Lew Stone's British recording from the early days of WWII - and I think the British version's lyrics were retooled by Charles Dunn. But what may be the best line is common to both versions: "We're high-sky riding aeronautical guys." I mean, beat that.