ARKADY

Cover illustration for Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Feb 24, 2025

With a leather bag over her shoulder, a young woman with red hair stands on a metal platform set against a pastoral backdrop and blue skies. She wears an olive green jacket and striped shorts with yellow tights. Caught mid-step, she turns her head toward the audience. The angle of her legs are a mirror of the twisted metal of decaying towers that collapse into each other. — ARKADY (1985), Acrylic on Canvas - 32" x 20"

Having passed through terrible destruction, the former hub of the Galaxy in Isaac Asimov's classic opus is now a pastoral world. The young heroine Arkady stands on the edge of a high metallic ruin and the last remnants of the long lost Empire rise to form the shape of an archway leading through the lessons of the past to a new bright future.

LEFT: Pencil sketch for ARKADY featuring her with legs caught in a v and her head turning toward the audience. RIGHT: Color study for ARKADY featuring a rough rendering of the central figure framed by twisted towers collapsing into each other. The sky is notably a yellow-orange gradient blending with green. — Pencil sketch and color study for ARKADY

Natural forces have regained dominance. The beautiful blue sky has a few clouds signifying the renewed freedom of weather no longer controlled by the city planet and native life forms are attacking the metal. What looks like a simple portrait has many layers of meaning.

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