THE SMOKE RING

Cover illustration for Larry Niven

Dec 16, 2024

An abstract environment of blue sky crossed by a defuse line of pale yellow light radiating between two distant suns to form a tilted false horizon. In the immediate foreground right, a man extends out from a spherical puffball of plant matter to grab at a woman with swim flippers floating gravity free. She is costumed in a yellow sleeveless top with plunging neckline that is cinched at the waist. Her lavender pants are similarly light fabric, and she wears something akin to webbed swim flippers on her feet. The movement and light evokes and under the sea feeling, but there is no water. — THE SMOKE RING (1988), Acrylic - 32" x 48"

I was already fascinated with Larry Niven's free-fall environment, and then in this book I was especially taken with his descriptions of life in and around the "Clump." The Clump is a LaGrange point within the Smoke Ring where curious matter of all types has collected; in the deepest part of the interior it is flowing "soup," an area the inhabitants call the "Dark."

LEFT: A figure sketch in pencil of a nude woman wearing swim fins. One knee is up obstructing the view of her crotch. Her arms are up and out as she glances back over her shoulder. Smaller sketches nearby provide a different position for her arm and details of the swim fins. RIGHT: A trio of figure sketches (two facing away) in swim poses. One of the figures has swim fins on their feet. The other two have spherical domes over their heads. The arm position mimics propulsion with one wide like a butterfly stroke, the next with arms back at their side, and the last with arms working in unison paddling under. In the upper right words are scribbled: "Rather in the dark" — Sketches for THE SMOKE RING

Given the already strange ecology of the Smoke Ring proper, the addition of organisms peculiar to the Clump made for an intriguing proposition irresistible to an illustrator.

In this view, the Clump flows into our field of vision from the lower left corner. Spherical green puffball plants and "jungles" provide shelter for some inhabitants of the region, while (from the painter's angle) providing an essential reference to the Earthbound viewer for spatial distance and perspective.

Tonal preliminary concept for THE SMOKE RING featuring the layout of the cover. A pair of vertical lines in white on gray mark where the spine will fall on the dustjacket. The background left lacks the detail of creatures and buildings, only portraying clouds and spheres of plants. The right shows a figure reaching out of a puffball while a nude female playfully avoids the grab. A tilted false horizon is rendered in white connecting a sun partially hidden behind clouds and another smaller starburst. — Preliminary concept for THE SMOKE RING

Strange life forms, the peculiar geometric "huts" of the human inhabitants of the region, ponds, clouds, and other strange objects float around like shapes in a Miro painting. In fact, there is so much going on in there that I was concerned that the human activity on the right would clutter things up too much!

Unlike the painting I did for the cover of The Integral Trees this one encompasses both suns within its field of view though they are somewhat obscured by haze or Clump material.

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Additional images from THE SMOKE RING

LEFT: Detail from the foreground of THE SMOKE RING featuring a man reaching out from a spherical puffball of plant matter to grab at a woman with swim flippers floating gravity free. A fishlike creature with wings glides above them. Aliens birds with four wings approach the sphere, possibly attracted by the starfish like organisms on its surface. RIGHT: Detail from the background of THE SMOKE RING featuring a dark cloud that flows like soup. Several small clusters of plant matter have a single rootlike tentacle growing out of them. Several buildings in various extended cube arrangements float past the darkness. — Details from THE SMOKE RING

Book cover for THE SMOKE RING by Larry Niven, published by Del Rey Books — **The Smoke Ring** by Larry Niven (Del Rey)

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Herman Bozeman

Dec 17

Beautiful artwork! Thank you for sharing.

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Rick Tucker

Dec 22

I miss your book cover art. I know you still work in that area, and I know it's not possible to keep up the pace you once did, but going to a book store and seeing a new cover illustration on a regularly basis is sorely missed. The Smoke Ring cover was one of your best.

THE SMOKE RING

Cover illustration for Larry Niven

Additional images from THE SMOKE RING

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