TRANTORIAN DREAM
Cover for Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
Above the dreary spectacle of Trantor reduced to rubble, the protagonist gazes at the enigma of the Galaxy and attempts to divine its future course. The scene is actually a dream vision, as one could not be on Trantor viewing the Galaxy of which it is a part.
![LEFT: Preliminary concept for TRANTORIAN DREAM featuring the same general layout but the structures of Trantor that frame the spiral galaxy in the distance are set back farther. A spaceship floats just above the horizon and the spiral galaxy is rendered smaller. CENTER: Preliminary concept for TRANTORIAN DREAM with art direction by Don Munson on overlay. Text reads: "M. Thanks. Just great. Don. Need the revised sketch by Mon 7th—a must for pub meetings. Michael please do sketch at 10". Unseen warm red lighting source throwing long shadows & warm key [?] lighting to deep space. Keep ships very streamline more elliptical. Superstructure nebula person in some of the ruins will be embossed need slightly hard edge. RIGHT: Overlay with art direction from Don Munson against white background for better readability. Text reads: "M. Thanks. Just great. Don. Need the revised sketch by Mon 7th—a must for pub meetings. Michael please do sketch at 10". Unseen warm red lighting source throwing long shadows & warm key [?] lighting to deep space. Keep ships very streamline more elliptical. Superstructure nebula person in some of the ruins will be embossed need slightly hard edge.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdf67401b-3176-4fa6-842a-4dc404999a16_1983x1000.heic "LEFT: Preliminary concept for TRANTORIAN DREAM featuring the same general layout but the structures of Trantor that frame the spiral galaxy in the distance are set back farther. A spaceship floats just above the horizon and the spiral galaxy is rendered smaller. CENTER: Preliminary concept for TRANTORIAN DREAM with art direction by Don Munson on overlay. Text reads: \"M. Thanks. Just great. Don. Need the revised sketch by Mon 7th—a must for pub meetings. Michael please do sketch at 10\". Unseen warm red lighting source throwing long shadows & warm key [?] lighting to deep space. Keep ships very streamline more elliptical. Superstructure nebula person in some of the ruins will be embossed need slightly hard edge. RIGHT: Overlay with art direction from Don Munson against white background for better readability. Text reads: \"M. Thanks. Just great. Don. Need the revised sketch by Mon 7th—a must for pub meetings. Michael please do sketch at 10\". Unseen warm red lighting source throwing long shadows & warm key [?] lighting to deep space. Keep ships very streamline more elliptical. Superstructure nebula person in some of the ruins will be embossed need slightly hard edge.")
To create the jumbled, trash-heap surface of the planet, I experimented with welding plastic model parts together and using them as airbrush masks. The whole experience only served to remind me of why I rarely bother with model building, costume sewing, etc. The plastic pieces weren't flat enough to act as a mask over the board and they just soaked up the paint. I ended up painting the details out of my head anyway!
Dr. Asimov said of the cover, "It seems to me to be rather marvelous to be able to illustrate not a concrete scene but an abstract imponderable, and in such a way that it seems to brighten and deepen the book even to the writer himself."
Additional images from TRANTORIAN DREAM
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One of MW’s most iconic covers ever. It immediately conveys the idea of a person yearning for something better. There is so much detail here that I have always wished I could have seen the original!
The composition is unique in that the POV of the figure as well as a viewer of the picture sees the galaxy framed by not one but two structural remnants. I don’t recall any other MW painting that does this. It really serves to make the galaxy the focal point of the picture!