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/$s_!G-Rq!,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!