Friday, April 06, 2007

Stephan Martiniere: Hugo Nominee Profile

The fifth and final Hugo Nominee profile. Although I have opinions about who I think should win this particular year (which I won’t share here, I’m afraid) in the long run they are all excellent and deserving artists. I hope all those judging this category take some time and look through each of the nominees' websites and think about who has made the most effect on you personally and the most impact on the field generally.

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Stephan Martiniere attended high school at one of the most renowned art schools in Paris. Since then he has worked between Asia and the United States in almost every visual media.

He has worked as a director for television animation series, including the musical adaptation Madeleine which received the ACT Awards, the Parent’s Choice Award and an Emmy nomination.
Stephan created environments for theme parks and designed motion rides such as “Star Trek: The Experience” and “The Race For Atlantis” in Las Vegas. These projects led him to Hollywood, where he had the opportunity to design for the feature films Virus, The Astronaut's Wife, Red Planet, I, Robot, and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Currently Stephan works as an art director for Midway Games.

Stephan’s ability to create lavish and convincing city and space-scapes has made him a highly sought after book cover artist. His work can be seen on covers for Larry Niven, Karl Schroeder, Spider Robinson, Joel Shepard, and many others throughout the US and Europe.


His concept designs and illustrations have garnered him a gold Spectrum Award, and an award of excellence and two master awards from Exposé. This is Stephan's second consecutive year as a Hugo nominee.


Stephan Martiniere’s art books,
Quantum Dreams and Quantum Scapes, are available from Design Studio Press.

Earlier interview with Stephan here.

PAINTINGS:
Cover for A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham. (Tor Books)
Cover for Mainspring by Jay Lake. (Tor Books)
Cover for Variable Star by Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson. (Tor Books)

5 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

His work is so amazing. I need to get off my butt and finally buy some prints from him. Just got a new, bigger office at work that has wall space that would be perfect for a couple of Martiniere prints.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for posting this series, Irene! :-) I've already bought Picacio's and Palencar's books in the last few months, and now (thanks to your overview & links) I'm buying one of Eggleton's and considering one or both of Martinière's books. ;-)

Now, if only Giancola had a book of art...sigh, I'd buy that. (The "catalogs" and children's book are not the same.)

Irene Gallo said...

Carl - I got a print of MAINSPRING for a family member for Christmas. By the time it was all framed up I was REALLY regretting giving it away!

Kendall - I hate to speak for Donato but, from what I understand, he wants to wait until he has time to "do it right" but he's just so busy all the time. I too hope that he gets to it at some point. I know that he really wants to show his process -- if you've ever heard him lecture on influence and process, it's fascinating. It'll be a great book whenever it happens.

Anonymous said...

I'll patiently wait. ;-) Meanwhile, I'm buying way too many art books...I think you're partially to blame. ;-) Hehehe.

Stewart Sternberg (half of L.P. Styles) said...

This is awe inspiring. What strikes me most about Martiniere is his ability to imbue a work with depth. I would imagine if it was large enough, one could imagine stepping through one of his works, or looking out into a dizzying vista. Truly wonderful work here.