Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Industrial and Scientific Structure


During the 1980s I did illustrations for electronics and technology magazines, at the dawn of the Internet era when networking was just starting. One assignment I got was to illustrate all the means of communication that would form this network, in a symbolic way. The commission was to depict in artistic terms a long-range computer/telecommunication network, with individual features such as satellite dishes, computers, personal computers, radio towers, packet switching devices (rectangular white forms, looking like refrigerators), and local area networks inside buildings. In order to ensure technological accuracy, my client allowed me to visit and sketch one of their satellite dishes. The front of the dish wasn't that interesting but the back structure with its adjustable framework was artistically intriguing. I have always had a fondness for industrial and scientific structures. I would love to draw more of them but nowadays they are off limits due to security concerns so I have to draw them from photographs.

Black tech pen ink on sketchbook page, about 5" x 8", August 1986.

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