I recently completed a small painting with the aim of trying a bit less realism and also a slightly different brush technique than I'd normally do. Not just flat colour painted up to hard edges, or even blending, but something called "dry-brush". This is where paint is applied with less oil and the brush is "drier". It tends to sit on top of the surface and, on a textured canvas, shows more of the canvas weave. It also leaves some of the colour below visible.It is a fairly common way of painting and can be very effective (and "painterly").

Below are some of the stages the painting went through.

This was the first stage. In the past, I'd often consider this as "finished", although here it is quite clearly a bit flat and boring. It can be enlivened hopefully.

This "base" has to be touch dry.

Now I brushed (dry) some oil paint over the base. Too much yellow though. But you can wipe it off and carry on or start again.

More dry-brush, more of a yellow-ochre/orange and darker tint.

And the final painting, with more work on top.

As I've said before, a painting very often has to sit around and grow on you before you become happy with it. A photograph is not often the most accurate reflection of the final look of the work. I think this has been a successful test and possibly a painting that I'll end up liking.

I'd like to try something bigger. We will see how things go.

See the final work on my art site.

Fury
By Henry Kuttner

Henry Kuttner died young in 1958, only 42, and so we did not get a chance to see him develop as a writer over a long period. However, given that, he managed to write a lot in his short life, much in collaboration with his wife, Catherine Moore (C L Moore). They would often write together using pseudonyms (e.g. Lewis Padgett). This is my first read of either of them.

In Fury, the human race has fled an uninhabitable Earth for the oceans of Venus, living underwater in cities called "Keeps". The story follows the up and down trajectory of Sam Reed, an angry young man born in a Keep to parents he never knows. Sam is different, and not just because of his extreme ambition and intelligence (his fury) to get ahead. The Keeps have a hierarchy. There is the normal mass of people, happy to stay subdued as long as they are entertained and have a living; and the "Immortals" whose genetics give them a high intelligence and a long life. Sam looks like a base level human, but is he?

Sam Reed is certainly not a very moral or agreeable man and he uses both fair and foul means to rise to the top of the heap, if he can. And if he can stay there. Humanity is stagnating and the Immortals are standing in the way of any reform or progress. They also fight dirty, but so does Sam. Not everyone is happy with a managed life free of adventure or progress, and some want to see some of the excitement of old, perhaps by returning to fight and conquer the inhospitable Venusian land.

This novel is written in a basic "hard-boiled" type of sharp prose reminiscent of a crime thriller, with a clever underdog seeking revenge on the boss. Short and to the point, it is not a masterpiece but a readable pulp science-fiction classic.

Tatja Grimm's World
By Vernor Vinge

I'm quite a fan of Vernor Vinge's work but I've only written once about a novel he wrote: Across Realtime (actually an omnibus of two books). His most famous novels are A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky, both of which I have read twice and loved. He is certainly not a flashy or literary writer, but very capable and full of ideas. He is also not one for the overly gory, explicit or cringe worthy. But he can give you an exciting and gripping story, with surprises. I'm sorry he died last year, so no more new work to enjoy but I still have The Witling to read and a lot of short stories.

Tatja Grimm's World is an early work from Vinge, expanded from a short story published in 1968, then a novel in 1968 and fully formed in 1987. It appears to be almost a fantasy story, with the setting on a world with low technology and little scientific knowledge. Progress is being made however and Vinge does a homage to the "golden" age of SF and the pulps of the 30's and 40's. This world has a big audience for "science-fiction" and "fantasy" type pulp magazines, and some of the publishing houses produce and, literally, ship the magazines to a far flung audience. It's fun reading about the highs and the lows of being a discerning editor on a pulp.

Tatja Grimm herself is a six foot misfit on this world: tall and striking, with a high intelligence and drive for knowledge. Very clever but, it turns out, also quite manipulative and calculating. A good actor as well and her initial saving of the day in a hostage rescue is brilliantly conceived and a lot of fun. There is much more to her than meets the eye then and she has big ambitions that progress as the story unfolds.

I think Tatja Grimm's World is a short, interesting and enjoyable novel from an author just getting going. Vinge is a big believer in the scientific method and its power to push human progress and he continues this theme in his later and better books. This story is an adventure that starts as a rough fantasy but slowly turns into more of a science-fiction tale. It kept my interest throughout and there's a decent ending. A harbinger of good novels to come from the author I think.

And finally, I thought I'd bring up a small bugbear of mine: book covers. To some people (and I'd include my younger and immature self), they can make or break a book.

I have the paperback edition with the cover I show above. It's not very good. In fact, it has no relevance I can discern to the story itself. This used to be very common with science-fiction books: a cover that bears absolutely no relationship to the story inside. So, as some sort of compensation, I thought I'd show a different paperback cover for Vinge's novel.

On the right is the cover from Baen Books' 1987 edition, and I think the artist is Tom Kidd (who is new to me). This representation of Tatja Grimm is not too far from her "Barbarian Princess" character in the book. If this intrigues you, then read the book!