Welcome to the March 2019 edition of the Fan Art Forum Contest. I recently took a look at old art contests. Back in the day, whoever started a new contest would include a long list of previous contests. It got me to thinking about something I always was curious about Trek. One of the images I always found intriguing....those starbases big enough for the Enterprise D to fit inside. I always wished we got to see what they've got in there. We've heard about how the Galaxy Class starship are pretty much cruise liners of the fleet. But the accommodations and amenities we saw on the Enterprise D most likely pales in comparison to what we would find in one of those starbases pictured above. At the same time, I was thinking about the upcoming St. Patrick's Day and how some folks like to go to bars and drink green beer. So lets imagine what kind of places we might see folks, both Starfleet and civilian ,could go and celebrate something like St. Patrick's Day aboard such a starbase. It can be anything from a scene of a room full of people having fun, to a sign, to a "trekkized" beer draft counter. Here are the rules (from the Art Challenge Guidelines): the artwork you submit should be created during the month of the challenge only one final image can be submitted (although it may contain multiple views) your final entry should be posted in this thread (although dedicated WIP threads are appreciated) Any questions or suggestions? Please don't hesitate to ask. Have fun! Thanks in advance for pinning this thread, @Michael
Aboard the starbase? I'm hoping for entries resembling what we saw on DS9, or a less gritter version of Babylon 5... Though I do have a head-canon idea that some of those starbases especially in rougher regions far from the core worlds does have some kind of "underworld" communities in the bowels of the structure.
Here's my entry, with some background info: "O'Ryan's Planet (discovered by Starfleet Commander Paddy O'Ryan, first officer of the NX-03 in 2191) was an emerald green planet that was home to the local Shamin Priests, and by the late 23rd century, was the site of a Spacedock type starbase. The base orbiting the planet celebrated St. Patrick's day with unusual zeal, replacing the furniture in every room with lime green couches and serving nothing but Aldebaran Whiskey in varying shades of green in every lounge. There was even a special St. Patrick's Day light show, during which all blue exterior and interior lights on the starbase were changed to bright green for an hour. Captain James T, Kirk once visited during his command of the Enterprise-A during the starbase's 100th St. Patrick's day celebration, and was quoted as saying 'I like green as much as the next person, but I could stand to never see it again after tonight.'"
^I'm aware. But I always felt the potential of what we could have seen was never realized. Anyway, here's something I just worked on...
I'll have something finished* soon - within a couple of hours, I hope... * i.e. a hideous rush-job that's not what I intended
So, just for fun I did finish my idea after all. Out of competition, of course. It's a small lonely bar located at the lower ball of Earth Spacedock looking up all along its mushroom shape. It's called “Bottoms Up”.
@Michael that is really cool. love the perpendicular artificial gravity. would have gotten my vote...
Oh Man. I would have voted for that. I love the upside-down spacdock image with the "bottoms up". That's awesome.
This would have got my vote, too. Such a clever idea, @Michael! I love the 3D chess set against the background plant. I wonder what the rather lonely celebration is? Or is it a surprise party, with all his friends about to jump out?
I love that whole concept. The Mushroom always gives me mixed feelings. It's gorgeous, but I think the idea of it in Earth orbit is ridiculous. It's Star Wars sized instead of Star Trek sized. But the fact that it has vast nooks and crannies like this one to be explored is terrific. Wonderful inspiration, lovely execution. (And I just noticed the sign!)
Thanks for all the kind words, everyone! I'm glad y'all seem to like the piece. I had so much fun doing it, I'm not sure why I don't do more stuff in this style. I imagine it to be a down on his luck Starfleet officer who's kinda stuck in his career. Maybe he's thinking about getting transferred off to some other post.
He was supposed to be shepherding some newly decommissioned starship to Surplus Depot Z15 at Qualor II, but someone stole the damn thing before he could go aboard, so he said screw it and went to have a drink.