John "The Anti-Jefferies" Eaves Blog Online

[Praetor]

I think JNG summed it up well upthread.

John has a very good drawing style that I admire, if occasionally his ships seem repetitive. And not everyone types like an editor.

 

[RapidNadion]

Well, I just spent a good 45 minutes over on Eaves' blog, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Don't quite understand the snarkiness.

 

[sojourner]

I love Eave's art. I just feel his love for greebles would be more suited in Star Wars and not Star Trek. If you look past his fondness for over detailing you can see some really cool designs.

 

[Dukhat]

Drexler and Eaves are two very nice guys who have graciously shared their Star Trek work with us, in many cases giving us new information and pics, and setting straight a lot of misinformation. Regardless of how much or how little you like their work, the last thing these guys deserve is some holier-than-thou TrekBBS poster being snarky about them. I mean, come on dude, if you don't like Eaves' work, why did you bother to post the link to his blog? Just so you could make your dumb comment at Eaves' expense?

 

[Captain X]

Who are you talking to?

Anyway, my biggest criticism of his art would be that it tends to all look the same, no matter what species is being represented or what era the ship is supposed to come from, they all tend to be really angular and have a certain segmented look to them. His BoP, while the painting on the bottom would have made it a bit closer to the original, I can't help but think that it would fit better as a late 24th century ship, or a movie era ship at the earliest - definitely a follow up on the original design rather than a predecessor. He's a good artist, and a lot of his stuff looks good, but it tends to all look the same.

 

[Gepard]

Who are you talking to?

I assume the OP.

Anyway, my biggest criticism of his art would be that it tends to all look the same, no matter what species is being represented or what era the ship is supposed to come from, they all tend to be really angular and have a certain segmented look to them. His BoP, while the painting on the bottom would have made it a bit closer to the original, I can't help but think that it would fit better as a late 24th century ship, or a movie era ship at the earliest - definitely a follow up on the original design rather than a predecessor. He's a good artist, and a lot of his stuff looks good, but it tends to all look the same.

Agreed. This exact point came up in a discussion of his designs in the Enterprise forum, actually.

 

[Dukhat]

Who are you talking to?

Anyway, my biggest criticism of his art would be that it tends to all look the same, no matter what species is being represented or what era the ship is supposed to come from, they all tend to be really angular and have a certain segmented look to them. His BoP, while the painting on the bottom would have made it a bit closer to the original, I can't help but think that it would fit better as a late 24th century ship, or a movie era ship at the earliest - definitely a follow up on the original design rather than a predecessor. He's a good artist, and a lot of his stuff looks good, but it tends to all look the same.

Oh...yeah. I guess I didn't make that clear, did I? I was referring to the OP.

Yes, I too have always criticized Eaves' work for exactly the same reasons you state. However, as with Drexler's blog, I'm finding out some background information that I wasn't previously aware of, and can say that a lot of Eaves' design style that made it to the screen was influenced as much by the UPN suits as it was his own hand.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Such is the way of work-for-hire.

Consider the Enterprise and the Leif Ericson. Both designed by Matt Jefferies, roughly during the same time period, yet one (the Enterprise) was done to satisfy a client, specifically, Gene Roddenberry and the other fine folks at Desilu Studios and NBC, while the Leif Ericson, albeit designed to satisfy the equally fine folks at AMT, is probably a better example of Jefferies' design philosophy unencumbered by studio muckymucks who think they know better.

 

[aridas sofia]

I believe that Jefferies' work was improved by the high-calibre input he received, from Roddenberry and others. He was a good designer -- the people around him made him much better. I think that whatever Eaves' merits as a designer, they were impeded by the people giving him orders. The two situations, separated by decades and reflecting completely differing creative cultures, had wholly different outcomes.

 

[Mysterion]

Drexler and Eaves are two very nice guys who have graciously shared their Star Trek work with us, in many cases giving us new information and pics, and setting straight a lot of misinformation. Regardless of how much or how little you like their work, the last thing these guys deserve is some holier-than-thou TrekBBS poster being snarky about them. I mean, come on dude, if you don't like Eaves' work, why did you bother to post the link to his blog? Just so you could make your dumb comment at Eaves' expense?

QFT

 

[BolianAuthor]

It would have been so wickedly cool to have seen this...

 

[Unicron]

Is that meant to be the NX herself?

 

[B.J.]

No, the large lifting-body aircraft is a mothership for the NX test flights, similar to the White Knight being a mothership for SpaceShipOne. The tri-hull/catamaran thing above it with the obvious warp nacelles is the NX prototype.

 

[Unicron]

Ah okay. It's not clear from the text on the scan.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I believe that Jefferies' work was improved by the high-calibre input he received, from Roddenberry and others. He was a good designer -- the people around him made him much better. I think that whatever Eaves' merits as a designer, they were impeded by the people giving him orders. The two situations, separated by decades and reflecting completely differing creative cultures, had wholly different outcomes.

Very well said.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

You know what, TGT, I did weep...with joy at having new Trek art from the pros to look at!

Stick that in your lederhosen and polka to it! :P

 

[Praetor]

I believe that Jefferies' work was improved by the high-calibre input he received, from Roddenberry and others. He was a good designer -- the people around him made him much better. I think that whatever Eaves' merits as a designer, they were impeded by the people giving him orders. The two situations, separated by decades and reflecting completely differing creative cultures, had wholly different outcomes.

Very well put.

It would have been so wickedly cool to have seen this...

A good example of his originality having been stifled by TPTB, imo.

 

[ST-One]

I believe that Jefferies' work was improved by the high-calibre input he received, from Roddenberry and others. He was a good designer -- the people around him made him much better. I think that whatever Eaves' merits as a designer, they were impeded by the people giving him orders. The two situations, separated by decades and reflecting completely differing creative cultures, had wholly different outcomes.

Very well put.

It would have been so wickedly cool to have seen this...

A good example of his originality having been stifled by TPTB, imo.

Well, that and the fact that (unfortunately) the budget for a TV-episode is quite limited.

But Eaves, and the rest of the art department, had obviously some really good (and big) ideas - I mean, one just has to look at his early concept for the Xindi-weapon's construction site...

 

[Praetor]

I believe that Jefferies' work was improved by the high-calibre input he received, from Roddenberry and others. He was a good designer -- the people around him made him much better. I think that whatever Eaves' merits as a designer, they were impeded by the people giving him orders. The two situations, separated by decades and reflecting completely differing creative cultures, had wholly different outcomes.

Very well put.

It would have been so wickedly cool to have seen this...

A good example of his originality having been stifled by TPTB, imo.

Well, that and the fact that (unfortunately) the budget for a TV-episode is quite limited.

Well, naturally.

I'm sure some of the simplest ways that TPTB stifle the creative types is out of necessity rather than a lack of creativity or even malice...

But Eaves, and the rest of the art department, had obviously some really good (and big) ideas - I mean, one just has to look at his early concept for the Xindi-weapon's construction site...

Agreed.

 

[ST-One]

I'm sure some of the simplest ways that TPTB stifle the creative types is out of necessity rather than a lack of creativity or even malice...

Well, there was a 'little' ignorance from time to time by TPTB... the design of the NX-01 herself comes to mind...