The Path Not Taken

[aridas sofia]

An old and long exiled friend from these parts shared this with me. I suppose you could characterize this as something of what post-season one TNG Trek would have looked like had Probert stuck around. I must admit I am a fan of his work (and only his work). So this was something of a breath of fresh air. At least, the art was.

https://www.instagram.com/probert_designs/

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Oh wow. THANK YOU for this.

I miss Andy.

ETA: I have to share this photo from his Instagram page… I hope he won’t mind. This is 21-year-old Andy, circa 1968.



Gotta say, Andy was kinda dishy in his day! LOL

 

[Tallguy]

I love that logo!

 

[blssdwlf]

I maybe a bit out of sync but is Andy exiled from trekbbs? His profile only shows he hasn't visited in a long time.

 

[Tallguy]

He's a MAGA guy, apparently. Whether this is in the "voting for Trump doesn't make you a terrorist / racist" or "The election was stolen, January 6th is a lie, all hail our Glorious Leader" vein I don't know (and I'd rather not). He's not Bill Cosby so I can keep my Art of books and be happy I have his autograph.

But whatever it is is enough to get some folk upset that his name was even used in print on Picard.

 

[blssdwlf]

Thanks @Tallguy. My apologies for the tangent.

 

[Tallguy]

Thanks @Tallguy. My apologies for the tangent.

No worries here.

I hadn't really looked at his work this way before but he has an aesthetic of "industrial fantasticism". There's a lot of sci fi (especially now that we can model what we want on computers) that is so out there it doesn't look real or practical. Artists (like me) never have to try and BUILD it. Then there's kind of at the Star Wars end where it all feels solid and made out of WWII surplus. He hits that line of the fantastic and totally made up but as if it was made on an assembly line. It's KIND of Sid Mead but with more nuts and bolts.

He did a painting for Ships of the Line a few years ago showing the service crew working around Picard's Captain's Yacht. Because it was all him, no models, no matte elements, it was space, ship, people, it had such verisimilitude. It was rather fantastical while having the reality of people "just doing their jobs".

 

[aridas sofia]

I told the guy who notified me about this Probert art that if you believe there is a deep, true vein of Star Trek that goes back to Jefferies, it goes through Probert. In fact it might really be just Jefferies and Probert, with a little Mike Minor, Mike Okuda, Doug Drexler, and Rick Sternbach thrown in (and if you really want to stretch things, Franz Joseph). This is the vein that flows from Roddenberry et al, and to those of us who care about such things, feels so palpably different as to be a thing wholly unto itself.

And just to be totally clear, being a Trumpist is a political opinion, however much it might conflict with the constitutional underpinnings of the republic. Believing Trump is still president and that JFK jr is still alive and serving as his vice president is, well, a different thing altogether. Perhaps the kindest way to put it would be… deluded. I deeply love the guy’s work, but I actually find myself pitying someone who holds those kind of beliefs. That Qshit is totally detached from reality.

 

[Tallguy]

And just to be totally clear, being a Trumpist is a political opinion, however much it might conflict with the constitutional underpinnings of the republic. Believing Trump is still president and that JFK jr is still alive and serving as his vice president is, well, a different thing altogether. Perhaps the kindest way to put it would be… deluded. I deeply love the guy’s work, but I actually find myself pitying someone who holds those kind of beliefs. That Qshit is totally detached from reality.

See? I said I'd rather not know. And I was RIGHT! Well. We'll always have the Enterprise.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Indeed. Never meet your heroes.

 

[DEWLine]

Some heroes are better met than not. And timing matters.

That said...yeah, it's sad to know what's become of Mr. Probert.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Shit. People need to learn to separate the art from the artist. If I refused to have anything to do with watching shows or movies that were made by people with incompatible political opinions to my own, I would have thrown my TV in the trash 30 years ago and lived in a cave. Pretty damn boring. IDIC, and all that, right? Pfft...

 

[Blip]

Shit. People need to learn to separate the art from the artist. If I refused to have anything to do with watching shows or movies that were made by people with incompatible political opinions to my own, I would have thrown my TV in the trash 30 years ago and lived in a cave. Pretty damn boring. IDIC, and all that, right? Pfft...

No one here appears to be doing anything other than acknowledging his talent while expressing sadness that he seems to have gone off the rails. Not sure what you're getting worked up about?

Personally I've long wished Mssrs Probert and Sternbach had been given the reins for designing the post TNG era. To me First Contact was the start of the decline of Trek aesthetics; superceded with needless busywork detailing, garish paintjobs, and nonsensical "make it kewl!" features...

 

[137th Gebirg]

I'm not getting "worked up" at all, but thanks for the amusing attempt at projection. Most entertaining.

 

[Blip]

I'm not getting "worked up" at all, but thanks for the amusing attempt at projection. Most entertaining.

How is it projection, exactly? You came in decrying something that wasn't even happening

 

[137th Gebirg]

Denial too? Goodness! M’kay…. Feel free to return to your regularly scheduled lament, then. I’ll not waste more of your time.

 

[Michael]

Okay, that'll be enough. Both of you, @137th Gebirg and @Blip, need to cut it out. As in immediately.

As for talking about Andrew Probert's political beliefs … I realize he's a public figure and I even share the frustrations some have voiced about him going down that route, but I also gotta recognize that he's a member of this board (even though he hasn't logged on for six years) and as such his person, character and convictions are not to be the topic of discussion here. Talk about the man's work all you want, but leave out the other stuff. As far as I know he has never used this board to spout his political beliefs, so don't bring in stuff you found about him elsewhere on the internet. We don't do that here.

 

[aridas sofia]

I wasn’t about to direct people to Instagram to see the remarkable artwork Probert posted without also warning there was more than art there. That would have been irresponsible of me. I agree however, that whatever opinions are there should not be the topic of discussion here.

This artistic path not taken can also be divisive- what art Probert posted reflects the same style manifest in the 1701-D, and that design has its fans and those who don’t like its distinct proportions. What can be said without doubt is that it is consistent with TNG, and whatever anybody thinks of it, it has that going for it.

 

[Santaman]

I do appeciate the man's designs, Streethawk will forever be something I hold dear, it's a fond memory, Airwolf too, yes, I like the refit and the "D"
As for the rest, that's indeed better not to have it here since it's the art forum here but I appreciate the warning.

To add to what @aridas sofia is saying: The "D" was probably a bit shocking, it has indeed a very different and distinct look but also the special effects at that time were far beyond TOS of course but that was what Roddenberry wanted, it had to be looking like it was a design made a century later.
Personally I like the "D" I had to get use to it but I like it.

 

[publiusr]

I wasn’t about to direct people to Instagram to see the remarkable artwork Probert posted without also warning there was more than art there.
This artistic path not taken can also be divisive- .

I like your take of the ACE nacelle here:
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wik...s_USS_Enterprise-D_initial_design_process.jpg

You had a side view in line art, right?

I lost my print out from FRS