Quonos: Duel Mound of Kahless (Spec Art by Eshwin Dhir)

After doing a piece for Vulcan, I had to do one for Quonos, the homeworld of the Klingons. As I said before, these pieces take into account the 2009 film, and so, while this is by no means my 'definitive Klingon piece' it is an aspect of Klingon society and culture that I wanted to not only explore, but also resolve with regards to the discrepancies between Star Trek, Star Trek TNG, Enterprise, and Star Trek 09 (check the deleted scenes on the DVD), so in some capacity, I tried to represent all of those universes' ideas of the Klingons.

For example, the focal point statue is that of Klingon legend Kahless, locked into an epic fight with his brother Morath. A smaller version of this statue is shown on the TNG episode "Birthright". The starships are consistent in all of the series, but the architecture ranges, and what little you see here is an amalgamation of Enterprise and Star Trek TNG. Lastly, while I did not depict in any detail the crucial 'ridge' or 'no ridge' issue, which is addressed shoddily as a result of an augment DNA virus by Star Trek Enterprise, I do have very modest depictions of the 2009 Klingons seen on the Star Trek 09 DVD in the deleted scenes.

The idea, situationally, is that on Quonos there are sacred grounds upon which political, professional, personal, and social disputes may be settled as a duel between two representatives. The 'supreme court' of such a duel is the battle mound of Kahless and Morath.

Here, Kirk defends the Federation against Kor, after the events of the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy,' in which the Organians make an all-out war with the Klingons at that time impossible. Kor, who was played by the late great John Colicos whom I met when I was a little 12 year old Trekkie at a comic book store by my house (and who was also the voice of Apocalypse on the 90s X-Men), is one of the few characters to be both 'ridged' and 'unridged', but is depicted here as simply bald with a pig tail. Why? Well, legibility, mostly ... but someday, I'll have to do the memory of Mr. Colicos proud with something a bit more 'Kor-centric'.

New Vulcan - Spec Concept Art by Eshwin Dhir

I decided to do some concept sketches of what could be in another Star Trek film. Since in the 2009 reboot film Vulcan is destroyed by Nero, the Vulcan race must find a new planet upon which to base their home. Here, Vulcan colonists rebuild the infrastructure of their lost home, as Vulcan artisans etch from the canyons of New Vulcan colossal statues of T'Pau, finder of the Kir'Shara, and Surak, patriarch of Vulcan philosophy.

I'd like to also note that the image of T'Pau, which is in the far canyon, is based off of the actress who played her in the original series, Celia Lovsky, and Surak is based off of the last TV appearance of Barry Atwater, who was the first actor to play Surak.

This is the first in a series I would like to do to revamp my work somewhat and expand my style. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to work on some fantasy or sci-fi that will allow me to exploit some new techniques.

In Security

Ridiculously overdue, this is a concept piece for another film called In Security. It's about two man children who run a security service in the safest town in America, and as a result, resort to burglarizing the residents as a way to boost business.

While I tried to get a sense of goofiness in the scene, I think I ultimately failed and ended up with a very dry, very direct narrative piece. Stylistically and technically though, I think the piece is sound. Perhaps its time for me to push my execution so that I'm a bit more versatile, as the way I have been working this year has been well suited to the gothic, horror, and noir work I got in the beginning, but not so suited to something whimsical.