Eve Of The War

Wow, what a cool picture! I love the detail; Thunder Child's flaming Union Jack seems symbolic of the state of England as the Martian invasion proceeded. Nice touch.

The ship looks like an amalgam of a couple different classes, which works, since there never was a real Thunder Child. In my earlier post, I mentioned the Canopus & Majestic; my diorama's Thunder Child was something of a 'mutated' Canopus. My revised version, when I get to it, might be more like the Majestic, since that class had a vessel named Mars.

I went into a bit too much historical detail, didn't I? Should have just left it at "Wow, what a cool picture!"

It's okau; I like to have a bit of history with it.

Not at all, somewhere on the forum you'll find a thread asking "What type of ship was the Thunder Child" posted by me a couple of years ago. I was collecting as much info as I could get and was corresponding with one of the forum members 'McTodd' who had a load of technical stuff I found very useful.
The trouble I had was the fact that the Thunder Child was supposed to be a 'Torpedo-ram' and as you probably know Torpedo-rams are very low in the water and small, unimpressive looking ships. So between us 'McTodd' and I came up with this hybrid, it may not be right but it's more accurate than Michael Trim's album cover version, his Thunder Child is about 30 years too early, although it is a great picture.

Trim's TC looks almost directly to be a Canopus class vessel, at least as I compare it to the drawings & photos in British Battleships 1889-1904 by R. A. Burt. I'd like to continue this discussion on the appropriate thread if I can find it. See you over there, I hope! (I will point out here, though, that if anyone thinks I'm obsessive about the Thunder Child, at least I'm not trying to get a positive ID on the ferry in the background of the Mike Trim painting! )

By the way, was the burning Union Jack in your picture intentionally symbolic, or was I just 'reading into' it?


Edited to add: Found the thread, on the now-closed War of the Worlds Online, so I guess I won't be contributing to it after all. Interesting discussion, though, and covers a lot of what I would have brought up, plus a ton more! I don't want to 're-invent the wheel' here, so I'll just leave it at that for now.

Yes you are correct, it does look like a Canopus class vessel, which would put it in the right period, My apologies to Mr Trim
So what do you reckon the ferry is
And yes the burning Union Jack was intentional, it symbolizes the fall of the Great British Empire and of course the end of all human hope.
Everything about The 'Thunder Child' chapter is very symbolic; the sinking of the TC, the other warships retreating, the setting sun, the Martian flying machine raining darkness upon the land. Even putting this scene at the end of the first book, it all shouts "Mankind is finished", Jeff Wayne rounded it off quite nicely with his quote "The Earth belonged to the Martians".

So Bob's going to be shooting at Sharon now? I can just hear her saying "The engagement is OFF!" It won't make the Captain like him any better, either. I just hope the "Thunder Child" breaks everything up in the next exciting episode.

Hey, she shot at him first, if any one's crying "The engagement is OFF!" it should be Bob.
There is a sort of Ironcladishness about the next episode.

Well, given that it has only one funnel, but coupled with the location of the mast relative to that funnel, it clearly appears to be a member of the...




Had you all going there for a sec, didn't I?

You could have told me it was a penguin class ferry and I'd have been convinced
I don't know ships or even like painting them, which is a suprise as most people associate me with paintings of Ocean Liners.

You do paintings of ocean liners? Cool, I'd like to see the Queen Mary. Or the Queen Elizabeth. How about...

I kid too much sometimes. Seriously, though, why do you have that association? Did you do a couple of commissions, and word of mouth spread that you're a maritime artist? I know, I should just do an online search, but I figured I could just ask you directly, since you brought it up.
I'm actually more into military vessels (especially the Imperial Japanese Navy in WWII) than civilian, though I appreciate a beautiful looking liner. You know, anything pre-1980's when liners & cruise ships actually looked like ships, instead of floating office buildings.
On the other hand, I really need to stop hijacking threads. I write like I talk, and tend to stray off topic at times, as things catch my interest. So, sorry about that, and thanks all for bearing with me. (I hope I haven't made too bad an early impression.)

No bad impressions I assure you. Its refreshing to get something other than
"Yeh, I agree, LOL!"

I have done about a dozen posters for a Marine Art Poster company over the last 20/25 years, but we had a bit of a falling out over the timing of alteration suggestions. To clarify; I had been asked to design a commemorative medal to celebrate the history of the QE2 in the Cunard line, I spent a week working on both faces of the medal and half an hour from finishing I get a phone call saying stop what you're doing, we've decided on some big changes. the thing is, I should know him by now, he always does this sort of thing. but I snapped and sort of let him know I didn't want any more work from him or his company.
Now I digress
I agree with you about floating office buildings, I prefer the classic lines of the old liners.
The Painting I am most famous for is 'L'Amazone les Antilles' which is a shame as I never painted it it was painted by someone called 'Fuss'
but because it appeared on the same page as my rendering of the 'Titanic' it has been attributed to me Fuss must be really pissed-off with me.
So if you put my name into Google image search you will see lots of posters of Toucans on a yellow background, it's not mine but the Titanic is.

Ooo, I love toucans!
Oh, they're not yours. Nevermind...
(But I do love toucans. My tastes are very eclectic.)

Off to do a Google search...

Wait a minute. This Titanic print is yours?! http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Titanic-P ... 16133_.htm
I have a fridge magnet version of that print; it's been on my fridge for a few years now. That's you?! How cool is that? It's like I knew you before I knew you.

I bet LC must like that.

Yes fridge magnets, key-rings canvas bags and rucksacks, posters, postcards, the cover of a CD, a Zippo lighter and even a light switch housing to name a few, it's appeared on the wall of Ozzy Osbourne's home in the TV show 'The Osbournes' this image has been around the world more than I have.
On some sites you can buy signed prints of this poster, I don't know who signed them because it wasn't me.

Well, I never thought I'd 'meet' the actual artist of that Titanic print. I thought it was a repro of some old ad from 1912. So, want to sign my magnet? At least I'd know it's a legitimate autograph! (Just kidding, actually. I don't think a magnet would be a wise thing to mail.)
So, when's the Invasion of Earth merchandising going to be released?

That was the intention, but two of the people in the painting are John Jacob Aster who died on the Titanic and his wife.
Someone tried to use the image for his own posters, saying the picture was an original 1912 painting and therefore was out of copyright in the USA, I had to give an affidavit proving I was the author of the work. The depiction of the Asters was one of the proofs and the fact that the font used in the subheading 'The World's Largest Liner' was a Letraset font and was not created until 1977 (the art shop was out of the correct period font ) so the picture could not be a period piece.

That would be nice wouldn't it?

Nice April Fools Joke...

Who? and Where?

I think that's my fault!
I hadn't even realised the date when I made my comment about Invasion of Earth merchandise! I knew there wasn't any being planned, but I wasn't wholly kidding, either! More like wishful thinking on my part. (Sorry if my timing made it seem like an April Fool's joke, everyone!)

I made an April Fool's joke myself though; I told my friends I decided to abandon my Sprite Movie, a long time running animation serial I am working on. Of course I DIDN'T quit it at all...

Hum, Invasion of Earth merchandise I can just see it, a cuddly-toy Stan, with that genuine wet leather feel Perfect for any parent who wants their kids to grow up as gibbering insomniacs

And with that missing eye, you wouldn't even need to add a sound chip that spews out 'Stan-isms'... his looks are enough to send a child to therapy for years.

Oh my... don't want to do that to them...

why not? therapists need patients, I would be providing a service by filling their waiting rooms.
I might even ask for a small commission