Science fiction allows artists to illustrate the ideas from their wildest imagination including futuristic cities, post-apocalyptic worlds, aliens and strange beasts, robots and biotechnology.
The most effective sci-fi art is rooted in reality so we can imagine it as a possibility in the not-too distant future. Sophisticated digital artwork software has made it possible for artists to create incredibly detailed and realistic depictions of the scenes they imagine in their heads.
Here is a selection of some of the most exciting work from independent artists using Deviant Art as a showcase:
1. Futuristic City 4
This amazingly detailed piece by rich35211 was developed in 3D Max, Vue, and Photoshop and took the artist between 20 and 25 hours to complete. Here we see a cityscape not so different from the big cities of today, apart from the giant skyscrapers shooting lasers and the traffic in the skies.
2. Aliens
An organically-shaped alien world by deviant artist Azot2017 that needs to be looked at full size to appreciate it fully. Alien eggs lit up by green light and bone-like paths lead to an alien city under pink and purple clouds.
3. Futuristic
An artwork of two halves by Paullus23. On one side we see an almost photo-realistic tiger in its natural jungle habitat and on the other, a mechanical robot tiger walking down an abandoned city street.
4. Post Apocalyptic
The backstory to this artwork by concept artist johnsonting is left up to the viewer. Perhaps the aftermath of a war or a plague, armed personnel in futuristic biohazard suits patrol a city in ruins. Amazingly, this piece took only 2.5 hours to complete in Photoshop with the help of image and texture layering.
5. Underwater Cyberpunk City
It’s not clear immediately that this futuristic city scene by nkabuto is set underwater, until you realize that some of the “air” craft are shaped like ocean-dwelling animals and the lights are casting beams in the murky depths.
6. Dean Street
This concept art for computer game, The Realm, by Atomhawk is one of a series of artworks depicting a post-apocalyptic version of the UK city Newcastle upon Tyne. Locals will immediately recognize landmarks on the historic Dean Street and the Tyne Bridge in this image.
7. Hacknia Reboot
Humans merge with robots in this horrific but beautiful image by hybridgothica (you can see lots of other work on a similar theme in her gallery). Reminiscent of the famous scene in Terminator 2 where the terminator is melting into liquid metal.
8. When Medieval and Scifi Mix…
This stunning black and white piece by NatMonney depicts a world that is half medieval fairytale castles and half futuristic city. The artwork was created for the website of film and videogame composer, Mathias Winum.
9. Dominius V
It’s common for futuristic landscapes to have a gloomy sinister atmosphere but not all artists see the future as something to fear. This artwork by Intercepto depicts a utopian city named after the artist’s son. As well as futuristic buildings and flying vehicles, this vision of the future includes blue skies, turquoise seas, and palm trees.
10. Neo Kaiju
“Kaiju” is Japanese for “strange beast” and this terrifying sea-dwelling creature by NeoArtCorE definitely fits that description. It’s definitely worth zooming in on the full size version of this image to appreciate all the details and the city lights in the background could just as easily be a real-life modern city as it could someplace in another world.
11. The Androids Lust
Unusually for this genre of art, this piece was created traditionally using acrylic paints and took the artist Love-and-mascara about two months to complete. Reminiscent of the works of H.R. Giger, two humanoid robots are depicted in a romantic embrace against a backdrop of metal piping and circuitry.
12. Homeless Robots
This digital painting by artozi depicts an abandoned and broken down city, occupied only by robots. The broken Ferris wheel acts as a reminder that humans once ruled here – a spooky vision of Earth’s future?
13. Alien World
Many scientists believe that alien life on other planets exists, it’s just that we’ve not found it yet. This atmospheric image by lapec shows humans wearing breathing apparatus examining the flora of an alien planet.
14. The Portal
The idea of a “portal” that acts as a gateway to another world or dimension is a popular theme in sci-fi. This image by cat-meff shows otherworldly technology alongside nature as a human rides a futuristic aircraft alongside bird-like creatures.
15. Futuristic Paradise
Is this the city of the future? This digital art by jfliesenborghs shows a city designed to a utopian ideal. Man-made ponds and gardens separate organically shaped buildings that all connect to a central hub.
16. The Rising Tide
Many sci-fi artists like to imagine what life would look like on a planet other than Earth. This detailed piece by theLovas shows a civil research base on a partly terraformed planet located within the Sirius binary star system.
17. Atomsk
Some sci-fi artists like to let their images speak for themselves and rely on the viewer to use their imaginations. Others, like crushvisual provide a whole backstory for the artwork. This image depicts the abandoned of a government initiative to use robotic technology in combat.
18. VIP lounge
This surreal piece by Tohad was created as concept art for a video game and shows three people watching humans floating freely in space.
19. Cities of the Future
It’s always interesting to see how different sci-fi artists imagine how cityscapes will look in the future. This digital artwork by JonasDeRo depicts a highly populated city with jagged super-high-rise buildings and flying vehicles.
20. San Francisco Vista
Sci-Fi cityscapes are not always 100% imaginary. This beautiful digital painting of San Francisco in an alternate reality by RadoJavor is both familiar and futuristic.
21. Another World
This atmospheric work by radoxist gives a peek into the artist’s mind and his imaginary future planet in a faraway galaxy. This piece was created with 3d Studio Max, Vue 5, and Photoshop.
22. Homeworld Ordalla
A floating city set on a planet in another solar system by z-design. Take away the city and the nebula and planets in the sky and this could be a normal sunset scene on earth.
23. The Hole
This amazingly detailed piece by jfliesenborghs is one of those amazingly detailed images that make you just want to keep zooming in. The scene was created in 3D Studio Max and rendered in Vray.
24. Life on Other Planets
Not everyone imagines other planets to be dark places with futuristic architecture. This scene by priteeboy imagines a lush and natural landscape with unusual plants and flying creatures.
25. Homunculus Store
There’s so much going on in this picture by AldoK, you could keep looking at it for hours. It seems to be some kind of facility for growing or collecting alien life forms.
26. Escape From Reach
An epic battle going on in space by agnidevi, based on the Halo computer game. The detail on this one is really impressive and it’s worth viewing at full size.
27. The Thing
Sometimes sci-fi crosses over into horror and this image by Nikulina-Helena depicts one of those moments. This is obviously a normal motorway from somewhere in the world today – not an alternate reality or future imagination, which makes the giant alien creature even more terrifying.
28. Scifi Duneish Thing
Creating with a limited color palette can be really effective and this futuristic scene by Scharborescus demonstrates that perfectly. The framing of the large window makes the viewer feel like they are actually inside the scene.
29. Tianhua Xu Stand-by
A futuristic military scene by FLOWERZZXU could almost be a scene from today’s reality if it wasn’t for the giant flying robots.
30. Jungle Deep
A sci-fi image set in an ancient forest by sarichev. This is a very organic image containing humans and nature but it’s obviously a sci-fi theme even without the inclusion of any obvious technology.
31. Epiphany III
Some of the most effective sci-fi artwork comes from the simplest concept like this image by artist Wen-Jr. The subject is basic – a woman in a space suit, but the attention to lighting and detail makes it a really extraordinary work of art.
32. Zone 0
If a zombie apocalypse happened, it would probably look something like this scene by FerdinandLadera. This detailed digital painting was created as concept art for Fistbump Creation Studio.
33. Frame 1 Establishing
It’s left up to the viewer to decide what’s happening in this atmospheric piece by emanshiu. It’s the unusual machine in the background and the character’s outfit that makes this artwork fit into the sci-fi category, showing again that successful sci-fi artwork is all about the little details.
34. Alien
Nobody knows what aliens look like so it’s up to the artist to provide their own interpretation. This artwork by DominiquevVelsen uses a common idea of alien ‘pods’ alongside jellyfish-like organic shapes. The human soldiers in the foreground make the scene all the more unsettling.
FAQs
Sci-Fi Art | Wall Art Prints. With imagery of space travel, cyborgs and alien societies, sci-fi art transcends the everyday and bows to a higher plane. Hang an intergalactic painting on the wall and get lost in a world of space stations, floating cities and multiple moons in the night sky.
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Retrofuturism (adjective retrofuturistic or retrofuture) is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipating what will come, retrofuturism is the remembering of that anticipation.
What does deviant art do? ›
Founded in August 2000, DeviantArt is the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts, and a platform for emerging and established artists to exhibit, promote, and share their works with an enthusiastic, art-centric community.
How do I make science fiction art? ›
How to paint sci-fi concept art - YouTube
Is science fiction an art? ›
Science fiction art has developed a visual language of its own, as rich and varied as the genre's narrative themes. Still, when the topic of “Science Fiction Art” comes up, most people's minds are likely to turn to a fairly narrow range of imagery.
Is DeviantArt legal? ›
Individuals who have posted works to DeviantArt are either the copyright owners of the component parts of that work or are posting the work under license from a copyright owner or his or her agent or otherwise as permitted by law.
Will DeviantArt be shut down? ›
DeviantArt Isn't Shutting Down Anytime Soon.
How old do you have to be for DeviantArt? ›
Currently DeviantArt's compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (effective April 21st, 2000) is limited to prohibiting any child under the age of 13 from opening, maintaining, or otherwise using a DeviantArt account. This restriction stands even when parental permission is granted.
Is Bioshock retro Futurism? ›
Bioshock lords over any other game which claims to stand alongside it in the retro-futuristic game category. On the 21st of August, 2007, Ken Levine, creative lead at Irrational and 'Storyteller of the Decade', blew the minds of an ever-growing gamer community.
The Fallout series has always had a Retro Futuristic theme based in 1950s style culture and references how would you feel about the next main title Fallout game moving it forward to an early to mid 1960s theme? Perhaps being set somewhere like San Francisco the theme would work well.
Is Steampunk retro Futurism? ›
Steampunk is one of the most popular types of retrofuturism. It's known as a literary genre as well as an aesthetic design style. In Steampunk literature, the stories are frequently sent in an alternative history of the Victorian era (19th century) or a fantasy world or future that relies on steam-powered mechanics.
Is NFT DeviantArt? ›
DeviantArt Protect, which launched last year for art posted on the site, will now be available for work that isn't hosted there as well. Users can upload copies of art to Protect and have it matched against non-fungible token (or NFT) images minted to one of several public blockchains.
Is DeviantArt paid? ›
Although a basic membership is free, deviants with paid subscriptions can browse the site ad-free. There are other benefits for paying members, too.
Is DeviantArt still a thing? ›
Though there is a case to be made that that DeviantArt is still a popular platform—it's still one of the top 200 websites in the world—many artists feel that in 2019, the site is not the same.
How do you draw sci fi armor? ›
How to Draw Fantasy Armour - YouTube
How do you draw a futuristic? ›
How to Draw a Futuristic City - YouTube
How do you draw fantasy? ›
How to Draw Fantasy Art for Beginners - YouTube
What is science fiction examples? ›
Doctor Who, Firefly, Lost in Space, Stargate, and The Twilight Zone are just a sampling of popular small-screen science fiction programs. Science fiction themes are customary in graphic novels and comic books. Everything from Superman to the X-Men fall under the category of sci-fi.
What was the first sci-fi book? ›
Many literary experts consider Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, published in 1818, to be the first true work of science fiction, followed eight years later by her novel The Last Man, which also happened to become one of the first post-apocalyptic works, thus establishing that sub-genre of science fiction.
The term science fiction was popularized, if not invented, in the 1920s by one of the genre's principal advocates, the American publisher Hugo Gernsback. The Hugo Awards, given annually since 1953 by the World Science Fiction Society, are named after him.
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Can DeviantArt give you viruses? ›
I've been a member of DeviantART for over 8 years now and have never had an issue. I've never had any viruses or malicious content downloaded by my computer... The Site Isn't Safe At All! After using this website for few months it never had problems unit now. ...
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Is DeviantArt still relevant 2021? ›
DeviantArt isn't completely dead and still has a substantial userbase, but if you're a digital artist and are trying to build a fresh following, ArtStation is currently a healthier and more engaged platform.
Who created DeviantArt? ›
DeviantArt
Does DeviantArt delete inactive accounts? ›
NO, DEVIANTART WILL NOT DELETE INACTIVE ACCOUNTS.
What is futuristic aesthetic? ›
Related aesthetics
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasised speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane, and the industrial city. This aesthetic helped influence Art Deco, Dadaist, and surreal art.
What is cassette Futurism? ›
Cassette Futurism is a genre of retrofuturism based on the 70's and 80's. The media itself does not have to be set in this time period, but rather explore the speculated alternate future of it. As the name suggests, Cassettes are the main way of storing and transferring data.
Retro Futurism is a term that refers to how predictions of design from the future were depicted in an earlier era and how some modern-day aesthetics combine futuristic technology and old-fashioned design. That makes Retro Futurism a truly intricate design trend that has many layers of interesting panache to display.
Is Loki inspired by Fallout? ›
Herron has seemingly never referenced Fallout as one of Loki's major stylistic influences, which is actually quite surprising given some of the design similarities the two series sometimes share.
Why is Fallout 4 set in the 50s? ›
The setting is like this because this was how people in the 1950's thought the future would be like. With atomic cars, robot helpers, and ray guns. People in the 1950s never thought of transistors which is why there's no advanced electronics in this version of the future.
Does the Internet exist in Fallout? ›
The only example of the Internet I can find is a terminal entry in Fallout 76 with MODUS. In the entry, MODUS communicates with the Raven Rock ZAX Supercomputer who requests data on the previous Presidents of the United States.
What kind of punk is Mad Max? ›
Dieselpunk is a retrofuturistic subgenre of science fiction similar to steampunk or cyberpunk that combines the aesthetics of the diesel-based technology of the interwar period through to the 1950s with retro-futuristic technology and postmodern sensibilities.
Who coined the term retrofuturism? ›
Despite humanity imagining what the future might hold since the dawn of civilization, the term “retrofuturism” was first coined in a 1960s book titled Retro-Futurism by T.R. Hinchliffe. In 1983, Bloomingdale's ran an ad in the New York Times that described their jewelry as “retro-futuristic.”
Who is Qinniart? ›
Qinni was a beloved and influential figure in the online art scene, and her viral work inspired countless people for over a decade. She was 29. Though she eventually accumulated over two million followers on Instagram, Qinni found her start in the 2000s internet stalwart DeviantArt.
Does DeviantArt protect my art? ›
DeviantArt Protect scans NFTs to catch art theft in Web3. Our AI technology paired with human oversight identifies potential infringements of near-identical matches to your art. We send you real-time alerts with an automated DMCA takedown link so you can take immediate action.
What is the most expensive NFT ever sold? ›
1. The Merge - $91.8 million
- The Merge - $91.8 million.
- The most expensive NFT in history is actually a series of NFTs, selling for a eye-watering $91.8m price tag in December of last year. ...
- Breaking record after record, the world of NFT art really smashed it last year.
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Adjusting to the New Site. We want to plainly state that we will not be switching back to the old version of DeviantArt. However, we know there are things to improve on, and we're going to improve them.
Is ArtStation or DeviantArt better? ›
ArtStation is doing a lot better than DeviantArt in terms of performance. With an average load time of just under one second, they are faster than their competitor by almost half that number.
What is Eclipse DeviantArt? ›
Eclipse On-the-Go
Deviants can browse art and stay connected with a mobile site that provides responsive design to help keep your DeviantArt experience seamless. Discover new deviations, read journals, and scan through status updates via Browse.
What do DeviantArt artists use to draw? ›
With Photoshop you can consider using the pen tool. Or you can consider using a vector program like Illustrator or Flash to draw in.
How do I make my DeviantArt more popular? ›
Five basic tips to get your Art some Attention, Appreciation & Audience on deviantART
- Submit art regularly. Try to find a balance between quality and quantity. ...
- Improve. ...
- Present yourself professionally. ...
- Go to the Forum. ...
- Perhaps the most important of all: browse art and comment on it.
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Is DeviantArt still relevant 2021? ›
DeviantArt isn't completely dead and still has a substantial userbase, but if you're a digital artist and are trying to build a fresh following, ArtStation is currently a healthier and more engaged platform.
DeviantArt user interface is very simple and easy to use. You can create your own account, and upload artwork easily with the drag-and-drop feature. It is also possible to edit other people's artwork if you follow them or vice versa.
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How to get more pageviews and watchers in a month
- Go to the forums and make some noise. ...
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- Fanarts. ...
- Don't limit yourself in dA.
Most marketing experts would never name a site "DeviantArt," because the word "deviant" has multiple meanings that can be interpreted in different — not always positive — ways. Yet we are the greatest, most diverse art community in existence.
How do you get your art seen? ›
- Create An Irresistible Online Presence With Your Website. ...
- Online Art Market Places And Online Art Galleries. ...
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- Rock Social Media And Get Your Work Noticed Around The Globe. ...
- Get Your Followers To Promote You. ...
- Cross-Promote With Other Artists.
While deviantART does not allow p*rnography, it does have mature content. Mature content can include nudity, excessive violence, strong language and other mature themes. DeviantART relies on its members to tag their creations as mature.
Is DeviantArt safe to use? ›
I've been a member of DeviantART for over 8 years now and have never had an issue. I've never had any viruses or malicious content downloaded by my computer... The Site Isn't Safe At All! After using this website for few months it never had problems unit now. ...
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