Conceptual Space Illustration Inspired by California Fires

I will get to the fires by the end of this short article...

What am I reading now? During my undergraduate grammar course I met a lady who was an avid reader of science fiction novels. She loved how they sparked conversations about how we are treating our planet. I was completing the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov and wanted something else to read. I highly recommend Asimov's series if you would like a long storyline with many characters, similar to Game of Thrones, but for space. 

Anyways, she recommended to me Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It has literally been on my shelf for 5 years. I'm finally getting around to reading it. There are many science fiction series and I'll share what I am reading in the future. It seems to me this genre of literature is exploring many contemporary themes, and I'm always drawn to the conversations in them. Another favorite is Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, one of his lesser known novels. Yes, he wrote science fiction too. 

Science fiction always reminds me of what we are doing to the planet because it begs the question of where will we go when technology destroys what we have. We have been destroying our home for a very long time. The illustration I created is a romantic depiction of an astronaut visiting a planet in space. Earth has been destroyed but he is bringing the last living flower. Instead of focusing on the last human in this piece, I wanted to emphasize the thing we overlook. The plants that are all around us. They are being burned down right now. Native wildlife to California is being destroyed because of the fires. 

I'm a graphic designer and often I don't feel my work contributes to bettering the world around me. However, I hope this illustration can be a reminder of the many ways we can be a good citizen to the Earth and thank the firefighters who are trying to stop the massacre. We all wait in silence for the day when these disaster will no longer happen, and it will take a cause much greater than us to stop it. 

I already donate to them, but you could too: americanforest.org