iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Painter, illustrator, and noted sci-fi artist John Berkey was born #OTD in 1932. While he doesn't have a lot name recognition outside of nerds of a certain age, you've almost certainly seen his work or the results of his concept art. 🚀 🐡

Self portrait by the artist. He is wearing a white button down shirt, arms crossed and hands tucked under. His hairline is receding and he is standing against a white background.

The cover of the National Geographic book "Our Universe" featuring a painting of wedge-shaped, naval looking spaceship trailing multi-colored exhaust and flames.

In John Berkey’s painting “The Mechanical Planet” a white and red spaceship, trailing fire, seems to hurtle towards a large, spherical, metallic space station. It is covered in antennas, ports, and gantries. Two moons or planets hang in space behind it.

Promotional artwork for Star Wars showing a battle between rebel fighters (X-wings and Y-wings) and Imperial Tie Fighters. The Death Star looms in the background.

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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Berkey is probably best known for his sleek and sometimes almost organic paintings of spaceships. (2/n)

A yacht-like space cruiser hangs in the sky over a planet and catches the light of a rising sun.

A space cruiser "smears" towards the right-hand side of the painting in a dull red orange as it if is just moving into or dropping out of hyperspace.

A ship that very much resembles a fish or a yacht skims the surface of an ocean, with a futuristic city towering above in the background.

A spaceship that looks just like a naval battleship or a large ocean-going vessel.

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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

It's east to see how his aesthetic grew out of and evolved from his earlier paintings of ships and naval vessels. (3/n)

Two sleek ships -- possibly hydrofoils -- skim the surface of an ocean.

A large cruiser ship in rough waters. It looks like people are jumping off the sides and making their way to life boats.

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