Goya Squares Project: Imagining Space in 1950

Following the Beelzebub & Bob drawing, the teacher suggested I try again, only this time with only one of the Goya squares. So I did. I now had a couple of Pixma fine point pens to work with, instead of that silly metal nib and inkwell.

I stared at the Goya square. I stared at the blank page. I stared at the Goya square. I stared at the blank page…. seemingly for a long time, then I breathed out and let go. I had no idea what would come of this image.

I just drew outward from the lines on the square and let my hands figure it out. Very quickly, an image of the tail end of a retro spaceship filled the screen of my imagination and I was propelled into pulp fiction illustrations and movie posters from the 1950s.

The top part came first, even before I saw the horizon line. I had a spaceship in space, but what was it doing? It had to have something to do with a deserted and dangerous planet. Then Robbie the Robot’s voice came to mind and I heard the familiar warning: “Danger, Will Robinson” over and over again. Before I knew what I was doing, the monoliths were formed, and the spaceship was zooming away after rescuing Will again.

I fiddled with contours and some crosshatching, but it was done. The story complete.

I’m still not sure what Goya etching this square comes from, and I frankly don’t care that much. I just learned how to create something completely new and discovered how to describe a part of my own art practice: I need to hear the story the image tells me to know it is done.

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