The Illustrated Worlds of Randall Mackey

Howdy, folks! I’m sorry about the unannounced hiatus. It’s been a wild month for me, working 12-hour night shifts with lots of overtime, not to mention finalizing the text of my novel. I’ve been swamped! Today, though, we’re kicking things off again with a special post: a showcase of the incredible work of my cover artist, Randall Mackey. He’s the most recent illustrator I’ve hired for Pathfinders, and I am very glad I brought him on board. Just take a look at this:

An alternate cover, which will also be the face of my ad campaign.

Randall hails from Colorado—the Denver area, I believe. He’s had a colorful career so far, featuring seven years in the US Army, plus a stint as a tattoo artist, plus a decade illustrating for video games like SimCity, League of Legends, and Star Trek Timelines. His ArtStation doesn’t have much anymore, but you can find some of his work on DeviantArt. I first became acquainted with Randall all the way back in 2021, when I came across his digital art book, Visual Development of The Lonely Cosmonaut, about a Soviet space pioneer’s long and fantastical journey through the unknown. My love affair with the Soviet space program is well established; you can imagine I wasted no time buying myself a PDF copy.

Here are some snapshots from the book, shared with Randall’s permission:

Apartment blocks loom grimly over the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Our story takes place in the late 21st century, in a timeline where the United States and the Soviet Union are still fighting the Cold War. Earth is a dying world, straining under the weight of countless billions, threatened by the constant specter of nuclear apocalypse. The race is on to find a new home for humanity. Our heroine, Eyva, is a Soviet cosmonaut chosen for this glorious effort. Pursued by American capitalists, with nothing but her trusty spaceship to rely upon, she will fly into the great beyond—where no one has gone before.

Randall’s sketches of Eyva, wearing a variety of spacesuits.

A secret launch compound, high in the mountains of communist-controlled Romania.

Visual Development of The Lonely Cosmonaut is as much about the process as it is the artwork. Its plot is loose, unfinished, suggested by full-page illustrations and short blocks of text; storyboards and concept sketches show a range of possibilities for ships, planets, and characters. We’re walked through exactly why Randall designed things the way he did. Eventually, this was intended to lead into a larger, more complete project, though that has not (yet 😉) materialized.

Concepts for alien worlds—weird and wonderful.

All alone on an alien planet, ankle-deep in a rocky tide pool, remembering the dreams of youth…

There’s beauty to Randall’s work, and wonder. The Lonely Cosmonaut made quite the impression on me. Years later, when I was looking for someone to illustrate the cover for my novel, I thought back to it, and sent Randall an out-of-the-blue message on ArtStation. That turned out to be one of my wiser choices in what has been a long and troubled development process.

Next up: a world of ice, its thick atmosphere extending outward to form a belt of mist along its orbit. Scientifically plausible? Perhaps not. Wondrous? You bet.

Buried beneath the ice lie crashed starships from ages past—and even further down, a lush jungle, insulated by the planet-spanning glacier above.

Concept sketch for another destination: two worlds slowly merging into one.

And on that double world, we find a lonely, windswept desert, populated by scavengers.

The last stop on Eyva’s journey: a long-dead husk of a planet, with a surprising discovery buried within.

The full file is no longer for sale, sadly. In fact, it isn’t available anywhere¹ on the internet. To my knowledge, the PDF on my hard drive is one of the few copies still in existence, which is a weird feeling. I think this project deserved a whole lot more attention than it got. It’s jaw-droppingly beautiful, the product of a vibrant imagination and a wide-eyed sense of wonder. I have long dreamt of soaring through the cosmos, alone, witnessing the cold and empty vastness of creation; The Lonely Cosmonaut scratches that itch magnificently. With luck, I might be able to talk Randall into continuing it…

A few other pieces, before I go, just to showcase this artist’s range and skill:

A specimen in a magic shop! With quite the lid, too—there must be a danger of it getting out.

You’ll see more of Randall’s stuff in the future! Rest assured, I’ll do everything I can to hire him for more book covers. And, if any of you happen to be in need of an artist, he’s open and eager for commissions. You can reach him at artist@randallmackey.com. Take it from me, he’s a real joy to work with.

Thanks for reading today’s entry, everyone. I had lots of fun putting it together, and I hope it was a feast for the eyes for you, too. I’ll catch y’all next time with my long-promised continuation of “Last Flight From Tazab Station.” Until then!

Not entirely true. Some images from the project have ended up being associated with a niche genre of music called Sovietwave—which, of course, I listen to. See here and here. ↩︎