GARY JAMROZ
The concept artist on how he made Dune fan art
Why do you think Dune – the film and the book – resonates with artists?
It’s full of themes everyone likes: there’s always something in Dune that will resonate with you at some point. And let’s be honest: the reason we see so much concept art based around ‘ancient ruins in desert with spaceship above’ is basically because of Dune!
What motivated you to create Dune-influenced art of your own?
After re-reading the book and watching the film for the fourth time, I started to see a lot of fan art on the web. Most of this was sandworms, but not really a landscape setting with a story. That prompted me to think: “How do you make an infinite view of sand interesting?” So that was a good challenge.
How did you approach your project?
I wanted to show this through the eyes of the Fremen [a group of humans who consider the planet of Dune their home]. What it was to be on the ground; to be sometimes a simple spectator of the battle between the planet (represented by the sandworms) versus the invaders. And all of this without giving any focus on a specified character.
I wanted to show the action, or maybe the lack of action; the fact that you’re so far from it and yet it’s a part of your life. That was my goal. I tried to stay true to the book and film, but also not to make a word-for-word copy. I believe that homage, interpretation, fan art, and so on should be your own personal vision of the universe created by someone else.