Longtime Star Trek artist John Eaves has been working with the franchise for nearly thirty year, joining the Star Trek V: The Final Frontier team back in 1989 and having a hand in nearly every incarnation since: the Next Generation series and feature films, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, the Kelvin Timeline films, and Discovery.
His designs include headlining Trek starships from the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E from Star Trek: First Contact to the Walker-class USS Shenzhou in Star Trek: Discovery. While his design work has been featured in special presentations like the “John Eaves Sketchbook” interview series on the DS9 DVD sets and the Star Trek: First Contact & Star Trek: Insurrection Sketchbook, fans finally got a spotlight look at his work in 2019’s The Art of John Eaves (which we reviewed upon its release).
This year, Eaves’ peers will be honoring his decades of contributions both Star Trek and other productions when he’s presented with the Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in April, recognizing his years of contributions to the industry.
Here’s the official announcement from the Art Directors Guild:
LOS ANGELES, March 31, 2021 – Concept Artist John Eaves, known for his iconic illustrations and designs for the Star Trek series and for the numerous science fiction realms he created, will receive the Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illustrators and Matte Artists (IMA) at the 25th Annual ADG Awards.
Herman Zimmerman, Emmy®-nominated Production Designer for the Star Trek franchise, will be presenting the award to Eaves. The event will celebrate Eaves’ artistic contribution to the many space vehicles, sets, and concepts that have become classics in the Marvel, Star Trek and Sci-Fi worlds that we know today.
“For the past 36 years, John’s work as a Production Illustrator has been an integral part of over 100 films and television shows. From props, to sets, to vehicles, to gadgets, and, most prominent and recognizable, a small fleet of starships for the Star Trek franchise, John has inspired many and left an amazing mark on our industry. We celebrate his creativity, talent, and contributions to the Craft and honor him with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Tim Wilcox, ADG Illustrators & Matte Artists Council Chair.
John Eaves has worked as a concept artist on many of Hollywood’s most successful franchises, creating iconic Sci-Fi images of futuristic worlds, vehicles, spaceships, and otherworldly designs that have become the foundations and concepts of over 100 award-winning motion picture franchises.
These include four Star Trek movies; Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; Spider-Man: Homecoming; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Iron Man 3. His talented prop designer and diverse model maker skills are on display in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Ant-Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 2, Batman Forever, Toys, Die Hard 2, RoboCop 2 and The Hunt for Red October, among many others.
Eaves’ groundbreaking work has garnered him numerous awards, including four previous ADG awards. As a child, John was fascinated with aircraft and science fiction and how films came together, a fascination that continued into adulthood and which led to a highly successful 36-year career and still counting.
Eaves will be presented the award during the virtual 25th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards on April 11, where legendary Star Trek production designer Herman Zimmerman will preside over the moment.