There is some wonderful science fiction art being produced continuously, and a lot of the world class artists who produce it have put tutorials online so you can learn how to build your own. My favorite magazine on the topic is ImagineFX, which at $16 dollars a copy US seems a little pricey. Until, that is, you notice the DVD each issue comes with has all the workshops for that issue, including all the resources you need to follow along and make your own version. It also includes various free resources, like Fonts, Brushes, video instructions, 3D models, Textures, open source free apps, and so forth. A lot of their Workshops go online so you can access them there, usually around three months after the magazine hits the news stand. In addition, many of the contributing artists like Henning or Tom Nelson also post their contributions on their own web sites (again with the three month pause; no one wants to discourage you from buying the magazine and actively supporting the artists and publisher).
I have posted about this magazine before of course; what made me think of it now? I just found a nice article called Beyond Cylons and Warp Drive: Phenomenal Sci-Fi Concept Art that showcases 40 incredible works by almost as many artists. Each of the images links back to the source page so you can learn more about the creator and the project. Some of these are book covers, some are matte paintings for the backgrounds in movies or TV shows, some are paintings or page illustrations for magazines, but they are all amazing. And did I mention the site that published the article also is full of tutorials? Just in case you were thinking of building your own…