[proximo]

Hey guys .. well i posted a ship the other day and yesterday just trying to get some stuff that works and what not, but i have started on this new sketch and well its just really early in the pic and wanted to see if you could help me ..



As you can see nothing really there yet, now i want to add in some weapons and things like that and in my last post some people gave me some good pointers on things but b4 i go in and do stuff i was wondering if any of you had some spare time to maybe draw over the pic add in some stuff that you think would look cool .. like to give me some ideas of things to do ,, just real quick things .. if you have the time ,, any help would be greatly appreciated thanks to all the people who crited the last one and thanks to all who will crit this one too lates all

[Fred Flick Stone]

Something I was so eloquently reminded by Wacomonkey the other day during the discussion of what makes a great design.

It isn't necessarily "only" the big silhouetted shapes that create a beautiful form, it is the smaller things. How the shapes come together, their seams that connect one shape to the next. How are the wings connected to the body of the ship. How are the jets connected to the wing and the cockpit, etc. Right now you have a number of different blocks that all serve their purpose possibly, but all remain seperate components. they now all need to come together and form one whole object.
Airplanes, motorcycles, military hardware, space ships, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Alien(s), Blade Runner, to name a few places or sources of great design. Look at these things and try to recognize how they are built, why they are built the way they are, and draw them, as dimensional as possible. Understand through your own thinking process how to recognize this sort of design. Seeing it is one thing, but actually commiting to paper a great design in your head is something entirely different. It takes mileage and patience and careful observation.

Remember the whole. Oh yeah, nice start, I would like to see where you take it next...Good luck with it.

[proximo]

Thank you fred .. that is somthing i have noticed in may works, just recently ,, like you need to figure out in your head first A) how it would work and B) how it would look with all the conections needed to get it to work eheh .. you have laid it out very nicely as to how to look at that .. i find myself adding things in that dont need to be there and not putting things in were they should be .. im going to try and take some closer looks and think more about how it would work and things would come togeather, and work togeather .. thanks for the input..

[Vortx]

Adding to Fred's comments. Try also to think industrial when you're designing things such as spaceships or docking stations. Mix real world elements into your design.....such as jet engine parts, lefting arm from a construction vehicle, launch lad for the spaceshuttle, etc. These little details make your design more believable because it links the viewer to the real world. Always buy reference books. For example, if you look at Doug Chiang's work, his designs contain a lot of motocycle/car parts.....because of his auto design background.

If you're not confident w/ perspective, then start your design w/ a good side profile. Don't let perspective limit your design skills (in which i see here, because you are sticking to simple shapes). Get a piece of paper and start sketching nothing but side profiles. Don't be afraid to use organic shapes. If you have problems bringing those into perspective, there are arists here who can help you.

I wish i can post all my spaceships from Origin as samples, i have sooooo many. Ugggg. Well, i'll try to sketch some quickies this weekend and get them up monday. Cool? =)

-feng

[proximo]

Vortx that would be so awsome .. and you are right im not really comfortable with the organic shapes .. i dont know why i mean i think i am but then im not , its like every time i go to draw it .. these blocks just come out .. like the ship is a cube of some sort im not sure why .. eheh but i like your idea with the arms and things like that .. im goin to go look up Doug Chiang's right now get some inspiration .. thanks for he help and i cant wait to see your ships late..

[ceenda]

Hi there proximo.

The sketch is looking good already!

Don't afraid to put some wild curves in there. Even if you don't think it'll look good, you might be surprised at what comes up (make a copy and sketch over it). Perhaps even inspiring you to say "yeah, but what if I put that there".

Those large sections on each side of the fuselage would make great rocket launcher pods.

[waylon]

Also, don't foget, a lot of the design principals that lead to good composition in a painting also apply to the design of specific objects.

For instance, if you have a curved line leading from the tip of the nose back to the engines, your viewers' eyes will follow that line. If it's interrupted by another shape, it may break apart the "flow" of the object. As far as your ship is concerned... The viewer's eye starts at the nose, follows around the edge of the cockpit, then *WHAM*, hits the engine and just sort of wanders around the upper-center of the ship.

Other rules apply too, but as far as what I've been discovering lately with my own space ship designs, this is a pretty major consideration.