While not totally sci-fi, these are sketches of elements from various houseboat, RV and yacht cabins that I've been accumulating, attempting to come up with an idea for the captain's cabin on the space RV "Sprinter."
Oh hey, this is a longshot, but I'm wondering if anyone on here has a higher resolution shot of this picture from the Voyager pilot... I've only been able to find a 320x240 but I'm certain there has to be a sharper image than that.
Since Starrigger posted some Stable Diffusion art... and I've been playing with the demo of that myself, I figure I'd share some of the sci-fi inspired stuff I came up with.
Sorry I don't remember all my prompts, I was throwing a lot in non-stop.
The big prompt I wanted to do was flight jackets. You see from above I dig uniforms and want something unique, so I figured I'd let the AI brainstorm something for me. My first results were mostly modified product images, which are fine, but I decided to throw Rey in there and that changed things up.
This one might be my favourite, I'm digging the full body suit look of it and on her right shoulder there appears to be this big light tan swatch, which I think could be kind of iconic (it does need to be cut so her shoulder can move: Ai seems to only care what looks good in that one shot, functionality be damned). Perhaps pilots have this thing of putting their hands on each other's shoulders, hence the extra padding to one side. I also like the idea of these ribbed sleeves being long, that feels kind of cozy, so my options are to continue that ribbing over that blank area or maybe put a wrist mounted computer on there
A little tighter, like a motorcycle jacket, no markings or patches. Perhaps this is a secret mission suit, or has some different function than the main one.
The third one, maybe the most... contemporary or non-high-concept looking one. I can see someone wearing this in the real world. I'd probable want to play with the left hand side, create some interesting patterns that lead from the shoulder to those pins... and that big block on the right side, I can totally picture those "cassette tape" looking things from the Wrath Of Khan science crew uniforms being there. I also notice the AI gave the jacket two hems.
*****
And for my other random Star Wars generated art...
There's not that much. I tried to generate Han Solo as the commander of a big ship, like what I THOUGHT he would be doing after Return Of The Jedi, but I couldn't QUITE figure out how to say it. I can picture it, I can't say it... or not in the right terms for the computer to understand it. So can't really show much there. I can show this..
The prompt was basically Rey becomes Kylo Ren, I didn't want the helmet (but the computer INSISTED on drawing it anyway) except for this one where it just cut the head off. And this is one of the rare examples where an identifiable source reference image is a strength, because I believe this is the Episode VII poster of her, but she's just in Kylo's outfit... you get the general gist of it. So I count this one as a success.
So Arya Stark in Star Wars was something that was in my head since the announcement of Episode VII, I didn't want her to be a Jedi per se so I wasn't quite sure all the costume prompts to throw in... I know she's a Rebel, though. This is the only acceptable image from the four, and as you can probably see, the eyes are melting and the hand is... not a hand. But it's still cool to see this.
Sketch Id id months ago for an Iron Star poster idea, trying to go for the 80s sci-fi aesthetic. Finally cleared out the sketchbook I put this in, so I thought I'd share.
Something a little more sci-fi for ya:
A monster design from my sketchbook, pulling inspiration from a couple different sources. Thinking this would be good a tokusatsu-inspired project, something that couldn't just be a guy in a suit.
This one's been sitting in my sketchbook for a while, never really figured out what the next stage of it is. I like it, but it also feels like it'll just wind up being too close to the mass production Eva. But I think there's another direction to take it in.
Another one of those "in the sketchbook forever" designs that I decided to finally finish off (as much as I could) and file. Wanted to see how boxy I could make it without being just... a box, you know?
Been sitting on this for probably a year, really thought I'd have done more with it, but it's kind of cool that it's finally out there.
I really do need to figure out how to keep a more effective rewilding sketchbook...I don't think I'm using it to its full potential.
More AI-generated spaceships, made through the Stable Diffuson demo. Actually liking some of these.
Digging this as a landing ship, want to expand on it a bit, I think there's something potentially solid. I think I'll get rid of that square element and replace it with a sensor cluster. I'm also digging the red lights, it's making me imagine that inside are all virtual windows, screens all along the top fifth of the bulkheads showing what's outside.
LOVE this Syd Mead looking thing.
Knight Rider meets Airwolf? I dig the red underbite on the flyer, I want to make it jet black and a bit more sleek. The rover is kinda cool as well, kinda reminding me a bit of the one in Aliens but more rounded and maybe a bit more protected.
I can see the blackbird bieng an autonomous drone and having a little bit of a personality to it.
Call this one an interstellar dart. Cruise ship meets concorde, makes those long slogs enjoyable.
This could be a cool lander too. Call it the Hummingbird.
Finally, something NOT made by AI. Though AI inspired. That previous post, the top shop that has no windows? I had the idea that the red lights would be a bar of sensors that would feed data to screens on the inside that would act as windows. So I decided to sketch out the cockpit of that ship, a snug little thing where the pilot is surrounded by screens with minimal bezel between them.
A little more AI-generated art. This time, concepts for a worker on one of those industrial ships. Was trying to think of what the Replicants might have done before escaping to Earth.
Digging the colour aesthetic (I don't think I dictated white but it somehow seems to work) and the "image soup" as I've heard the results lovingly called kind of fit that Nostromo/Blade Runner aesthetic I wanted.
So, another addition to the "retro computers that might have been" collection, my concept sketches for the Memex.
The basic idea for this computer is from a 1945 essay be Vannevar Bush called "As We May Think," which laid out the core concept for a what would eventually become our computer standard. He described slanted translucent screens (which I pictured being smoked glass with white text being projected onto them from underneath), with a keyboard and a set of controls, but otherwise looks like an ordinary desk. I had the idea that the left screen was for viewing files and documents, with the alphanumberic keyboard for creating and modifying, and the righthand screen would be the information directory with controls dedicated to scrolling through that. I also figured that the telephone, radio, and television would come through this device as well, as more information traveling through the "umbilical" connecting it to the primary database. I decided that the desk would have power and data input built in, so you would build out the infrastructure in the office and plug these desks in (and unplug when ready to be removed). I gave it a clean, modern look.... I was actually thinking 1960s, like 2001: A Space Odyssey... the Memex logo I sketched looks a little like the Hal 9000 logo, I think. I also pictured the interface's white lettering being in Eurostyle or Minima.
What's annoying to me is that once I finished this sketch, I realized a very nice version of this basic presentation existed already... in the Editdroid.
Since it's been... well, a dang while.. here's some new sci-fi art I made. Costumes. Still overdue to give you all some new ships.
The thing I was gravitating towards was the idea of the one shoulder being the department colour, and the dirty jumpsuits just having black there instead. Figured it was a simple, easily-identifiable thing that could be easily done. I was trying to go for a Fifth Element/graffiti style to the drawings, hence the weird bagginess of some of it. More stylized than practical.
So I've been thinking about how to extend and play with this starship that I had generated with AI:
And I wound up sketching this... I'm digging the articulating engines, and I realized after sketching that the design aesthetic might merge together, so I think I'm going to play with that.
...but I think it still needs something on top in the back.
If that ship looks a little familiar, it's because I sketched it while looking at a carb. I wound up sketching a LOT, and there's the start of an interesting design that's emerging from some of the sketches.
It's kind of reminding me of the USS Dauntless from Voyager. I think, like above, I need to find something else from a different source to tie everything together.
Feels like ages since I've given you guys a genuine from-my-hands spaceship.
...and since I've been seeing a bunch of prams about recently (hello spring), I was finally inspired to sketch the interior:
Imagine a cozy recliner that you have to spend days.... if not weeks on. Since so many of the ship's functions are voice controlled, the small control panels slide away when not in use. Informational displays appear on the glass, as does any entertainment you need. I'm thinking of one side near the pilot ar tiny replicator slots, one for food... mostly in bar-form, and one for drink. There are storage compartments anywhere that one can be fit in, and there's some serious air filtration systems in place to keep you from choking on your own BO. The package is kept in a different compartment.
I can totally picture these being personalized by their pilots, a bit like truck cockpits, just MUCH tinier (and presumably much less expensive to film practically). For example, one could be full of funko toys and collectables, one person has a shrine on their foot locker, one looks like a girl's room with pillows and teddy bears all about the place... you remember the Doctor Who episode Gridlock where we had all those interesting weirdos in different matching cars? Same idea. I can ALSO imagine a Star Wars moment where we see a whole bunch of the courier pilots, "Red one standing by" etc.
This has been in the back of my head for a year (I didn't realize it was that long). Modernistic geometric shapes inspired by the scales and colour patterns of fish. Thought it would be great for hull plating or armour design, and totally fits with my retrofuturistic milieu.
I'm really enjoying introducing colour to more of my designs, though I always feel somewhat limited, it usually means I make a bold choice that's at least interesting (and I do save a black and white beforehand usually, just in case I screw it up).
I see a little Syd Mead with the orange and white ones, but I was trying not to let any outside influences affect the result.
So much of my recent art has been grounded, so here's a little something I did. Started by sketching a contemporary car, wound up futurizing it.
Feels not too distinct from my old ones, so I'm thinking I should start looking more at interiors and instrument panels to help flesh out these car ideas. I should say for the record I have a ton of sketches of car seats and so on that i just haven't scanned. It's a whole thing of "this is useful to me, does anyone else care?"
Been a little while. No new exciting designs (or at least none that I can recall off the top of my head), been busy with real life stuff and my sketches have mostly been real world stuff. But here's some reference sketches that have been inspiring some things. I have a lot of these but I usually don't post them, so enjoy.
I tend to find myself mixing influences, and I keep thinking it'd be fun to take car seat designs and convert them into bunk designs for my ships. So this was me playing around with that. Maybe it's a cost-cutting thing from the factory, make every seat out of the same components. But ideally, everything would be equally comfortable (you spend five years in a seat, it should be damn comfy).
This is from a school bus conversion that I saw, I loved the layout. Very simplistic design, it's great inspiration for a starship's quarters. Thinking of that ship with the "virtual" windows, all screens so you can have an uninterrupted (and customized) view. Zen meditation relaxation any time.
I think a nice benefit to the virtual windows is that you can have a screen anywhere you need it, which is quote convenient. Watch TV from any seat, get course updates, use the internet, whatever you need. it also keeps the interior less cluttered and more cozy.
In fact, if you really wanted to expand on this super-simplified idea, you could have not just wireless power for everything, but perhaps the control/information/display could pop up on whatever window screen its next to. So if you found an old CD player or something in an alien bazar and turned it on, you could get a display pop-up showing you the metadata that might be on the CD, a graphic equalizer, etc... It's the kind of super-connectivity I'm not into in real life (like virtual windows), but for a spaceship I really like it.
And now something I think have so much personality, kid bunks:
These were SO full! The kids were apparently quite young so they could fit in there, but I love that they'rejust packed to the brim. Big pillows, big thick fuzzy blankets, there's real personality there. the kind of thing I'd love to have in my ships.
Another bunk filled with junk.
Seeing Starfield videos, and how stark and boring and bleak those interiors are, really make me like these more. Hope you do too, hope to have more stuff in the future.
edit:
And here's some actual SF stuff, sketched loosely and modified while watching TV yesterday.
Took a few days off with the fam and went to Walt Disney World (first time since I was, like, 8) and it was quite inspiring creatively. Particularly visiting Galaxy's Edge and walking around the Millennium Falcon (I am NOT good at flying it, not sure what the trick with those controls is but I do have more respect for Han Solo now).
This is going to sound weird, but the thing that really clicked for me was the monorail. It had a lot of my own design quirks and likes in actual full size, the interior layout, the visible grills, the window design, and the way the interior was clearly subdivided... it felt exactly like the kind of thing I'd design.
We weren't able to hit Epcot because they were having the Wine festival or something like that ("let's get drunk and learn about the retrofuture!") which is a shame, but I'll try to watch some walkthroughs.
Thought, while I would never recommend you give up real live pencils on paper (especially if that's your one true love) , have you considered going the tablet route? either stand alone or connected to a computer?
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Shades of COMA
These are a bit derivative and a bit video game-y but I thought I'd share them anyway.
Sorry I don't remember all my prompts, I was throwing a lot in non-stop.
The big prompt I wanted to do was flight jackets. You see from above I dig uniforms and want something unique, so I figured I'd let the AI brainstorm something for me. My first results were mostly modified product images, which are fine, but I decided to throw Rey in there and that changed things up.
This one might be my favourite, I'm digging the full body suit look of it and on her right shoulder there appears to be this big light tan swatch, which I think could be kind of iconic (it does need to be cut so her shoulder can move: Ai seems to only care what looks good in that one shot, functionality be damned). Perhaps pilots have this thing of putting their hands on each other's shoulders, hence the extra padding to one side. I also like the idea of these ribbed sleeves being long, that feels kind of cozy, so my options are to continue that ribbing over that blank area or maybe put a wrist mounted computer on there
A little tighter, like a motorcycle jacket, no markings or patches. Perhaps this is a secret mission suit, or has some different function than the main one.
The third one, maybe the most... contemporary or non-high-concept looking one. I can see someone wearing this in the real world. I'd probable want to play with the left hand side, create some interesting patterns that lead from the shoulder to those pins... and that big block on the right side, I can totally picture those "cassette tape" looking things from the Wrath Of Khan science crew uniforms being there. I also notice the AI gave the jacket two hems.
*****
And for my other random Star Wars generated art...
There's not that much. I tried to generate Han Solo as the commander of a big ship, like what I THOUGHT he would be doing after Return Of The Jedi, but I couldn't QUITE figure out how to say it. I can picture it, I can't say it... or not in the right terms for the computer to understand it. So can't really show much there. I can show this..
The prompt was basically Rey becomes Kylo Ren, I didn't want the helmet (but the computer INSISTED on drawing it anyway) except for this one where it just cut the head off. And this is one of the rare examples where an identifiable source reference image is a strength, because I believe this is the Episode VII poster of her, but she's just in Kylo's outfit... you get the general gist of it. So I count this one as a success.
So Arya Stark in Star Wars was something that was in my head since the announcement of Episode VII, I didn't want her to be a Jedi per se so I wasn't quite sure all the costume prompts to throw in... I know she's a Rebel, though. This is the only acceptable image from the four, and as you can probably see, the eyes are melting and the hand is... not a hand. But it's still cool to see this.
I'll let you all chew on these for a while.
Sketch Id id months ago for an Iron Star poster idea, trying to go for the 80s sci-fi aesthetic. Finally cleared out the sketchbook I put this in, so I thought I'd share.
Something a little more sci-fi for ya:
A monster design from my sketchbook, pulling inspiration from a couple different sources. Thinking this would be good a tokusatsu-inspired project, something that couldn't just be a guy in a suit.
This one's been sitting in my sketchbook for a while, never really figured out what the next stage of it is. I like it, but it also feels like it'll just wind up being too close to the mass production Eva. But I think there's another direction to take it in.
Another one of those "in the sketchbook forever" designs that I decided to finally finish off (as much as I could) and file. Wanted to see how boxy I could make it without being just... a box, you know?
Been sitting on this for probably a year, really thought I'd have done more with it, but it's kind of cool that it's finally out there.
I really do need to figure out how to keep a more effective rewilding sketchbook...I don't think I'm using it to its full potential.
Digging this as a landing ship, want to expand on it a bit, I think there's something potentially solid. I think I'll get rid of that square element and replace it with a sensor cluster. I'm also digging the red lights, it's making me imagine that inside are all virtual windows, screens all along the top fifth of the bulkheads showing what's outside.
LOVE this Syd Mead looking thing.
Knight Rider meets Airwolf? I dig the red underbite on the flyer, I want to make it jet black and a bit more sleek. The rover is kinda cool as well, kinda reminding me a bit of the one in Aliens but more rounded and maybe a bit more protected.
I can see the blackbird bieng an autonomous drone and having a little bit of a personality to it.
Call this one an interstellar dart. Cruise ship meets concorde, makes those long slogs enjoyable.
This could be a cool lander too. Call it the Hummingbird.
Finally, something NOT made by AI. Though AI inspired. That previous post, the top shop that has no windows? I had the idea that the red lights would be a bar of sensors that would feed data to screens on the inside that would act as windows. So I decided to sketch out the cockpit of that ship, a snug little thing where the pilot is surrounded by screens with minimal bezel between them.
Digging the colour aesthetic (I don't think I dictated white but it somehow seems to work) and the "image soup" as I've heard the results lovingly called kind of fit that Nostromo/Blade Runner aesthetic I wanted.
The basic idea for this computer is from a 1945 essay be Vannevar Bush called "As We May Think," which laid out the core concept for a what would eventually become our computer standard. He described slanted translucent screens (which I pictured being smoked glass with white text being projected onto them from underneath), with a keyboard and a set of controls, but otherwise looks like an ordinary desk. I had the idea that the left screen was for viewing files and documents, with the alphanumberic keyboard for creating and modifying, and the righthand screen would be the information directory with controls dedicated to scrolling through that. I also figured that the telephone, radio, and television would come through this device as well, as more information traveling through the "umbilical" connecting it to the primary database. I decided that the desk would have power and data input built in, so you would build out the infrastructure in the office and plug these desks in (and unplug when ready to be removed). I gave it a clean, modern look.... I was actually thinking 1960s, like 2001: A Space Odyssey... the Memex logo I sketched looks a little like the Hal 9000 logo, I think. I also pictured the interface's white lettering being in Eurostyle or Minima.
What's annoying to me is that once I finished this sketch, I realized a very nice version of this basic presentation existed already... in the Editdroid.
The thing I was gravitating towards was the idea of the one shoulder being the department colour, and the dirty jumpsuits just having black there instead. Figured it was a simple, easily-identifiable thing that could be easily done. I was trying to go for a Fifth Element/graffiti style to the drawings, hence the weird bagginess of some of it. More stylized than practical.
And I wound up sketching this... I'm digging the articulating engines, and I realized after sketching that the design aesthetic might merge together, so I think I'm going to play with that.
...but I think it still needs something on top in the back.
If that ship looks a little familiar, it's because I sketched it while looking at a carb. I wound up sketching a LOT, and there's the start of an interesting design that's emerging from some of the sketches.
It's kind of reminding me of the USS Dauntless from Voyager. I think, like above, I need to find something else from a different source to tie everything together.
Feels like ages since I've given you guys a genuine from-my-hands spaceship.
...and since I've been seeing a bunch of prams about recently (hello spring), I was finally inspired to sketch the interior:
Imagine a cozy recliner that you have to spend days.... if not weeks on. Since so many of the ship's functions are voice controlled, the small control panels slide away when not in use. Informational displays appear on the glass, as does any entertainment you need. I'm thinking of one side near the pilot ar tiny replicator slots, one for food... mostly in bar-form, and one for drink. There are storage compartments anywhere that one can be fit in, and there's some serious air filtration systems in place to keep you from choking on your own BO. The package is kept in a different compartment.
I can totally picture these being personalized by their pilots, a bit like truck cockpits, just MUCH tinier (and presumably much less expensive to film practically). For example, one could be full of funko toys and collectables, one person has a shrine on their foot locker, one looks like a girl's room with pillows and teddy bears all about the place... you remember the Doctor Who episode Gridlock where we had all those interesting weirdos in different matching cars? Same idea. I can ALSO imagine a Star Wars moment where we see a whole bunch of the courier pilots, "Red one standing by" etc.
I'm really enjoying introducing colour to more of my designs, though I always feel somewhat limited, it usually means I make a bold choice that's at least interesting (and I do save a black and white beforehand usually, just in case I screw it up).
I see a little Syd Mead with the orange and white ones, but I was trying not to let any outside influences affect the result.
Feels not too distinct from my old ones, so I'm thinking I should start looking more at interiors and instrument panels to help flesh out these car ideas. I should say for the record I have a ton of sketches of car seats and so on that i just haven't scanned. It's a whole thing of "this is useful to me, does anyone else care?"
I tend to find myself mixing influences, and I keep thinking it'd be fun to take car seat designs and convert them into bunk designs for my ships. So this was me playing around with that. Maybe it's a cost-cutting thing from the factory, make every seat out of the same components. But ideally, everything would be equally comfortable (you spend five years in a seat, it should be damn comfy).
This is from a school bus conversion that I saw, I loved the layout. Very simplistic design, it's great inspiration for a starship's quarters. Thinking of that ship with the "virtual" windows, all screens so you can have an uninterrupted (and customized) view. Zen meditation relaxation any time.
I think a nice benefit to the virtual windows is that you can have a screen anywhere you need it, which is quote convenient. Watch TV from any seat, get course updates, use the internet, whatever you need. it also keeps the interior less cluttered and more cozy.
In fact, if you really wanted to expand on this super-simplified idea, you could have not just wireless power for everything, but perhaps the control/information/display could pop up on whatever window screen its next to. So if you found an old CD player or something in an alien bazar and turned it on, you could get a display pop-up showing you the metadata that might be on the CD, a graphic equalizer, etc... It's the kind of super-connectivity I'm not into in real life (like virtual windows), but for a spaceship I really like it.
And now something I think have so much personality, kid bunks:
These were SO full! The kids were apparently quite young so they could fit in there, but I love that they'rejust packed to the brim. Big pillows, big thick fuzzy blankets, there's real personality there. the kind of thing I'd love to have in my ships.
Another bunk filled with junk.
Seeing Starfield videos, and how stark and boring and bleak those interiors are, really make me like these more. Hope you do too, hope to have more stuff in the future.
edit:
And here's some actual SF stuff, sketched loosely and modified while watching TV yesterday.
Took a few days off with the fam and went to Walt Disney World (first time since I was, like, 8) and it was quite inspiring creatively. Particularly visiting Galaxy's Edge and walking around the Millennium Falcon (I am NOT good at flying it, not sure what the trick with those controls is but I do have more respect for Han Solo now).
This is going to sound weird, but the thing that really clicked for me was the monorail. It had a lot of my own design quirks and likes in actual full size, the interior layout, the visible grills, the window design, and the way the interior was clearly subdivided... it felt exactly like the kind of thing I'd design.
We weren't able to hit Epcot because they were having the Wine festival or something like that ("let's get drunk and learn about the retrofuture!") which is a shame, but I'll try to watch some walkthroughs.