Crankshaft's Sketchbook

That pic with the red lines is interesting. That low vertical vanishing point creates a nice dramatic effect and makes it feel somewhat vertiginous which really pulls you in and down through that central area. You should keep working with that one.

Thanks Valence! However I still need to finish my engine room. I'm moving on to color and things are getting pretty tough.Thanks for the idea!

Studies! Wing tips.



Spine study.



Rotating planes.

Spine studies. Will release some design sketches and engine room soon.

Big updates! My engine room. Tell me what you think. Some things I'm aware of: It's getting very busy in the center, the back could be pushed back more. Also is there a filter in PS that allows a slight blur over a complete area?

Design sketches.





Spine study.

Engine room update is starting to come together Crank! The added details help you see the objects more and how they relate to each other. Do you know where the light sources are going to be yet? It looks like the center is your main focus and the background is going to remain dark, so no need to add any complex details there.

I would focus on the lighting and then you can figure out what you should spend your time detailing more, just what i've noticed. I can see in your pic an awesome lighting setup that would look cool, but it's yours so I can't touch it Lighting will help bring the objects to life more, but you can go in any direction with what you have now, as it's so detailed with a good composition already. Dig the new sketches too, the one in the upper left corner is my fav, interesting perspective, I like those kinds of compositions in pictures, looking up from the viewers standpoint.

Engine room is looking very nice. Look forward to seeing it's completion.

Anatomy study and the use of lines in gesture.



Study of reflected light and how local value affects it.



Quick design sketches to build my speed and efficiency in getting ideas from my head to paper. I have too many ideas, they just pour out of my head like water.



A big lesson I learned from my engine room is to group value ranges together rather than isolate them throughout the image.



Rendering study. Lots of notes here.

Thanks Dave! There are a lot of problems with it, particularly the value ranges and the lack of depth. I also need to work on how light affects certain values.

Thanks Micro! The main light source will be the central turbine with a dim light source overhead.

Since my (only) strength is on man made objects I'm going to share tips here and then as I feel there is a definite void in this area. Be sure to get them while you can!

-Most made objects are symmetrical so learning how to mirror objects becomes super important.

-Most man made items are designed to be more functional/practical then visually pleasing. Don't put useless details unless they are related to the function of the object. This is true in real life, engineers wouldn't put stuff that costs money for no reason.

-To do articulating/moving parts think of the purpose of the object. It doesn't have to be an epic mech. Eg Think of a microwave, it has a moving turntable to better transfer heat to your food.