War of the Worlds Tripod (part 9)

Here is some progress on the outer-layer line-work.  For the most part I have been doing all the line-weights at 0.15 in Illustrator.  The basket was perhaps the most complicated piece on the tripod to draw so I went ahead and finished the final line-weights on this particular section as I had built up momentum on it.  Line-weights are as follows: The outermost line (for the entire tripod) 0.75, secondary inner bold lines 0.5, inner bold lines 0.35, main line work 0.15, and plane changes/details 0.05.  It is taking quite some time to complete this stage of my project, but I want to make sure I'm doing it right.  Since I plan on publishing this and future works I want to ensure each artwork is of the best quality and close to or on par with the level of some of the masters of cutaway/cross-section art.  

Stay tuned for future updates.

War of the Worlds Tripod (part 8)

I have been unexpectedly delayed in my project for my War of the Worlds Tripod cutaway.  The past month I have been dealing with a minor disk protrusion in my lower back.  In order to let it heal, after sitting at work all day, when I have been getting home most of the time I have been laying down rather than exasperating the issue by sitting longer and working on my cutaway.  Back pain on any level is rough, but I am blessed that it is healing so quickly. 

I'm doing much better now and have started back up the linework first level for the cutaway.  I will post it here once complete.  I am also recording my process/progress and when I figure out how to put the videos together and speed it up I will put it up here as well.

Above is a quick sketch I did tonight of the direction I want to head in the design of the martians.  Some alterations from H.G.Well's version I feel are necessary as the description translated into art tends to produce a cute look rather than a sinister alien look.  Anyway, enjoy!

War of the Worlds Tripod (part 7)

I've finished the 3D sketch of my War of the Worlds Tripod!  I'll provide other views of the project as I produce the orthographic views.  I'm SOOOO exited that I can now move on to the drawing stage!!!  This was my first true 3D model I've ever made. I used Google Sketch-up due to the fact that I never received the proper training in 3D and needed a simple program to produce a movable model to rotate to any angle that I would need for this project.  Now I will produce orthographic views while starting the sketch for the exterior/interior view for the final cutaway which should be in 3-point perspective.  My next few stages will be in Photoshop and Illustrator.

I was really excited how this turned out.  The 'feet' were never drawn in my original sketch (follow label below to view previous related posts) and after modeling the feet with three 'toes' it didn't look right, so I deleted the rear 'toe' for each foot giving an odd look with only two for each... which gives it a more alien look I think.  Either way, it was never determined in my original sketch so I felt I had some leeway. 

On another side note, the figures at the bottom are representational of scale to the Martians (the larger figure) and to humans (the smaller figure).  I will be starting my sketches of the Martian soon trying to figure out their look and how closely I should resemble them to H.G. Wells' original description.

I will keep you posted as future work comes through.  Hopefully within the next month I should have one or two drawings depending on the time I'm allotted.  As usual, enjoy! 

War of the Worlds Tripod (Part 6)

Here is another update on the War of the Worlds Tripod.  I am getting closer to being done with my 3D "sketch."  I have the "whips," "tentacles" on the lower legs between the 'vertebre,' and the feet/toes.  Once I finish this stage, I will rotate the model to various general viewing angles to produce some orthos, and then use an angle fairly similar to the one shown above for a basis to produce a cutaway illustration in 3-point perspective.  There are hundreds of steps left before this part of my larger project is complete, but the Tripod should be finished hopefully sometime around summer next year or so, depending on other time-consuming factors of life.  The actual cutaway will involve having to draw the exterior and interiors and painting both.  Also, there needs to be research into pneumatics, hydraulics, steam engines, turbines, reactors, and vascular and muscular systems in humans and animals (mostly snakes, elephants, and squids) for producing a 'believable' construct for the inner workings of the tripod.  Anyway, as I continue to work on the 3D and other future stages of the project I will try to keep you up to date as best I can on the progress of it all.  Enjoy!   

War of the Worlds Tripod (Part 5)

Here is more progress on the 3D base for my future cut-away of H.G. Well's War of the Worlds' Tripod "Fighting Machine."  I've finally figured out a decent enough 'basket' design for the back to store helpless human victims prey to vicious, ruthless martians.  In the book they are described as a 'fisherman's basket' which has a woven look, but not as excitingly designed as I wanted it to be.  Through most of this model I am taking a lot of 'artistic license' in keeping to the original descriptions.

All I have left now are the whips protruding from behind the 'eye' and the upper legs, and lower tentacle legs plus the 'feet' or 'toes.'  I'll keep you updated on the progress when I can.  Enjoy!

War of the Worlds Tripod (part 4)

The process on the tripod has been going pretty slow lately as I have been very busy moving into a new apartment, projects at my job, and other various things.  Nevertheless, here is an update for the tripod.  I am still in the Google Sketch-up phase, learning the program and such.  Once I get this all finished I can get on to the more exciting part for me, drawing all the different angles and planning the cutaways.  

I wasn't happy with how the first version of the 3D arm turned out so I re-did it to match closer to the original sketch.  As always,  I will continue to keep you updated on my progress for the War of the Worlds Tripod cutaway.

War of the Worlds Tripod (part 3)

Here is some more progress on the War of the Worlds tripod work in Google SketchUp.  This, again, is only so I have something to rotate around into the angle I need it rather than having to figure out what might be going on when I draw it in a different perspective.  Here is a link to the original sketch: tripod 

It has been interesting trying to teach myself 3D, but a rewarding factor is seeing how menacing the thing can look when rotated to another angle.  You can't always anticipate that when drawing one angle 2Dimensionally.

Here is a sketch I quickly did during break at work.  I've been trying to think of how some of the framework might look within the tripod.  I want it to look alien and organic, yet still have a mechanical and structural look. 

Anyway, stay tuned for more when I become able to work on the project and post stuff here!