The Space Art Thread

[benjee10]

THE SPACE ART THREAD

It struck me as a little odd that on this space-centric forum there doesn't really seem to be any natural place for sharing (non-KSP-related) space art, which is a pity because (despite what some would have you think) art and science can go hand-in-hand incredibly easily. KSP itself is a prime example of this; now let Thought I'd make a little thread for anyone to do just that; if you have any space-related art you want to share and get feedback on, or if you just want to share something cool you found, post it here! Ever had anything you've been itching to share but pretty sure it doesn't fit in the Fan Works forum? Bring it on over! Possibly in the future we could have art competitions or something, depending on levels of interest. Would just be cool to see what great stuff the community creates!

 

Shameless plug alert:
In Blue Peter style, here's one I made earlier. I create Blender 3D models to sell to help cover the cost of university life and at the moment I'm working on a personal project to help improve my hard-surface modelling skills. Thought I'd have a go at creating a speculative but plausible photorealistic spaceship. It's meant to be a post Mars-mission multipurpose expedition ship, capable of travel to the outer planets or fast hops between the inner ones. I've tried to stick with the current NASA/ISS aesthetic as much as possible. It's still a work in progress, needs an antenna module and more general greeble & external science experiments to make it look a little more believable. Nuclear powered but with solar arrays for backup power, They would probably be retracted beyond Jupiter where they'd become pretty much useless. Any critique, scientific or artistic, greatly appreciated. I will likely be making a series of images of the ship performing various missions around the solar system and possibly even an animation in the future. Her name's undecided yet. Suggestions welcome. 

Less shameless plug: I'd also like to share some incredible work by artist MacRebisz on DeviantArt. You should all go check out his stuff. Seriously, it's amazing. 

Now let's see your stuff! 

Edited January 8, 2016 by benjee10

[Accelerando]

Your model looks crisp and gorgeous, unfinished or otherwise. If I'm to suggest anything, perhaps it could do with more prominent/more expansive yellow-orange-reddish detailing as you've already done with some of the structural trusswork, to help establish the color scheme to the viewer? And I'd assume you would want solar/radiator panels situated farther away from the reactor, in the shadow of the radiation shielding, unless the entire reactor is shielded. I personally usually try to keep panels of all kinds inside the shadow cone, although I don't know if it's absolutely necessary - but it looks cool!

A preview to kick off my own contribution:

The work in progress of 30 hours' painstaking labor! All by hand with some help from circle and line tools. Perspective faults abound. How I'd love to learn Blender! It's a fusion-powered laser battlestar, radiators and coolant vents lit up like a furnace. The Martin-Marietta Zenith Star was a significant inspiration.

 

Most of my other space-related work is much sketchier, but I'm fairly proud of it nonetheless. A cityship Orion:

 

Scenes from my hard SF universe I've been working on for the past 7 years:

[cubinator]

I've done some drawings, mostly of planets and skyscapes. It's about all I'm good at ! I tried the clouds recently and it worked pretty well. Here you go:

I have a few more that are directly KSP-related, but since this is not a KSP-related thread I won't post them here. I did post them here though.

Edited January 13, 2016 by cubinator

[Exclipse]

@benjee10 That looks really awesome!

@Accelerando I really like the orion cityship. I enjoy the style and how it lets the imagination run with it.

 

A couple things I made a while back.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Exclipse

[The Destroyer]

I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but Star Citizens concept art is great

(this one isn't really concept art, that's pretty much a game screenshot)