Corporate Memphis...but cool

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From the Illustrators Division

London based Brazilian illustrator and designer, Gabriel Silveira does the Corporate Memphis style...but he brings an edge to it that I think elevates the genre. Like, I think it'd be cool to see a whole comic, or animated film in his approach to illustration. Really would like to mix in this kind of polish and refinement to my own work somehow.

Check out his website here: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Behance: LINK​

-Jake

3D Tour of the USS Drum

in

From the Military Vehicles Division

First off, do you know about Matterport? It's a collection of places captured in 3d that you can explore from your computer. I think it's primarily to sell real estate, but the thing that really interests me is that you can visit museums, and interesting locations. Great for reference!

I'm particularly enthralled with the submarine tour LINK!

A few more really cool places to explore:

Lissieu Grande Propriete: LINK​

Star Trek Continues bridge: LINK​

Air Force One: LINK​

(Thanks to Jake Crowe for bringing this to my attention on the Discord)

-Jake

SPACE LAMBO

in ,

From the Department of Wheels

Why can't we get a car today that looks like the Lamborghini Marzal (1967). Granted I know that side window probably isn't the best protection in a T-bone incident...but that's a small price to pay to look this rad.

The interior is just as cool. Love the elongated console and hexagonal dashboard motif in this thing. And the silver faux leather? Chef's kisss.

Sadly, this was just a one off, but you can see the shape language influence many future Lambos.

A good video here: LINK

-Jake

SEE-THROUGH CUTAWAY PRINTS

in

From the Drawings Unit

This is something I've wanted to try for years, but never had a good excuse to do. I absolutely LOVE cutaways and overlays and this weekend while I was working on the latest cutaway for the book I thought, "Why not make this an ultra-cool handcrafted print set?" I made a few samples and they are just so darn cool, so I decided to make them add-ons for the Kickstarter.

Each print comes with TWO sheets:

1) A vellum see-through overlay with line work only:

2) A giclee print with the full color cutaway drawing for the base:

When you combine them, the effect is captivating. I find myself just staring at this print, then flipping the sheet up and down:

They are 11x14 inches which is a standard frame size you can get at Target, or Michaels, so you don't break the bank framing this thing. And boy do they look cool framed:

Here's a close up:

These are hand-crafted in my studio and you can add it on to your pledge for $65 each. Or if you want all three, I have a buy 2, get one free deal.

Available EXCLUSIVELY through the Kickstarter.

(I made a guide on how to manage your pledge and add an original art piece: LINK)

-Jake

On Success

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit

The success you have in life is all relative. I've met a millionaire who felt unaccomplished, and knew a guy who was able to get job at U-Haul installing hitches and thought he won the life lottery. I think to feel satisfied in life you gotta stop looking outward for validation, but instead look in the mirror for it.

I like novelist Toni Morrison's thought on the measure of success:

"For me, success is not a public thing. It's a private thing. It's when you have fewer and fewer regrets."

Source: Interview with The Guardian​

That might be the key there. Before you take on any project, or invest tome and energy into something, ask yourself, "will this lead to less regret in life, or more?"

(via 3-2-1)​

-Jake

Scavengers

in

From the Film and Animation Division

I'm not sure how this fantastic short escaped my attention for over 5 years! Made in 2017, Scavengers is an 8 minute peek in an alien world of bizarre extraterrestrial creatures and mysterious rituals. The short, created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner, was created for Adult Swim’s Toonami branch.

The short follows a couple of colonists on a strange planet as they work their way through a series of specially choreographed customs in order to achieve...something. You need to watch it to find out.

Insanely inventive, this makes me want to add a little more weird to my own sci-fi work.

The short is making the rounds again because HBO greenlit an animated series based on the short called "Scavengers Reign."

Watch the full short here: LINK​

Watch the trailer for Scavengers Reign here: LINK​

-Jake

Paul Felix's Lilo and Stitch Art

in

From the Illustrators Division

Lilo and Stitch turned 20 this week and it's brought back so many memories of a very impressionable time of my art life. I was in my early 20's and working at my first job at an animation studio, had my first kid a year earlier and was still trying to figure out my art style and where I fit in animation/concept art.

I saw Lili and Stitch and it's combination of cute, fun, and sci-fi made a massive impact on what I wanted to create.

I got the Art of Lilo and Stitch book and studied that thing front to back. I picked up watercoloring and worked on my design skills from it. One artist stood out to me above the rest: Paul Felix.

There's no Paul Felix website and as far as I can tell there's no social media account for him either. What there is though is the "UNOFFICIAL PAUL FELIX" blog.

To see a lot more work of his, check out the blog here: LINK

-Jake

Good night moon

in

From the Department of Space Exploration

Andrew McCarthy, a fellow Arizonian, is an astrophotographer who does some incredible image work of the Moon. In that first one he actually captured the ISS transiting the moon.

I've been following his work for a couple years now and am always impressed with his captures.

I'm consistently blown away by his images.

Follow Andrew here:

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Website: LINK​

Here's a nice blog post on how he does it: LINK

-Jake​

Cutaways

in

From the Drawings Unit

This week I drew more spaceships, haha. Current obsession is drawing cutaways of the ships I've designed. These are all going into the book.

Someone asked me if I actually know the mechanics and engineering of what I’m drawing and the answer is yes…kinda.
​
I've looked at enough airplane cutaways to have a good idea of what things generally are. Here’s some things to remember when drawing a cutaway:
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- Draw support structure first
- Add fuel source and powerplant - and avionics (these are all dependent on each other so connect them
- Squeeze in life support systems
- Fill in gaps with wires and tubes and other tech
​
If you like this kind of stuff you’ll love my new book: SPACESHIPS!​

(I made a guide on how to manage your pledge and add an original art piece: LINK)

-Jake

On Attention

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit

Here's a perspective I think about often from author James Clear:

"Look around your environment.

Rather than seeing items as objects, see them as magnets for your attention. Each object gently pulls a certain amount of your attention toward it.

Whenever you discard something, the tug of that object is released. You get some attention back."

- James Clear

On the flip side, magnets are also useful though. I have books, toys, and art prints all over my office. I made it a space that gets me creatively charged every time I enter it. The room pulls me towards my work when I don't feel like working and keeps me there.

However! I think the most powerful attention magnet is the smart phone. It's like a MRI machine in your pocket. You want to get work done? Put that thing in the other room and remove all the metal from your pockets.

The key is finding that balance between good magnetism and dangerous magnetism.

-Jake

Vermillion Cliffs Roadside Attraction

in

From the Exploration Unit

I was going through an archive of images I've puled from online and saw the first image up there and it reminded me of when the Parker fam visited this spot a few years ago on an overcast day.

This is the stone house at the Vermillion Cliffs location in northern Arizona. Visiting here feels like walking into a Moebius drawing.

It's a place out of time that instantly opens up your imagination.

Located here: LINK​

-Jake

Got my eye on you

in

From the Illustrators Division

I'm in awe at the colors of this Beholder drawing by Canadian artist Darren M. A. Calvert. I thought it was digital at first, but no, this guy knows his way around design markers. Fabulous. I'm taking notes.

More of Darren's work here:

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Etsy: LINK​

This got a good chuckle out of me: LINK​

-Jake

SPACESHIPS, SPACESHIPS, SPACESHIPS II

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From the Drawings Unit

If you can't tell, I'm having too much fun drawing spaceships lately.

Been cranking these out every day this week for the kickstarter. They seem to sell pretty quick, which makes me so happy! Expect more as the campaign rolls on this week.

(I made a guide on how to manage your pledge and add an original art piece: LINK)

-Jake

On the bet

in

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

This week I launched a kickstarter for a book I believed in, but wasn't sure would be accepted like my past work. I've sold a lot of DRAWINGS books (for an indie self publisher) and it made sense to do another DRAWINGS book. I've also sold a lot of comics. It made sense to do another graphic novel. But this hybrid thing that is Kepler's Intergalactic Guide to Spaceships seemed risky.

The ONLY way I would know for sure was to buckle up and make a pitch to people that this thing was worth their time and attention. That takes some courage.

"Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one's better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk—and to act." -André Malraux​

Betting on your ideas is still a bet. Sometimes you lose. At the end of the day though, losing a bet with yourself is still a win. You get knowledge on what works and what doesn't. You still get experience. You still grow. Most importantly you exercise that courage muscle.

The alternative is the "sure thing." Which gives expected results, expected experience, and sure, growth (maybe?). The worst part though is your courage muscles atrophy. Some day you'll want them, even need them and you'll wish you had the strength to take the bet.

-Jake

Are you in the market for a very large ship?

in

Department of Vehicles and ships

While researching spaceships I stumbled on a website for a company the builds ships: Damen Shipyards Group based in the Netherlands.

Their website is a cornucopia of different styles of ships. Here's a list of what they build:

Tugs
Workboats
Pilot & Tender Vessels
Ferries
Dredging
Offshore Support Vessels
Pontoons & Barges
Defense & Security
Research & Science Vessels
Cargo Vessels
Fishing Vessels
Shipyards & Docks
Yachting

Not living next to an ocean makes me forget just how many ships there are out there. As a boy raised in Arizona where water is pretty rare, I'm fascinated with ships like these. Any time I see them in person, they stop me in my tracks.

Damen has a nice style to their ships. Love the shapes and colors going on. Good reference here for spaceships too. Click around and you find neat stuff like these research vessels they build: LINK

-Jake​