Specialty Graphics

Some of my Artwork

Artwork

Some artwork I've created using Lightwave and CorelDraw.


HMS Beagle artwork

HMS Beagle

HMS Beagle anchored off an island in the Pacific Ocean. The Sun is about to set and the last of the survey boats are being recovered.

This work was inspired by a recent reading of Charles Darwin's "The Voyage of the Beagle". A great book if you're interested in natural history.

I thought the ship model turned out OK, but I wasn't happy with the sunset. I will revisit this work as my skills improve.

Wire-frame of the Beagle Model

After sub-patching, the model included just over one million polygons.

HMS Beagle Wire frame model.

Anaglyph 3D image of the Beagle Model

3D version of HMS Beagle model.
British Fleet artwork

Royal Navy Squadron

A squadron of British warships emerging from a fog bank sometime during the early 1800's. A first-rate leads the way, with a few 74's trailing. A barque, in the foreground, might be serving as a scout or courier ship.

The scene was inspired by my recent reading of several Horatio Hornblower books. Written by C. S. Forester, the eleven books in the Hornblower series follow the career of the fictional Royal Navy officer. The illustration does not represent an actual scene from the Hornblower novels.

The barque sailing along side the battle line is a modified version of my HMS beagle model. The first-rate, leading the column, is modeled after the HMS Victory. The 3rd rate 74's are not modeled after particular ships.

I had a lot of fun creating this scene. In the future, I will likely create many more sailing themed illustrations.

Several of the Texture Maps used for This Scene

The first image is a color map for the 1st rate, while the second includes details for the sails. The third image, along with other textures, was used to create the ships wake.

HMS Victory color map. HMS Victory sails color map. HMS Victory wake texture map.
Viking ship artwork

Viking Ship in Storm

A Viking long boat, riding out a storm, presses westward across the north Atlantic.


Pyramid City Illustration

Pyramid City

This alternate history piece centers on a towering, pyramid shaped complex. The imposing structure is surrounded by a thriving port city.

I wanted to create a design that is fantastic and stirs the imagination, and, at the same time, is structurally and historically plausible. A structure that we could have built in our distant past.

This illustration was created in Lightwave 9.6, and includes around 655,000 polygons. The city sprawl in the background is comprised of over 1,000 buildings. The scene also included over 1,000 people, 500 trees, and 38 ships.

Inspiration for this illustration included both historical and fictional references, including the Great Pyramid of Giza, the terraced complex at Machu Picchu, and the fictional city of Minas Tirith from The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Detail Images

The first image is a close-up of the illustration. The second image is a color map used to create the roads among the background buildings. The third image shows a sectional comparison of the actual great pyramid, and the fictional design.

Pyramid city artwork detail. Pyramid city ground color map. Pyramid city comparison with Great Pyramid at Giza.
Mars Mining Vehicle artwork

Mobile Mineral Harvester

A futuristic mining vehicle working a deposit on the surface of Mars. The idea is that this thing would dig up mineral deposits, in this case an ice layer, crush the material and separate out useful chemicals. Things like water, iron, carbon, and other elements would be separated, refined, and stored. The machine would periodically return to base and offload containers of refined material.

The look was inspired by a variety of current technologies, including excavating equipment, crawler transporters used for the space program, offshore oil and gas production facilities, and chemical refineries.

This one makes a great wallpaper, the colors are dark and most icons stand out very well.

Other Images

The first image shows an early version of the model. The second shows the wire-frame for the finished model. The third is in anaglyph 3D.

Early version of ore harvester model. Mars harvestor model wireframe. 3D version of ore mining machine model.

USS Lincoln artwork

USS Lincoln

A fictional ship, from a hypothetical war between the United States and England during the 1860's.

I've wanted to do a cut-a-way view for a while now. I thought for my first cut-a-way design a fictional ship might be the way to go. I could concentrate on technical aspects of creating the view, without the need to accurately depict an actual ship.

I had a lot of fun creating this illustration and have several other cut-a-way designs in progress.

Details

USS Lincoln artwork detail. USS Lincoln artwork detail. USS Lincoln artwork detail.

Industry at night render.

Industrial Park at Night

Inspired by watching buildings and roads pass below while flying into Detroit Metro Airport after dark.

The scene shows a typical collection of light industry and commercial buildings. The final design was completely lit from within the scene. No external lights were used. The scene is fictional and does not represent an actual location.

Details

Industry models.

Render of Whaling ship model.

Got Him!

An alternate history piece based on Herman Melville's "Moby Dick". In this time-line, Ahab and the crew, after a short and largely uneventful chase, have successfully killed Moby Dick. The try-works are fired up and the crew is preparing to render the great leviathan into lamp oil.

His plan for vengeance carried out successfully, Ahab would retire from whaling upon returning to Nantucket. Earning his living as a landscape painter of only marginal talent, Ahab spent his remain years in relative obscurity.

Artwork for HistoricSpacecraft.com

I have created well over a hundred illustrations for my space history website, HistoricSpacecraft.com. Most of these are Orthographic projections of various spacecraft. Many of the illustrations feature several missions and include an astronaut figure to give a sense of scale.

International Space Station

ISS Illustrations created in CorelDraw.

International Space Station supply ships. International Space Station

More Space Station Artwork

Space station comparison illustration. ISS Resupply. International Space Station resupply craft. Drawing of Mir space station.

Space Probes

Space probe comparison charts created in CorelDraw.

Pioneer Probes Mariner Probes Comparison Mars Probes Discovery Program Outer Planets Probes Venus Probes Moon and Mars Rovers Moon probe chart. Illustration of space telescopes.

Space Probes

Space probe diagrams using a series of renders I created in the 1990's using TurboCad.

Pioneer 10 Probe Luna 16 Moon Probe Lunokhod lunar rover Luna 3 Moon Probe Luna 9 Moon probe

Michigan Space and Science Center

Created in the 1990's using Turbocad, these illustrations were used for planning purposes by the museum staff.

Michigan Space and Science Center Michigan Space and Science Center Michigan Space and Science Center Space center floorplan.

Artwork for the Jackson Model Rocketry Club

In 2005, the Jackson Model Rocketry Club commissioned me to create a high resolution Saturn 5 illustration for their organization. Here are some images of the finished artwork on the clubs trailer.

These photos were taken on August 10, 2006 at an aviation event in Mason, Michigan.

Jackson Model Rocketry Club Saturn 5 Art Saturn 5 Art Saturn 5 Art
For more information about the club, visit the Jackson Model Rocketry Club website.