Well, setting the flood of pin up shoots aside for today, here is the follow up to Vulcan architecture from Star Trek Enterprise, Episode # 74 entitled “HOME”. This is three variations of the same location. The hillside dwelling on the right is the exterior design for T’POL’s mother’s (played wonderfully by Joanna Cassidy) home on Vulcan, Joanna’s character was of a high ranking woman but somewhat of a rebel, so her immaculate home is rural as opposed to in the high society of downtown amongst the powerful. In these three drawings, the tone and mainly the city scape will change drastically as the approval process for this concept goes through all the changes.
Concept #1 has an easy atmosphere and a smaller spread out cityscape. Joanna’s house made the cut, but the sky and background didn’t. Sketch #2 puts the atmosphere in heavy sunset mode, and the city grows in terms of ground level structures. The producers asked for more skyscrapers so Drawing #3 came to be, and, in the long run, the city became a combo of #2 and #3 as seen in the next two previously posted images. This was just about the end of designing new architecture for the hot planet, but it was quite a treat to get to dive into such an awesome world of drawings and concepts.
#1
text 2
#3
#4
I love seeing progress shots, especially of your work. I also love trying to spot all of the details you put in, which is no easy task as you put a lot of detail into your drawings. Those are some great drawings, thanks for sharing.
Here’s a fun thought: you could do a pin-up shoot and then Photoshop in some Vulcan scenery backgrounds.
Thanks EVIL!!! That would be a cool idea
The talent just oozes from the boy.
LLP,
deg
thanks brother I say the same thing every time I go to your bench!!!!
Thanks back, brother.
You know your Klingon Battlecrusier D4 is “on the bench…” now. Koji did an AWESOME job on her, esp. considering the time he had to do it in, but I’m doin’ her up a lot more accurate to your awesome design, eh.
Dang, she’s gonna be K-cool on a stick when she’s done, eh.
LLP,
deg
Hate it that Vulcan was destroyed in Star Trek 11 :/
Not only there were billions of innocent, peaceful people dying, but Vulcan was the most often visited, reffered, and build up planet in the whole Star Trek Universe…
Okay, it´s just a movie, I know.
Plus, you know they did it just for shock value, which makes it even worse.
after reading the script and seeing the mentality of the crew during the filming it seemed more like a rational emotional blow than just for simple shock value.
it is just a movie but your points are so very accurate
Interesting. #1 looks quite archaic. #2 is a bit like the architecture competes with the natural landscape. #3 is a less dominant city but may still be overall bigger.
love to hear your comments and you usually see the under-stories of what is really happening in the drawings
Love the first one. We get to see a side of Vulcan that is not metropolitan or canyon. Too bad it wasn’t on screen. This also reminds me of P’Jem
both p’jem and the version #! draw from the same simple idea
Really liking your Vulcan architecture. Something about these Vulcan “landscape” shots, and the one with the statues from your previous post, give me a Chesley Bonestell vibe. Really beautiful work – especially with the setting sun background. Thanks as always, Buddy!
You had mentioned that before and I forgot to look up Bonestell so thanks for the reminder
He did a lot of the planetscapes and early space ship pictures in some of the space flight books from back in the 50′s. Books like Conquest of Space, Across the Space Frontier, and Exploration of Mars. I think some of his art was used in the movies When Worlds Collide, Conquest of Space, and Destination Moon.
Hope thins are well and that you have a great weekend!
I always enjoy looking at your Vulcan architecture. The third one is a nice distance shot showing just how these structures blend in with the natural look of Vulcan. Nicely done!!
thanks and they did kinda have an earth,,,sorry vulcan friendly tie in to their surroundings
Beautiful work John. I want to visit there! Like this style for Vulcan and also the buildings from the new Movie.
Those new buildings were awesome, The master James Clyne did those designs!
I love the second and thrid. the city in the background was sweet.
I also agree that distroying Vulcan in trek STXI was a bad move. it just stopped being a trek film for me and just became a plain action film using the Star Trek Name.
That wasa pretty bold move to wipe out Vulcan but it will be cool to see what the new vulcan looks like!
Personally I thought blowing up Vulcan was one of the best things about the movie. It’s at that point the movie says all bets are off and nothing is safe.
And since I’m here, great pictures as well.
For that matter blowing up Earth might as well do the trick as well, like in ”Enterprise” Twilight…Also all bets are off then. And somehow I do not think ”Trek” would work, methinks “Vulcan” and “”Earth” are bound together at least in ”Trek” prime…
John, your stuff so deserves to be published in a coffee table format book, say 600 pages or so, you are so up there with the likes of McQuarry, Cobb, Foss and what have you…
Oh, and a bit off topic, I’ve read in a Cinefex that the ”Valdore” was CG-built by Andy Wilkoff…Does that ring a bell?
Wow, that rocks!
I love your sketches.
I have always wondered what your designs derive from (especially your spaceship designs) as I am pretty much a beginner at drawing technical stuff. Do you also work with abstract silhouettes to find your shapes and your patterns on the shapes?
Anyway, you’re awesome!!!
A fascinating (a-hem) look at the Vulcan suburbs.
I really like the third one, with the extra rows of houses between our POV and the city in the distance — it makes the city look “accessibly big”.
I mean like it’s big enough you believe it’s a real capital city, but it’s not so overwhelmingly huge that it becomes meaningless. The houses sort of help to bring it down to human(oid) scale.
A beautiful slice of my favorite made-up planet in my favorite made-up universe!
Very nice! Love to see the progression of the design!
BTW, I finally saw Conan!! Seeing James Earl Jones with long hair as Thulsa Doom threw me for a loop!
Ya, I thought that was worth the price of admission itself.
“You killed my snake!”
Best. Line. Ever.
He was so serious! Then, like deg said, WHACK! There goes his head! Thought the scene right in the beginning when facing down Conan’s mother was B.A!
The Riddle of Steel?
Ahhhhh, you know what it is, don’t you boy?
I am the well-spring from which you flow…
HACK CHOP, with a toss there goes Doomy’s head down the stairs, eh.
Of note: Thoth Amon is actually the name of Conan’s wizard arch-nemesis. Thulsa Doom is actually King Kull’s wizard arch-nemesis. John Milus (the director) liked the sound of the name of Doom better, Kull is another of Robert E, Howard’s barbarian heroes, living in Atlantis, IIRC, 10,000 before Conan’s Hyborian Age. Can you tell I’m a huge Howard fan?
Finally saw it, Matt? You waited 28 years? I’ve seen in 87 times in that same amount of years. My most watched film, eh.
LLP,
deg
Finally! Thank goodness for Netflix Instant Watch ability because there is no way in the world I was going to convince my wife to throw the movie on the queue.
I’m going to need to watch it again as the first go around I watched it in two parts and relatively late at night so I had a hard time following some parts.
Thanks for the additional info! I would never have known as I wasn’t familiar with this universe prior to John mentioning the movie here.
I have to admit that I wasn’t prepared for the um…::coughs:: scenery in the movie.
Just got a kick outta hearing “Conan” mentioned in the ENT ep “Carpenter Street” just a few minutes ago.
I’ll be watching it again on Netflix, when I’ve cleared a few other things out of my queue. Hey, Matt. IM me when you’re watching and we can pop some corn and watch together, eh? And fast forward throught the ::coughs:: scenery.
And yes, I know he must have meant Conan O’Brian, but I didn’t care, it still made me smile as I envisioned him rushing back to watch Ah’nold!
Ah, the Doom orgy pit, I assume you are referring too. Even Conan eyes go wide with surprise seeing that (even better behind his raccoon eye camouflage make-up). However, it’s not overly overt or anything, eh. The scene was meant to help relay the utter decadence (hedonistic in this case) Doom represented.
I own the video, and now two different DVD collector versions. I have to get it on Blu-ray at some point.
dea, Conan on mentioned ENT? I do not recall that off hand. Conan the Barbarian you mean, correct? I can’t see Conan O’Brien being mentioned on ENT…
LLP,
deg
It’s the episode where Archer and T’Pol go to 2004 Detroit to stop Xindi Reptilians. The last guy that gets “kidnapped” wanted to know how long it would take because it was 11:00 pm and he didn’t want to miss Conan…I’m thinking O’Brien because of the context, but I just decided it was the Barbarian in my own mind!
Ah, sure sure, now I recall, eh. Thanks for the ENT refresher, dea.
And yeah, I’m sure he was referring to an AMC playing of CTB.
LLP,
deg
I still think the way Thulsa Doom cut off Conan’s mother’s head was brilliantly done. You didn’t see it happen and the whole time, they just focused on the faces. Then just when you thought she had survived and they were just going to walk away and leave: close up on Conan as a boy, holding his mother’s hand – Thusla Doom walking away, then he suddenly turns around – back to close up on the boy as we see his mother’s head fall to the side and her body drop.
Somehow, not seing the head come off was more effective than had we seen it. Less is more, eh?
I think it worked really well because then we the audience were focusing on this now orphaned boy.
Pretty darn awesome!
Indeed, Matt. And with Basil’s score/choir playing, an even more powerful and brilliant scene.
And could Conan’s mom be more beautiful, eh?
LLP,
deg
I have been looking for landscapes and cityscapes of Vulcan. Thanks! I like these. They help me kick in my imagination for my fan fic writing.