Howdy all,, Finally got some new art scanned so there will be lots more Trek art posted in the days to come,, the big move n packing have put a big hold on scanning things for posts so I apologize for the hold ups…. Looking forward to getting back to posting more stuff and more often.. OK then thanks for your patience!!!! Way back in 01, in the early days of ST Enterprise we were designing a new segment in time just a few decades prior to the original series. The idea was to retro back everything from the 60’s iconic series to a more NASA and nuts and bolts kind of look. With that in mind we ventured into a new yet older style of spacedock/drydock design with a skylab feel to the aesthetics. the result of this path is what you see before you know, a large circular space station with massive solar arrays and domed details to bring us all back into a more present time of space architecture with a slightly futuristic feel. This was one of about 4 passes before settling on a more chunky version of the traditional dry dock as established in the Motion picture. The piece is a big 24X36 cut n paste, marker-pencil combo with some white out highlights,,, YES THE OLD FASHIONED WAY!!!
concept 1
Eavesdropping with Johnny 
That is a very cool design with the Skylabesq style of it. I can’t help but think of the bottom part of the station as an Apollo command module docked to the station
it does have the Apollo Soyuz collar incorporated in the design more as a homage instead of an actual docking port.
The show was originally set just a few years before TOS? Boy, I could see the whining from TOS purists if that had happened. I mean, it was bad enough as it was, but it would have been worse. 😉
Awesome drawing, as usual. I really love your style. 😀
I like the design, though I’m not really sure it screams “Star Trek” to me. It definitely has that real world look to it, though it almost looks too unsophisticated next to the Trek-style ship you have in there. Having said that, it’s a very neat design. I like the blend of NASA inspirations that you used to give it that real world look and feel. I definitely could see this working in a movie or show set in the not-too-distant future, though not necessarily Trek.
Yeah a lot of ideas that are imagined as good are done and once you get them on paper,, the boss usually rethinks what he just had you do, and then you move on in another direction,, that’s the fun part of working in a scifi environment, the exploration days that pave the way for what will eventually make it to the screen,, This one is defiantly not Star Trek enough in composition but it was a fun drawing to do.
Wow – what a beautiful piece! It definitely gives off a Skylab, MIR, ISS vibe but updated for the 22nd century.
Glad to hear things are getting back to normal after the big move. Thanks for posting and hope all is well.
Best regards,
Rich
Thanks and now that things are easing up I can catch up on emails and also get your print mailed out to you.
Awesome – you are the best my friend!
Thats a great looking station. I don’t know I about not being enough trek.
I can see the NASA ideas in it, but I can also see a very early version of the Starbase that we saw in STIII: TSFS.
yeah it has hints of those stations but in a more early and crude form,, Way more on the line of the 50’s look in what a space station would look like.
I like that design very much. I wish it had been used in “Zero Hour” instead of the MIDAS array.
Howdy Bernd,
Thanks, It still needed a lot of finessing to really put it into the Star trek world but it would have been fun to see realized in CG
Sweet sketch! I love that the nx-01 was more like the tos Enterprise. Can’t wait to see more sketches! Thanks again!!!
Howdy Joe,, this was way early on and Doug had just been handed the task of the NX-01 designs,, this little E was just a stand in
I think I just found my new desktop wallpaper. Fantastic work, John, as always! On a related note, I recently found your Generations/First Contact sketchbook at my local used bookstore, and I’ve been delving through that. The stuff in there is just mindblowing. Keep it up!
Nice concept! I still think paper and pens is the way to go to get ideas out quickly. Nothing wrong with computers, I use them every day, but computers wont think for you. looking forward to the new stuff.
Very Nice!!!!
Would love to see a CGI version of this design.
PS: I can see you were using your original NX-01 design. 🙂
Does Capture the 60’s Space Station feel with those outboard Oxygen and Fuel containers and that bottom with the modern take of the docking module.
In a way this could’ve been the real beginnings of the Earth Space Dock (even the TOS version) and simply Starfleet added to it over the decades until it became the Mushroom we all know and love?
Woo! Nice design! Definitely has that future NASA feel to it! Man, to have that printer-esque mind like you do, John! Love your marker work!!