Sketching a Space Craft

Here's a sketch of an imaginary ship I have been working on the past few days. I love drawing science fiction craft, no one can say that it's wrong!

Copy paper

Mechanical pencil with B graphite

Graphite blender

Kneadable eraser

First off, light basic lines marking the general outline of the craft. I added a bit more to outline the cockpit area, canopy and engine inlet.

In this step, the cockpit is detailed in, as well as the nose area, landing gear and overall fuselage panel lines and details.

In this step, tons of shading was put into the cockpit, canopy and inlet areas. The fuselage had a variety of grey values to simulate different panels. I used the kneadable eraser to lighten up the seat cushions, canopy and inlet areas. It gives the drawing a somewhat mottled appearance. The blender was also used a bunch to soften edges and smooth out pencil markings. This step goes rather quickly, because the details are already drawn, and it is like a colour by number picture, just with out the numbers! The one thing I noticed was with all the cockpit and canopy detail and shading, the rear portion of the craft didn't have enough darks to give the drawing a balanced look.

In this last step, the drawing is close to being finished but the dark balance needed work. I darkened the rear landing gear, added darker panels and details and made the shadow heavier on the left hand vertical. Subtle changes made the difference and gave the craft a more even appearance. Now, where is that PBJ?