Creating The Concept
Before I can sit down and just draw a boat, I need to plot out what the shape of the boat will be. The most efficient way I do this is to break down the different parts of it, then come together and do a sort of “sketchbash” at the end.
Anatomy of A Boat
The parts of the boat that I’ll work on in the concept phase are the boats shape/hull, “fins”, and sails.
There are many different parts of a boat. Below is an image with a few common terms for the different parts.
1.) Rudder/Stern
2.) Keel
3.) Pulpit
4.) Bow
5.) Hull
6.) Mast
7.) Mainsail
8.) Jib
Boat Shape
There are many types of boats with many types of functions. In real life, and in fantasy. For now, I have a few types in mind. The boat I want to make is one that can be ridden like you would a surfboard. There are boats similar to this called racing boats. I still want to explore a simpler row boat design as well though.
No matter what boat shape I choose, it’s important that I gather references.
Even in fantasy environments, it’s important to ground as much of a design in reality as I can before adding fantastical elements in order to still be read as what it is. In this case, a boat.
These are a few sketches of boats I liked. Some with places to sit and place items, and some with only room to stand.
With the general shape decided, I’m going to go ahead and redraw them in profile and turn them into silhouettes. It’ll be easier to design in profile view, but knowing what a top 3/4 view looks like is good for me to keep in mind.
Making Assets
(((I’m using CSP for tablet, so the placements may differ for desktop users on this step.)))
Once I had the silhouette done, I rasterized the folder to combine all the layers. Then I used the lasso tool to select the image and used the edit drop-down to select register material.
After that I registered the boats as an image. I also did this for each one individually afterwards
When I combine all the parts in later steps, it’ll help to visualize the boat better without having to fully commit to any one design before I’m sure. I’ll be able to paste the different parts together easily since I’ll be using these steps to make them into assets.
Otherwise I risk putting too much time and energy into a design only to change it more than once and redoing the whole process multiple times.
Fins
(((When I say fin, I mean small sails on the underside of the boat that aid its flight. These include parts 1, 2, & 3 from the boat anatomy reference image.)))
While fins generally aren’t something associated with boats, in a flying boat they’re important. Especially a steampunk one.
While these aren’t fins, like we see on fish, I want to take inspiration from some fins that fish actually have. Fish actually do use them to propel themselves through water, so the same can be applied to moving through air.
I decided to take inspiration from fish, actual sails on boats, and submarines.
I liked two of them and decided they would look better combined.
After that, I went ahead and I narrowed it down. I’ll convert them to a silhouette and make them into assets like in the previous step.
Sails
There are a lot of different types of sails on boats. And even more ways to draw them. The trick I use more often than not is to make triangles and combine them in different ways. Stacking them, cutting them into two, laying them on their sides…
Here, a couple of triangles become sails:
I kept the number of sails I ca,e up with smaller. For a racing boat, a huge amount of sails is a hindrance.
Combinig The Elements
This part is a bit fun for me. I go ahead and take the parts I made in the earlier steps, and combine them in different ways.
I end up with a number of silhouettes of different boat bases. I made a decision based on what I wanted the boat to be used for. It’s a single person boat, made to fit only one rider. It’s also supposed to be fast so a smaller design and a more simple look is what I went with.
Refining The Design With Details
With a more futuristic or sleek design, it would be easy to hide a lot of the aspects and inner workings that make the boat fly, whereas with steampunk, seeing the guts and the mechanisms of machines and vehicles is an important aspect.
The steam part of steampunk refers to the steam engine, which is not known for its discreet or compact size.
Despite that, there is still a major futuristic element to it. There need to be a balance.
This is where it needs to go from just being a regular boat with interesting sails to something else.
Additions
When I was looking at different racer on single person racing boats, I noticed when they turned, or did a lot of leaning they would end of parallel to the water, or close to it, as they pulled on the sail. Even getting wet in the process. There’s a big risk of falling off if a hand slips. This is a huge risk if you’re racing in the water on its own, but in the sky it would be even worse.
I added a sturdy base for the rider to stand on, and it allows them to be caught if they fall or slip. I could even add a net underneath it later if I needed. I’ve also seen this on real boats as well so I was able to use it as a reference.
Also, because it’s a speed boat, the amount of bulk on it needs to be reduced, or at least hidden to keep down wind resistance. So I added this space here that the engine and a lot of the inner workings will be. I’ll put the part I made in the last step on top of it.
I put a door with pipes coming from it and back into the floor. To the upraised part I also added metal patchwork paneling.
(((For the gears I used this asset.)))
And from there, I decided that just sails and fins wouldn’t be enough. This boat should be fast, so I added these more high tech jets.
Some hanging ropes and mechanical wires give it a messy look too. Also an exposed part of the inner pipes for better ventilation and to prevent overheating of the steam engine. I’m adding what I can to the bottom, since the rider can’t have much on the ships deck while racing. Anything not tied down will fall off.
All that’s left is to add your mainsail and jib on top, and your masts.I altered the original design a little to go better with the rest of the ship. Even this far into a design I still like to make changes when needed.
And the boat is done!
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