Nothing says “down on your luck” like eating bugs. Although my wife would probably argue that lobster, crab, and shrimp kinda fall into that category.
When I first started designing the interior and layout of the Khoruysa Brimia, I knew I wanted the ship to have a nice common area with communal dining table and multiple sitting areas. And I wanted it to feel homey: not quite as luxurious as the Enterprise D in Next Generation, but not as utilitarian as the Millennium Falcon, with all its exposed wiring and widgits. I figured if the characters were going to be spending a lot of time on this ship between destinations, they’d probably spruce it up a bit to make it comfortable at least.
The big dining table was very important to me since I thought a number of scenes might involve them hanging out while eating (as they are here) or playing some sort of recreational game (as in the first arc). The table itself is a continuation of the cockpit floor level, which I thought would be a cool little architectural detail. It’s more apparent in the next page.
I really like the table. it’s an interesting shape.
I just love Cember. He is the cheerfullest gun-crazed maniac *ever*.
I am amazed. The backgrounds would meake me mad
This amount of detail in the backgrounds I can handle. The way I drew it in the first book would have driven me crazy though, with all the random wall panels and whatnot. At least there’s a certain order to the design now. Even when I draw the exterior of the Khoruysa Brimia, part of me wants to be consistent every time with ALL the paneling and surface detail, but that is just plain crazy. Ultimately, I know no one would ever care, so I just kinda make up the paneling pattern each time. But it bugs the detail-oriented part of me a little. 🙂
Ril is the best, he always thinks about the job, he’s a true Runner.
Your wife is right. Kinda.
We now know that insects phylogenetically nests within crustaceans. [ http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/insects-are-crustaceans-2/ ]
“Instead, insects are nested within crustaceans (see Figure 1). In the same sense that birds are dinosaurs, then, insects are crustaceans.”
Not to beat the Firefly-comparison-horse to death, but what you said about wanting the dining area to feel homey is interesting in light of what Joss Whedon says in the behind-the-scenes documentary of Firefly. Their ship’s dining room has soft, warm lighting (which the rest of the ship didn’t have) and lots of wood and earth tones. The dining room is also more spacious than the other environments on the ship. He said that all that was to serve the purpose of having the dining room be an important location for scenes involving the whole crew.
So you are in good company with your design decisions. 😀
Interesting. I guess it does make sense that the dining area would be developed as the main communal area for a crew to hang out in. It beats having the group bonding quality time occur in the bathroom. 🙂
I like how there are creature comforts on the ship, yet you maintain a starship design. Things are anchored down and made of rugged materials.
I noticed the firefly/homey similarity, but in the firefly use of freestanding wood tables and chairs, the moment gravity cut out or the inertial dampening systems even fluctuated, you might have a chair fly at you at mach 90. Though I actually think that Sean has the better idea here of comfort plus shipboard sanity so the crew doesn’t run the chance of getting wanged upside the head by furniture every time Roka misses a space off-ramp and needs to pull a maneuver.