Back around 2014 or so, I joined several other artists in SPACESHIP A DAY. Every day I drew and shaded a spaceship of my own design. It’s a fantastic way to improve your drawing skills.
I’ve made a video showing the process I use for the #spaceshipaday drawings. typically these drawings take 45 minutes, but I kept this one to 25 minutes for the sake of the demonstration. And yes, the spaceship is very derivative, but it was a lot of fun. Enjoy!
NEW DRAWING CLASS
For 2026 I am releasing the first of a new series of drawing courses, How to Draw Starships 101. This is the first class of my new SPACE ART ACADEMY where I will teach you how to draw, color, and paint your own scenes. Even if you don’t want to go as far as painting, I will show you how to draw like an Industrial Designer or Hollywood Spaceship Designer. And it’ll be a ton of fun!
I am now taking pre-orders on a new class, How to Draw Starships 101. This is the first in a series in my new Space Art Academy. I’m offering this course at a steep discount so hurry before this offer runs out. I will teach you all the essentials, and more, for drawing all of your Spaceships any day of the week!
Recently I discovered the #spaceshipaday Twitter thread started by artist and designer, Jeff Zugale. Jeff was drawing his ships the same way I’ve been drawing my own, pens and design markers in a 5.5″ x 8″ ring-bound sketchbook. Each sketch has a 45 minute time limit. His posts garnered so much attention they were featured on Kotaku.
Drawing Spaceships
I’ve been drawing spaceships like this my entire life. My notebooks and sketchbooks are full of them. It used to drive my teachers nuts whenever they’d grade my papers only to see them surrounding by little spaceships and science fiction scenes.
Chris was always drawing little spaceships all over the place. ALWAYS. It’d be annoying if he wasn’t so damn good about it…
– (Annoyed Co-Worker, name withheld)
Drawing is one of the reasons I pursued a degree in Industrial Design, which amped up my ability to draw these scenes with better tools. To this day my notebooks appear to be written in an alien, heiroglyphic language composed of spacecraft and scenes. But I never really shared this with anyone, beyond a few close friends. With nothing to lose, I decided to jump on the #spaceshipaday bandwagon and join in the fun. Thank you, Jeff for starting a cool thread.
My Spaceship-A-Day Process
Like Jeff I’ve kept my sketches to a 45 minute time-limit, but I’ll admit some of mine have run to 60 minutes. Sometimes I draw in the rough shape with 2H pencil, then go over it with several fine-line ink pens (.03, .06, .01 sometimes). Next, a couple of shading passes with light gray design markers (20%-40%, sometimes 70% for darker details). If needed I’ve used a brush pen for more painterly ink tones.
I’ll begin posting my own here on my site, but you’re welcome to follow my Twitter account for active updates. And let me know in the comments if you’d like to see a video of the process.
Taking passengers on voyages through the systemIt’s a skiff, with gunsMy mashup of classic Ron Cobb designs and possible sister class to the Firefly transportsCommissioned by General Martok, this Bird of Prey has significant advantages over the previous modelsMulti-role transport and emergency rescue vehicleSome kind of orbital transport craft, multi-wingWinged, orbular space fighterCapable of refueling by skimming the atmosphere of the gas giants, this frigate maintains the peace in the outer systemShip repair and tug vesselMy take on the old GalacticaJust following a vibe on this one. Heavy Moebius influenceAfter arriving at their destination star system, the passengers grafted the remains of their colony ship to a local asteroid. This provides them with sufficient raw materials and fuel to stage orbital landing and support.Interstellar transport with variable wing Alcubierre Drive fieldsStar Trek meets John Berkey
Adding Color
For some of my drawings, I’ve taken them into Procreate on my iPad so I can add some color. Again I try to keep this to a 60 minute time limit, as the goal is to have a colored sketch or mood board view of the spaceship. Later on I will take some selections and do a fully rendered final piece.
I added the hints of a Jovian atmosphere, engine plumes, and shockwaveStraight up color renderingWith background. Procreate on an iPadAn homage to production design art for ALIEN. Digital – Procreate on an iPadAlmost like a cel animated featureA bit more technical, like a Ron Cobb drawingAfter arriving at their destination star system, the passengers grafted the remains of their colony ship to a local asteroid. This provides them with sufficient raw materials and fuel to stage orbital landing and support.
This is also an exploration in tools, like in this case where I tried out a portable water-color set.
My Spaceship in Lego
Daniel Fortine, a fellow UX Designer and friend of mine, is very skilled in the brick arts. He really liked one of my drawings, and he’s gone ahead and started building it in LEGO:
These drawings are part of a long-term strategy I’ve been following. For the last three years I’ve been practicing the necessary skills to be a professional artist, specializing in space, astronomy and science fiction art. Mostly it’s been an exploration of tools, media, and processes (including both digital and traditional methods). I’m also beginning to gain exposure as an artist, so I guess to some degree it’s just me sharing some cool spaceships with the world and saying “Hi, I can do this”. Granted if you’re the sort of person who needs a spaceship design, feel free to reach out.
