Brett Chalupa

Best of 50 Ships Drawing Challenge

Looking back at some of my favorite designs

I was in a creative rut in August 2018. My confidence was low after abandoning a project that didn’t work out. I kept doodling, but I didn’t have the burning passion I normally do. I was reading the sci-fi novel Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie during a trip to visit family and absolutely loving it. So I started doodling spaceships in my sketchbook. It was like something unlocked, and I was back to my old creative self.

The doodling of those initial spaceships led me to try to draw 100 ships throughout the month of September. I ended up only drawing 50 because I then did Inktober in October. While I didn’t make it to 100 ships, it was still a success in my mind because it was fun and sparked creativity.

Lost Ship Retrospective

Reflecting on how the project went, tools I used, and what’s coming next

Last week I wrapped up Lost Ship, a sci-fi comic I had been working on since September 2018. It’s my third finished comic, and I leveled up quite a bit while working on it.

Read Lost Ship (free PDF)Download

I have been reflecting on the project and how it went as I figure out what’s next. Here’s a look at the making of Lost Ship.

Launching Lost Ship

A short sci-fi comic about a small crew searching for a lost ship

Today’s the day! Lost Ship, the comic I’ve been working on since October 2018, is ready to be released into the wild.

It’s 26 pages of grayscale sci-fi comics with two bonus pages of concept art. Plus, it’s 100% free. ✨

Read Lost Ship (free PDF)Download

Re-Lettering Lost Ship

Why I decided to redo my hand lettering with a font

As I have been wrapping up Lost Ship, I began to worry about the legibility of the lettering in the comic. My lettering has improved over the last year, but some of it is a little rocky.

So I decided to re-letter the comic with a font. It’s incredibly important to me that people can read the comic. While the lettering lost a bit of character in the move to being a font, I believe it’s a worthwhile change because it’s much easier to read.

Side-by-side of the hand lettering vs font on a text-heavy page

Lost Ship Concept Art

A look at the ship, character, and emblem designs

I’ve been working on Lost Ship for the last few months, and it’s nearly complete (woohoo!). It’s a sci-fi comic about a small crew that explores the unknown parts of the universe.

All that’s left to do is print the project and release it out into the world. Before that happens, I thought it’d be cool to share a bunch of concept art from the pre-production phases of the project.

At the time I started the project, I was really into drawing different ship designs, which is what led to the initial idea for the comic.

Initial Babylon ship design
Initial Mesa ship design

The final designs varied a little bit from those initial ships above.

Exterior and interior designs for the Babylon and Mesa

A Look Into the Process of Making Lost Ship

Trying a new step where I make a med-fi pencil mock-up after doing thumbnails

I’ve been working on a new 28-page comic called Lost Ship over the last two months, and it’s been enjoyable to work on a project that’s pretty small in scope. It’s about a small crew that explores space to try to discover new things.

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Inktober 2018

My art and thoughts from my second time participating in the month-long challenge

Hooray, I just finished the Inktober challenge this year. I drew a different illustration each day in ink based on the prompts provided by the challenge. I also made each illustration space themed since I’ve been working on a sci-fi comic.

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NINA

A four-page sci-fi micro-comic

I made this little comic called NINA over the last few weeks as a way to get back into drawing page-sized comics traditionally and experiment with some new tools. It’s inspired by Blade Runner and Tsutomu Nihei’s Blame!. It was drawn on 9″ x 12″ bristol with technical pens. I added tone in Clip Studio Paint. I hope you enjoy it.

NINA_001 NINA_002 NINA_003 NINA_004

A Few Thoughts on Shintaro Kago’s “Dementia 21”

I was picking up a book I had on hold at the library and a manga on display caught my eye. Dementia 21. What a strange name. The bright yellow letters really stood out. I decided to check it out and give it a shot.

Wow, am I glad I did. It’s the best comic I’ve read this year.

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Reflecting on a Year of Making Comics

How it’s been going and my aspirations for the next year, plus a collection of my art from the first year

I started making comics seriously a year ago in September 2017. It was an intentional change from exploring the world of filmmaking with the hopes of being able to tell visual stories entirely on my own. I can’t believe that a year has flown by. I’ve been enjoying the process of making comics and growing as an artist. It’s been slow going at times but ultimately rewarding.

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