When Art Boy 69 requested a rocket-drawing
tutorial a few weeks ago, I got seriously
excited! After all, my home is less than a
30-minute drive from the United States Space
and Rocket Center! Today, I'll show you how
to draw TWO of the most iconic rockets the
US has ever sent into space. If any of you
have other requests for specific art tutorials
or advice, leave a comment below. I'd LOVE
to help you grow! And don't forget to subscribe
to get free weekly art advice! [music playing]
Welcome back to Mr. New's Art Class. It's
wonderful to see your smiling faces today!
Not only do I love everything to do with space
travel, but it also fits right in to the series
I've been doing on drawing 3D spaces. In last
week's tutorial, we discussed how atmospheric
perspective can be used to create the illusion
of depth, even in a painting where the objects
are all flat. One of the things we learned
from our research images was that atmospheric
perspective only works inside an atmosphere.
For today's tutorial, we'll be drawing outer
space, so we won't be needing to use atmospheric
perspective. We also won't need to use one-point
perspective, since we don't have a horizon
in the distance. What we WILL need to do is:
overlap objects, and resize objects based
on their distance from the viewer. For my
first drawing, I'm going to draw the rocket
that stands tall in front of the Space and
Rocket Center: the Saturn V rocket! I started
this drawing of the Saturn V rocket by looking
up reference photos from the NASA website,
as well as some photos I have taken from various
trips to the Rocket Center in years past.
I started with a basic rectangle for the body
of the rocket, trying to get the proportion
of height to width as close as possible to
reality. To make it look like it's pointed
slightly away from the viewer, I narrowed
the rectangle towards the top end, and enlarged
the rocket boosters at the back. This is a
little trick called foreshortening. After
getting the basic sizing and placement where
I wanted them, I looked at reference photos
to make sure I got the outlines for the black
and white stripes in the right places. I then
drew the moon in the distance, which is appropriate
considering that the Saturn V is the only
rocket which has ever sent men to land on
the moon's surface! I should point out, here,
that the Saturn V is a staged rocket, which
means that the lower sections would have fallen
off way before it ever got this far into space.
Only the top sections with the lunar lander
and return vehicle would have actually made
it that far. But I think the rocket looks
cooler in one piece, so that's how I drew
it! I also sketched in a sort-of stripey bit
where the milky way's distant stars would
sort-of lighten up the black of space. After
the pencil sketch was complete, I used a mix
of Copic and Prismacolor markers - these are
alcohol based inks - to color the drawing.
Once I got the shading done, I added some
distant stars with a tiny brush and white
paint. The paint I'm using here is Golden
brand fluid acrylic - titanium white. And
there's the finished Saturn V. Now, it's time
to move on to a more modern rocket: the SpaceX
Falcon 9. I started my drawing of the Falcon
9 rocket the same way as the Saturn V - using
a rectangle as the basic construction. This
rocket does not have the black-and-white sections
like the Saturn V did, but it does have a
few other details to draw in, like the fins
and the SpaceX logo. The falcon 9 rocket is
amazing because it's the first rocket to ever
be re-used. SpaceX was able to land this beast,
repair and refuel it, and launch the same
unit a second time! But the Falcon 9 is only
designed for lower orbits - it doesn't have
nearly enough power to send people to the
moon. It is mostly used to take people and
supplies to the International Space Station.
For that reason, I chose to draw this rocket
with Earth in the middle ground, covering
a large portion of the drawing, with the distant
sun in the background, brightly peaking over
Earth's curved horizon. When coloring this
drawing, I had a very specific light source
to think about. The sun shines directly onto
one side of the rocket, leaving the other
side in deep shadow. Also, with the sun rising,
part of Earth's surface is still dark. Finally,
I didn't add any distant stars to this drawing
because the sun is in view, and its brightness
would completely wash out all the others.
Now, let's take a look at both of these drawings
side-by-side. I drew two of them because I
couldn't decide which one is my favorite.
The Saturn V definitely LOOKS cooler, and
it's the only rocket that has sent men to
the moon. But on the other hand, the Falcon
9 is the only rocket that can land its first
stage and re-launch it, which is a tremendous
cost-saver for future space missions. That
means larger versions of this rocket are likely
to take us to Mars one day! Anyway, I can't
decide which one of these rockets is my favorite,
so I want YOU to help me decide! I've made
a poll, which you can access by clicking the
card - the little "i" button in the corner
of your screen. Let me know which rocket you
think is more awesome! Also, I would love
to start showcasing viewer artwork in upcoming
videos. If you have made any space-related
artwork that you'd like to share, send an
email to the address on your screen - myart@misternew.com
- and be sure to let me know in that email
whether or not it's okay for me to share your
art in a video. Thanks again for watching!
I hope you learned something from today's
drawing tutorial. Thumbs up if you liked it,
and subscribe if you want more free, weekly
art tutorials. And If you have any questions,
or want any help with specific art topics,
leave a comment down below. I'd love to help
you grow!
