10 sketches from Sketching from the Imagination: Sci-fi that will leave you wanting more

A brief selection of some of the amazing sketches that appear in Sketching from the Imagination: Sci-fi to inspire you to start your own sketching odyssey!

The sci-fi edition of Sketching from the Imagination marked another successful installation in the inspirational series. Here we share a few of the featured sketches from the book – while we'd have loved to include all 50 artists here, we've had to narrow it down to just 10! We'll also tell you a bit more about the artists behind the images and share some of their words of wisdom. We hope it will leave you feeling motivated to produce your own sci-fi creations!

1. Carlos Huante

We were honored to be able to include sci-fi master Carlos Huante who has worked as a creature designer in the film and game industry for over 30 years! Working as a concept artist for Prometheus, illustrator for Men in Black, and mummy designer for The Mummy (to name just a few!), Huante has undoubtedly made a huge contribution to the industry.

Monster Plant, a pencil sketch. © Carlos Huante

"I look at nature rather than other art for inspiration for creatures”

2. Ian McQue

Formerly Assistant Art Director on the Grand Theft Auto videogame series, the incredibly talented Ian McQue is now working as a freelance concept artist and illustrator primarily in film. You can find out how to turn your sci-fi sketches into incredible 2D images with McQue in Digital Painting Techniques: Volume 4.

I'm obsessed with spacesuits. © Ian McQue

"Always carry a sketchbook with you, draw everything, and draw all the time”

3. Nick Sumida

Adding some color to the 320 pages is Nick Sumida's comic-book style sci-fi scene. At the time of writing, Nick is working as a cartoonist and storyboard artist for Nickelodeon's Harvey Beaks.

Two friends look out at a bustling tropical city below. © Nick Sumida

"Sketching is very meditative for me, and it helps me to rediscover the fun of drawing”

4. Brynn Metheney

What sci-fi book doesn't feature a dinosaur astronaut in it? Illustrator and concept artist Brynn Metheney specializes in creature design and fantasy illustration for film, games, books, and magazines, including work for clients such as Warner Bros. and Disney Publishing.

I sat down to draw a dinosaur at a "drink and draw” event I go to, and was suddenly inspired to put it in an astronaut's suit. It's a fun problem to solve – making the suit fit the anatomy of something not human. © Brynn Metheney

"Drawing animals never bores me. They have the most unique solutions to survival and their anatomy is always a good challenge”

5. Jakub Rebelka

Illustrator, comics creator, and concept artist Jakub Rebelka's distinctive style really stands out in this volume. Having graduated from the ASP Faculty of Painting in Gda?sk, he has worked on The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings and Shadow Warrior.

Cyberpunk girl assassin concept. © Jakub Rebelka

"It's like a testing ground where I check my ideas. The best way to try out an idea is to make a fast sketch”

6. Jerel Dye

We love the sense of scale and movement in this image! Jerel Dye is an illustrator, teacher, designer, and comic-book artist. Make sure you take note of his motivational advice below!

Motor Golem 2. A golem made of cars. This became the inspiration for a short comic of the same name. © Jerel Dye

"The most important thing is to keep drawing. Don't worry if a drawing isn't working out the way you hoped. You can always draw it again, and the more you draw something the better the drawings are going to get”

7. Eliott Lilly

Eliott Lilly is a freelance concept artist and digital illustrator with nearly a decade of experience, currently working in the videogame and movie industry. We were thrilled he could add some awesome vehicle and mech designs to the book.

Transportation/wreckage salvo spaceship of some sort. © Eliott Lilly

"One of my favorite things to do is mash up opposites to see what wackiness ensures”

8. Arthur Haas

Inspired by great artists such as H.R. Giger and co-contributor Carlos Huante, Digital Art Masters: Volume 9 artist Arthur Haas shares some of his brilliant sci-fi flora and fauna sketches.

This piece shows why I love the combination of mechanical pencil and Photoshop shading. And strange alien jungle life, of course. © Arthur Haas

"Sketching was, and still is, a quick way to put down an idea, a design: an attempt to get as close as possible to that mental picture that gave life to the desire to create something in the first place”

9. Vincent Coviello

Another artist who takes inspiration from the natural world around him, Vincent Coviello is a concept artist for multiple indie game studios and gathers some of his stunning creature design ideas from nature documentaries, zoos, and even wildlife in his own back yard.

This is an example of a "master profile”, where I focus on the silhouette of the design. The bird was the exploration of mating ritual displays © Vincent Coviello

"Curiosity is key, and witnessing some strange behavior or interesting anatomy can spark a whole world of inspiration”

10. Axel Torvenius

Axel Torvenius has worked as a concept artist in the games industry since 2005 and has since become an art director (although he still loves to sketch when he can!). We love the colorful and graphic feel his speed paints add to the book.

A 19-minute digital speed paint. I very often place this little adventurer guy in my sketches, often with a dog or some kind of companion. It's good for setting scale and also it instantly tells a story. © Axel Torvenius

"I find my creativity to be in a constant loop that is feeding itself. A revolving ouroboros”

Related links

Save 15% when you buy all 3 books together in the Sketching from the Imagination series!
Take a closer look at the book in this sneak peek video
For some more sketching inspiration, check out these 50 awesome sketch studies
For daily inspiration, check out our galleries