Mines of Mars | My Site 4

The mines of mars

Darrow’s story begins in the mines of Mars. Here, we learn that Reds have been mining Helium-3, an element necessary to terraform planets to become habitable, deep within Mars for hundreds of years. One of the machines they use to mine is the clawDrill. Using such a powerful machine to mine has led to deep mines within Mars. Gravlifts are used to transport Reds throughout the mines. The speeds and force by which they move emit a light glow when in use. In the piece, you can see the tubes of gravLifts leading from the deeper levels of the mines to the upper levels.

making the drawing

First Step - collect the words

The first step to making an environmental piece based on a book is to collect descriptive quotes on the scenery. It's important to remember that although most descriptions are found at the beginning of a book when the author is describing how the world in their book looks and works, descriptive sections can also be scattered throughout the novel, adding bits of details later on in the story.

Here are all the quotes and notes I used to make the drawing:

The tunnels

"bathed in a sulfurous yellow by a corona of lights" (4)
"The reach of the light fades as I look up the thin vertical shaft I've carved today" (4)
- Deep
"Yellow lights dangle like spiders from the ceiling" (11)
gravLifts
- "Gravity alters and we shoot upward. A Gamma scab with less than a week's worth of rust under his nails forgets to put his toes under the railing. So he hangs suspended as the lift shoots up six vertical kilometers. Ears pop" (11)

ClawDrill

"machine built like a titanic metal hand, one that grasps and gnaws at the ground" (4)
I control its rockmelting digits from the holster seat atop the drill, just where the elbow joint would be" (4)
- The digits heat up to melt the rocks
"There, my fingers fit into control gloves that manipulate the many tentacle-like drills some ninety meters below my perch (4)

Having so many details describing a fictional place can be overwhelming. It can be helpful to choose three details you want to feature in the drawing to simplify things. For example, in this drawing I decided to highlight the clawDrill, dangling lights, and the gravLift. This lets you focus on composition and readability.

Second Step - brainstorming

The next step is to create multiple thumbnails where you can explore different compositions. You do not need to spend that much time on thumbnails. One thumbnail is chosen for the final piece.

Third Step - greyscales!

After a composition is chosen, major shapes are blocked out in a greyscale to establish values. This helps you see if your piece is easily readable. It also makes depth easier to establish. Typically, things closer to the front of a drawing are darker while things farther back are lighter. An example using that technique to establish depth can be seen with the mine walls below--the walls closest to the viewer are darker while the walls deeper in the mines are lighter, making them appear farther back.

Details are initially developed in the greyscale to break up the big shapes into smaller shapes as details are built up until the piece is ready for color.

Fourth Step - colors + Details!

Using the 'multiply' layer, base colors are added. After, details are layered until the piece is finished. Final touches are added using the 'color dodge feature' to highlight the colors.

To decide the color scheme of the drawing, I referenced Brown's description of light sources. I do this because I had already decided that red would be the main color to make the unique setting of Mars be apparent. Brown writes, "bathed in a sulfurous yellow by a corona of lights" (4). This, combined with

the "yellow lights [that] dangle like spiders from the ceiling," (11), leads to the light sources in the mines to be yellow in tone. The color scheme is then based on the light source and Mars' unique red coloring.

Generally speaking, mines are quite dark and dingy due to the surroundings composing of only rocks. A dichromatic approach was used to bring out the redness you would find only on Mars to highlight the distinct environment in which this story takes place.

Base colors

One of the major points of interest in the drawing is that clawDrill. For this reason, I spent more time developing the design for the clawDrill. If you recall the quotes from above, the clawDrill is described as a hand-like machine that “grasps and gnaws at the ground” (4). The ten digits melt rock, leading to glowing, hot metal drills when in use. The drills do not get hot due to the friction from mining, rather they heat up to melt the rock as they dig. The driver sits in a holster seat where the elbow joint would be and uses gloves to “manipulate the many tentacle-like drills some ninety meters” below the perch (4). Below, you can see the sketch and final version of the clawDrill.

making the clawdrill