Impact
World-building Project
This page contains a series of illustrations and designs that all help depict one central story. The story is about time travel, and the designs found within depict the main protagonists, antagonists, and locations that are found within the story. All of the designs found on this page were created over the span of 10 weeks, and before each illustration I’ve included sketches and other preliminary work that was done to help ensure the final piece was polished and well-thought-out.
Before coming up with any story ideas (besides the initial prompt of “time travel") I created 40 abstract thumbnails. I then refined the abstract thumbnails so that they resembled environments and chose four to use as a base for finished environment illustrations. The finished environments were then used to help me develop the following story:
Millions of years before the modern era, a meteorite struck the surface of a primitive and deadly planet: Earth 001. This meteorite was unlike any other in that it was made up of a material the likes of which had never been seen before. This exotic material, when fractured, would dissapear in a burst of gas and in its place a portal would appear. Anyone or anything that would travel through one of these portals would emerge on the other side and find themselves on a version of earth that was millions of years in the future. Centuries after impact, tribes of humans began to learn how to harness the power of the meteorite to travel back and forth between different versions of earth. Conflict soon arose between different factions that wanted to keep the power of the meteorite all to themselves, and that conflict soon led to all-out war. One especially cunning leader named Skarpheiður knew that in order to secure the power of the meteor she would need powerful allies, so she formed an alliance with a company from another version of earth in the distant future: Earth 002. The company Skarpheiður allied herself with was called Lancorp, and it was run by a man named Landry Girard. Technology on Earth 002 was far more advanced than her own, and with this additional help, Skarpheiður was able to destroy anyone who opposed her. It is in the aftermath of this war on Earth 001 (the past) and Earth 002 (the future) that this story takes place.
When I was creating my abstract thumbnails, I kept creating forms that looked like an object sticking out of some hills, so I decided to go with the idea of a strangely-shaped meteor. In context of the story, this is the meteor that strikes Earth 001 in prehistoric times. Thousands of years have passed since the initial impact, but the meteor still emits massive amounts of steam-like gas. I was heavily inspired by Iceland when creating this image, as evidenced by the lack of trees (save the one in the top left) and rolling green hills.
Since fragments of the meteor are what allow people to time travel in my story, I imagined that the antagonists would quickly eliminate anyone else who tried to use the meteor to stop them. Pictured here is a fragment of the meteor that was hidden away by a tribe that was wiped out by the antagonists.
Because this story takes place on a global scale, I imagined both the protagonists and antagonists travelling large distances. Depicted here is a cargo ship of the future that might be used for travel purposes. I was inspired by semi trucks and how they don’t look like they’tre built for speed, but rather for hauling heavy freight. In the background I put the silhouettes of other ships to imply that travelling by flying vessel is common in the future.
This is the second future environment I created. Pictured is a secret facility hidden away amongst the mountains where Skarpheiður’s allies from Earth 002 experiment with time travel. It’s hidden away because the antagonist from Earth 002 plans on using time travel to gain power during their time, and there are many who would seek to stop them.
After creating my environments, I moved on to creating the characters that would inhabit them. In the same way I created my environments, I started out my character designs with pure abstract scribbles, and refined them from there. For some of the abstracts I tried to make a character that closely followed the abstract shape, while for others I used the abstract shape as inspiration for props and costume pieces that the characters could wear.
After finishing my 80 abstract silhouettes, I created 40 simple black and white characters based on them.
Evald was designed to be one of my protagonists from the past/Earth 001. His tribe was wiped out by the antagonists Skarpheiður and Landry Girard, but he managed to escape to the future/Earth 002 so that he could plan his revenge. In order to blend him in to future society, I decided to give him more futuristic looking clothing. I also gave him swords and a high-tech backpack so that he would be prepared for traveling and defending himself.
Sable was designed to be one of my protagonists from the future/Earth 002. Sable lives in a city that has been going downhill for several decades thanks to Lancorp, the company run by Landry Girard. Because of this she is more than happy to help Evald seek revenge on Skarpheiður once she learns of her connection with Landry. I wanted Sable to be a representation of fashion from the future, so I gave her clothing that is somewhat familiar, but not extremely common in the real world.
Landry Girard was designed to be one of my antagonists from the future/Earth 002. Landry’s design is more conservative than the other characters because he is the face of Lancorp in the future, so he carefully grooms himself so that he will appear trustworthy to the public. The device on his back was designed to be a high-tech version of the large stone disc that floats behind Skarpheiður, and it allows him to time travel at will when it is loaded with special fuel made from meteor fragments.
Skarpheiður was designed to be one of my antagonists from the past/Earth 001. Skarpheiður is an Icelandic name, with one meaning being “sharp appearance.” I chose Icelandic because I was heavily inspired by Icelandic nature when designing my environments. Skarpheiður’s weapon was designed to appear as if it were made from the meteor itself, with the ability to banish people to a place between dimensions. Skarpheiður’s horns and supernatural strength are a result of her living in such close proximity to the meteor for many years.
After finalizing designs for both my characters and environments, I began working on illustrations that combined the two. As before, I started with thumbnails and then moved on to final art.
Sable and Evald Resting near the meteor’s impact site in the past/Earth 001.
Skarpheiður and Landry Girard after conquering an enemy tribe from the past/ Earth 001.
Sable and Evald aboard a cargo ship in the future/Earth 002.
Skarpheiður and Landry Girard keeping watch outside the secret mountain facility in the future/Earth 002.
