Lana is a cyborg heroine for hire. She lives in a world of dystopian steampunk landmasses that left its cyberpunk, hi-tech era. In time, she is to take a side to protect the city of Nebula - her city.
Dec 10, '18
Jan 5, '19
Hi, everyone! 🎉 🎉 🎉
My name is James, and this is my first time participating in a Cubebrush's Art War. As well, Cubebrush is quite a new platform to me despite opening the account more than a year ago. I can only hope that I do things up here the right way! Everyone gotta start somewhere, no? 😂
Anyway, I have spent quite an amount of time thinking about what to do, and eventually told myself "Oh, what the heck -- just get on with what you love." Having developed fascination for cyberpunk and steampunk, both as visual and literary genres, I decided to challenge myself to make a compromise for both worlds.
Here is just a bunch of right-on-site inspirations and references that I have in mind. Copyrighted stuff, am I right? 😏
This post is going to be utterly wordy, but it will work as notes for me on the background of the character that I am about to create.
you guys read the title, 'Lana of Nebula'.
Lana is a girl who belongs to a world that downgrades itself from hi-tech, cyberpunk utopia to dystopian steampunk landmasses. Over-mining and pollution have infected our planet so devastatingly, its electromagnetic field grows unstable, resulting in frequent yet unpredictable chains of EMPs occur around the world. As Mother Earth growls in pain, humanity suffers. Now, we are to learn how to grow beyond the dependence on electronic devices and master the pure mechanical side of life. And the steam era returns.
Lana is a disowned daughter of one of the most powerful weaponry businessmen on Earth. Once a spoiled and reckless child, she stole something from her father that she could not entirely understand, and used it to prove her outrageous ego. Consequently, it cost her both her arms, and they were replaced with mechanically advanced limbs. As time passed, she healed from the incident and was immediately sent to the city of Mist, Nebula, a land in which poverty and hardship are overshadowed by the flashiness of gothic aesthetics. And the machinery arms of hers are the last thing she would ever get from the father, for they act as a reminder of the first biggest mistake of her life, for the rest of her life.
5 years of scavenging and surviving, she becomes a reputable fighter for hire. And in time, she is to pick a side, as a threat to destroy her city emerges and trickles from the gears of the underground factories, to the alleys of the city of Mist.
Cheers!
Name: Nguyen Duc Nhat Thanh (James)
Artstation: www.artstation.com/jamesonart
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jamesoneart
Instagram: www.instagram.com/jamesoneart
Engaging story 
The perspective of that image is dominating. Even at this early stage its a joy to look at.
Thank you, Arron!
Let's get right into the biz!
These are a bunch of thumbnails that I did for exploration of Lana. In my opinion, futuristic mechanical arms are always edgy and epic. They compliment the wearers, allowing them to express their personality and style, and to kick butts! Of course, after the accident, Lana ought to get used to the arms. And as they grow on her overtime,they partially represent her in a way.
I started with the 3 arm drawings first to explore the possibilities of shape design and functionalities of the arm. At first, I was being pragmatic, thus created an arm that anthropometrically relevant. I think of it as something Lana literally carries to a fist fight, as well as to sleep. Then, I pushed the proportion of the of the shoulder and the forearm, (Megaman style,) to grasp the feels of such exaggeration. I also considered the type of arm that she carries, whether it is an exact replicate of human anatomy with aluminum tendons and pneumatically controlled muscles, fully robotic and mechanical arms with joints and hydraulic cylinders, etc. This is a real trip of joy as I kept geeking out about the variations!
Next. I want Lana to be a character who knows exactly who she is and where she is. Her outfit should not be overly revealing, but still feminine and teasing, as though she acknowledges the power of physical seduction. She is seasoned enough after 5 years of living in Nebula city, and she knows her advantages. Aside from that, snapping back to reality, I honestly don't get how some women just get into a brawl in heels with poise and confidence. Hence, I put Lana in boots and shoes first for stability. It's a safe move, so in one of the thumbnails, I gave her full-on typically flashy fleshy style. We shall see how things go with as I develop the rough concepts later on.
As we are to "[design] the most epic champion this world has ever seen," I wanted to give Lana a major upgrade. She often makes do with the arms, but for special occasions, she has some moves to show. She could have more arms. Big ones! I then looked into my visual library through all kinds of armouries, and the lower row of concepts are quite a fun bunch to work on. Arms that hang on to her back, her hips, floats, etc.
Ya-di, ya-di, yah-da... That's all for today, folks! For people who read till the end, thank you.
Cheers!
Hey there!
These are sketches of Lana derived from earlier thumbnails. They are still considered rough, but the ideas on the shapes, forms, and materials to be applied into the designs are clear for me. I also spent more time researching materials, fabric design, arrangements, types, etc. to push the edginess further.
Steampunk and cyberpunk are vastly different from each other, so getting to harmonize them within one fictional being is just pure joy! The real challenge is to make the audience say, "oh, this is definitely steampunk -- wait --that's some Blade Runner/Ghost in the Shell vibe going on!"
More explanations and analogies tomorrow probably. Anyway, cheers!
The tight sketches above are the designs I did for Lana's mechanical arms and her clothing.
As to the arm designs, I keep the first one fairly thin and classy with a big, streamlined shoulder. This is an anatomically replicated arm design, with muscles and tendons made of cables and motors. The shoulder bulge is quite a good indication for confidence and dominance. Nevertheless, it is important to consider the feminine factor when adjusting the shoulder forms. Aside from that, the second arm design is definitely porportion pushing. The special feature of this design is that the forearm portion with 3 almond-like metal pieces pointing up. This part can extend out and rotate so that it becomes a more powerful fist.
Additionally, the circular glowing shape on the shoulders in both design is a slot with a battery in it. This battery enhances the power of arms in during battles by giving more force to every punch and shortening the delay of the neuro-link between Lana and the arms. Quite a fun concept!
