Ship ideas

Main asset for my character’s journeys is the sailing ship. It’s been very challenging to find some references of XVIII century merchant’s ship. Usually you can see mainly pirate or battle ships. Because of that, I decided to mix features of both types and gather ideas into one, my own. 

 First of all I was researching the main body’s shape. As the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” includes many ships, it became my first helping source. The frame’s shape is really interesting but to me, imagining the very high, back part was slightly hard and I needed to find pictures which would expose a ship from different angles. It was compulsory for understanding the overall construction of the ship.

 

Further research revealed the true shape of the ship. I realized that my previous reference was slightly exaggerated due to a low angle camera position and the back of the ship isn’t actually as big as I thought.

The most important principle I’ve learnt, after my visit on a sailing ship, was the arc dictating construction’s shape.

As we can see on the picture, the angle is increasing towards the front of the ship. The same thing happens with the back of the deck. It has an explanation in Physics which treats about proper distribution of pressure and weight. In other words, that prevents the ship from breaking in half while sailing through waves. 

 

I was also looking at different types and shapes of ships, also the contemporary once. Unfortunately, the ship on the reference above is too small. I need to create a ship that will be able to sail on a big distances and through very unstable waters, that requires bigger scale of the boat. Also, keeping in mind that it’s going to be a trading ship, it will require a lot of space underneath the deck for storing traded goods and supplies for the whole crew. For that purpose, first references ships seems more suitable for my purpose.

 

Here is my most educational and helpful reference . Thanks to that I had a clear idea about the layout of the ship. This is the plan I will use for designing my ship. Of course I’m intending to make some changes. I really like the idea of three decks, for that purpose I would get rid of the poop deck and create a crow’s nest (or rather observation point somewhere in the middle) on the mast instead. I would definitely increase magazine and storage rooms. I’m still wondering if I should include cannons into a design. On one hand, it’s a merchant’s boat and there is a need for more spaces for goods but on the other hand, there is always a risk of pirate attack and it’s good to have some protection against them. I’ll probably leave this one for consideration. 

Another point to learn is the masts layout. I think to draw them right is going to be a real challenge.

As we can see, there is a real jungle of ropes and rope ladders. Although it’s threatening look and complexity, I really dare to try make it right. If I succeed, a design is going to look very impressive.  

 

I’ll probably end up limiting the number of ropes because sometimes it’s better to have less than too many. It would make the design clearer, just as we can see on figure above. I need to bare in mind different sizes of masts, it will help me draw sails properly.

Next step is to research details. I was looking for inspiration for some decorative features. 

These images show, where people used to add decorations to a ships. It can be bowsprit, railing, and other wooden elements. Some of them can look very stylish and express owners status in society.

Wooden carving panels are a great way of adding elegance to the ship's style

 I was comparing pirate’s and regal ships and I think it’s a good idea to keep them in a different styles.  

Pirate Ship

Royal Ship

Royal Ship

In my case, I would keep royal ships in an elegant form. Ornaments would remind of on shore mansion’s and I would avoid being “too decorative”.  Somehow, the big sculptures of mermaids or maidens at the front of the ship, remind me of pirates. Also, pirates love treasures and they have a tendency to collecting anything they consider valuable and splendid. In my opinion, that results in creating a chaotic collection of objects that don’t match. Additionally, exposing every collected item doesn’t mean that someone is rich or knowledgeable in art. It works the opposite way and informs about someone’s tasteless preferences and desire of impressing at any cost. 

The last thing I looked at was the feeling of space. The illustrations I want to make, require impression of being on the ship. For that purpose I was looking for references with the interesting perspective or camera angle. 

Most of the pictures I’ve referenced , present small ships but to me it wasn’t the problem. What’s important, is to figure out the collaboration between space, which is the ship, and the characters – Clarice and a ship crew.

 

Here are some ideas for the main deck design and  some assets I can use.   

 There are usually barrels and some details on the floor, like a hole leading to the lower levels, covered with grid. 

 

 I was also looking at the underneath decks, the sense of space is almost like a room, but the ceilings should be much lower than the once we have at houses. 

Some of those pictures are also good example of arranging lights for the scene.