Costume Design Sketches
December 15, 2008
Kara Thrace's costume concept sketch for Season 2's "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II." (Lot 92)
My first introduction to the world of costume design sketches was in 2007 at the Christie’s Entertainment Memorabilia Auction where Christie’s auctioned off the famous Little Black Dress that Audrey Hepburn wore in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. It went for around $ 1 million. What was equally impressive was that the concept design sketch for that dress brought $ 100,000.
Fortunately, we were able to acquire all of Glenne Campbell’s costume design sketches for Battlestar Galactica for this auction. There are some wonderful pieces, including costumes for Starbuck, Baltar, his acolytes and the New Caprica Police. There is even a sketch used for the Final Five Cylon robes as seen in Season Three’s “Rapture”. (Of course, there are no hints to who the Final Cylon is! Some of these sketches, notably Baltar’s and the ones for young Helena and Lucy Cain, even have fabric swatches attached. These are all original watercolors and will look amazing framed on someone’s wall.
Concept sketch of a costume for one of Baltar's acolytes from Season 4. (Lot 101)
I think there will be some bargain’s here, especially the Baltar’s Acolyte ones. They aren’t major characters and so won’t draw the big bidders, but still, they are great pieces with tremendous eye appeal. The Starbuck piece and the Baltar piece will draw the highest bids of this group because they are main characters. When you buy a piece like this, it needs to resonate with you, and costume sketches are so cool because they combine the art of costume design, with painting.
Now you may wonder, “where are the costume sketches for the main costumes and uniforms we see?” Unfortunately, those were done by the costume designer for the mini-series, who did not stay on, and so we weren’t able to get her sketches. So you better get one of these as there aren’t many more!
Demetrius Foam Core Model
November 18, 2008
In the construction of the various large-scale or complicated sets for the series, the art department for the production created various foam core models as a visual aid for how a set would appear visually.
One such model is that of the Demetrius, the sewage recycling ship Admiral William Adama gives to Kara Thrace (who believes to be able to feel the way to Earth) in order to search for the fabled thirteenth colony.
This foam core model, which will be auctioned off in our first auction, measures 24″ x 16″ x 5.5″.
The foam core model for the Demetris sets.
And here are some pictures of the final product.
Demetrius common area and bunks.
Kara Thrace's quarters on Demetrius.
CIC Set Piece Concepts
August 14, 2008
Following yesterday’s article on the general CIC designs, we have a few concepts from Ken Rabehl for specific set pieces. Here they are.
The center console concept. Basically, a lot smaller than the final version… and people need to stand. Oh the pain, the pain.
And the nicely lit version from the miniseries.
Concepts for the “Space Ship Locator” (left) and the navgiational plexi-panel (right). The locator would be the (obvious) predacessor to the DRADIS system. The nav panel would make it in the series in its general form, as you see below.
CIC Concept Sketches
August 13, 2008
As you can see, were on a tangent with these concept sketches. However, there’s good reason for this… they’re awesome. Yes, these sketches are the work of Ken Rabehl. And, yes, we’re still on a Ken Rabehl kick, because he us of Ralph McQuarrie. And if you don’t know who that guy is… shame on you.
Having walked the various sets with Alec—including the CIC yesterday—I can tell you that these concept drawings make the actual CIC very, very cramped. Not that this diminishes the coolness of walking on Galactica’s CIC, but if you are one of those people whose perceptions are easily shaken by the stark realities of producing TV and movies, then it is a whole different experience. Sometimes it can be downright destructive… to the very feint of heart.
Hence the term “movie magic”.
Enough talking. Without further ado, here are some awesome concept sketches for the Combat Information Center on The Bucket.
Raptor concept designs
August 12, 2008
Since you’ve seen the Raptor in yesterday’s post on the Cylon basestar interior, we may as well continue on that tangent.
With the Raptor being the mainstay military transport and support vehicle available to Galactica and, later, Pegasus, the ship is modeled after real world military helicopters, namely the Apache.
These designs show a more complicated model of Raptor, however it is very close to the final product that we get to see on screen both in CGI and the physical, full-scale models used on the show.
These are pencil drawn and shaded designs by Ken Rahebl (familiar with that name yet, folks?) on vellum, and said originals will be available in the auction.
And the final product, that you get to see in every episode…
Cylon Baseship interior concept art
August 11, 2008
In Season 3, we finally saw most of the Cylon baseship’s (sometimes it’s called a basestar) interior: corridors, rooms, command center, and the Hybrid’s chamber. Yet, before Season 3, we received a brief glimpse into the Cylon baseship’s interior during “Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part II“.
Still, there were some concepts for interiors drawn by Ken Rabehl that were done for that episode. These are obsolete concept sketches, but still provide insight into possible Cylon architecture. Enjoy!
Concept of large Cylon Baseship room.
Concept of Cylon baseship corridor interior and large room at end.
Concept of Cylon baseship landing area with Boomer and Racetrack’s Raptor.
Astral Queen prison cell concept drawings
August 10, 2008
In the final part of our Astral Queen series, we have two concept drawings for both the cell block and corridor of the ship, first seen in Season 1’s “Bastille Day“. Both by Ken Rabehl, these are scans from the original hand-drawn artwork on vellum paper.
As I may have said before, the physically hand-drawn (as in pencil to paper) production artwork is rare in the Battlestar Galactica universe, simply because the artists on the show went digital near the beginning of Season 2.
So while there are cool concept drawings available for the remainder of the series, they are all digital, making these original hand-drawn physical ones extremely rare for this series—and extremely valuable for collectors who like production art.
Without further ado, here are scans of those concept drawings, and beneath them you will see how things ended looking up on screen.
Ken Rabehl’s concept drawing of a cell block on the Astral Queen.
Two views of the cell block seen in “Bastille Day”. (Note that brightness has been tweaked in order to enhance visibility of details. “Natural” environment is darker.)
Ken Rabehl’s concept for a corridor of the Astral Queen.
Marines sweeping a corridor of the Astral Queen during their insertion.
Hope you guys have enjoyed these so far. Come back tomorrow for a peek at some original concept drawings of the interior of the Cylon basestar meant for “Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part II“.
Astral Queen control room concept drawings
August 9, 2008
These are scans of the concepts for the control room of the Astral Queen (referred to as “Prison Ship” on the these sketches) by artist Ken Rabehl, directly from the originals that were pencil drawn and shaded on vellum.
The pencil drawn and shaded concept of the Queen’s control room by Ken Rabehl. Note the lack of a sunken pit, in comparison to what’s below.
A pencil drawn variant of the previous concept, this time with a sunken pit for the center console.
A pencil drawn and shaded version of the one-level control room, with center console and different girder and support beam structure.
As for the final product that you’ve all seen on screen, here are a few screencaps of the widest shots that are available of the Queen’s control room.
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