Have you ever fully committed to a project before realizing how much work it’s really going to be? That’s exactly how I feel about my decision to create blank templates of all the major airliners (past and present). I’ve quickly discovered how much time aircraft art takes, and frankly, I didn’t expect it to take more time than the 3d illustrations that I do. This is hard work! But I am enjoying it, so I have declared it as long term project (that may never be complete) and I’ll just do what I can.
So here we go. Next up in my series of blank templates is one of the most talked about airplanes in existence today: the Boeing 787-8. If you recall in my 777-200 post, I mentioned that it was relatively easy to create illustrations of that airplane, as it has been around for a while and there is a ton of good reference material for it. Well, that’s not quite the case for the 787. This is a brand new aircraft, and trying to find detailed pics and diagrams has been…difficult! So that means that I had to use my own creative freedom in a few places, which I hope to fix over time as higher quality reference material becomes available.
As usual with all my templates so far, I’ve created two versions of this 787: a blank (all white) illustration, and a more detailed black and white line drawing:
On a side note, I never really noticed how much of a leap forward in design the 787 was until I started doing these drawings. The nose looks like a space ship, and I am totally digging the scalloped engines. This is a good looking aircraft!
I came across your illustrations while doing a google search for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that I could use in one of my presentations at work. I was reading the comment on this particular illustration and found your comment on the engine scallops to be particularly interesting. I’m not sure if you’re a plane enthusiast or just someone who like to make images of airplanes, but those scallops actually change the airflow that passes over the engine so that it is much quieter on approach and takeoff (makes it better for takeoff and landing around neighborhoods).
Thanks for the info David – I didn’t know that. I don’t do a lot of technical research before doing these illustrations, so info like this is always interesting to read about. Thanks!