[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

Originally I wanted to incorporate an earlier stage of Foundation A’s building (back when it was only one floor) in the background of the Leon painting, but I think I dropped that idea since it would be a tiny bit distracting.

Designing wall and clothing patterns has been one of my biggest struggles. It’s hard to make them interesting when I have such little experience doing so. Yet another thing I’ll be working on in the future.

As of typing this, I don’t have any major plans for the MMUs to make an appearance, but I imagine they’d be pretty important in the world! Besides things being made modular, another common practice for designing things is to make them very “complete.” The mobile medical unit is the next best thing to an ambulance or hospital visit when neither of those are presently available.

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

Quite possibly one of the most important rooms in Foundation A, and indeed one of the most important rooms on the whole planet!

This is where we first really get introduced to the concept of keystones. The black cylinder-shaped “rock” near the back of the room is made of a special kind of technology that can produce holograms and store information. If someone chooses to get an implant (dubbed a “skinplant), they’re able to activate these features remotely (assuming they have the clearance), but the keystones act as a means for people without those implants to use the features as well. Plus, they mark objects and/or locations which have holo-tech to access.

It’s common to see things that have a black touchpad (which is usually referred to as a keystone). As such, people rarely decorate things in the environment to have pure black sections so they can avoid confusion. Slightly lighter shades of blacks/grays aren’t frowned upon, though.

Another fun detail that may be hard to pick out is that around the keystone near the back, there are a bunch of plants… specifically, pea plants. If you want to learn some real-world scientific history, look up Gregor Mendel and Pea Plants. I thought that’d be a cute little easter egg to put in.

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

The finalized look for the area directly around Foundation A! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see nearly as much of this as I would have liked (yet). Being able to see more of the environments (ESPECIALLY when I put so much work into how they look) is yet another thing I’m working on.

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

One aspect of developing a solarpunk world which was important to me was the idea of resting spots. Assuming you aren’t causing any trouble, people ought to be able to hang out and enjoy the sights comfortably.

I incorporate that into my environments as frequently as I can, usually in the form of places where people can hang out at their leisure and maybe even sleep or eat.

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

{ORIGINAL COMMENTARY} I almost have everything looking the way it should by this point! Originally the angle when Leon and Trinity exit FA was facing the bottom panel’s look, but I decided to make things more difficult for myself instead.

Besides the first glimpse of the awnings, we also see that this was going to hint at the TACO observation room. I later decided that, as free and open as most things are in this future, it really wouldn’t make sense for FA to be keeping something to valuable out where anyone could float by and see it.

{NEW COMMENTARY} When drawing this, I was getting a better idea about the actual setup of this future. The awnings were the first step towards making friendly architecture and spots where people were free to hang around as much as they wish.

The long building next to it is one of many mini shops that can be found all over. While there are still some massive big-box stores (mostly for the purposes of serving groups or companies that will need large quantities of stuff), most average citizens can get what they want from nearby mom and pop establishments.

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

{ORIGINAL COMMENTARY} These cute little fellows haven’t changed too much since I originally depicted them, but they’re always so much fun to draw. And now I’ve officially got a place for them with Key to the Future’s Fate!

Tecktrins are interesting because they are the first artificially-created, sapient, organic species. They reproduce by being inseminated into a pregnant body and basically “tricking” it into believing its about to have twins now (with the Tecktrin of course being the second child). The person they’re born with becomes a partner they bond with for life.

They mature extremely quickly and can offer all kinds of benefits for their partner and family. A babysitter, friend, receptionist; just about anything. Of course, they have lives of their own and mistreating them is as much a crime as mistreating any other sapient species.

It’s no surprise they caught on with how friggin’ cute they are. Look at Luca in the bottom right. She doesn’t need to be carried around, Leon. Gosh dang it. Put her down you dummy.

{NEW COMMENTARY} I decided later on that they can also just be made in a lab and bond with their partner shortly after they’re born as well.

I swear I didn’t realize the similarity to Final Fantasy XII Moogles until after I already decided to include them in my comic. Their design was absolutely an unconscious inspiration, but I’d at least like to think their backstory and roles help to set them apart.

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

{ORIGINAL COMMENTARY} Given how many times I’ve completely changed the exterior of Foundation A, you’d think the world is capable of transforming randomly or something. In truth, I’m just incredibly indecisive.

Despite how much it would change, some elements did remain, such as the park-like area and big roads.

{NEW COMMENTARY} Eventually, I would get inspired to give FA a sort of “college campus” design vibe, which I personally found way more interesting than this second or so take at it.

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

{ORIGINAL COMMENTARY} The basic floor-plan of Foundation A.

{NEW COMMENTARY} This ref is one of the few things to have stayed mostly consistent all throughout the first chapter. Looking back, I do wish I did a little more to the actual design of the building, but it does set up the aesthetics well enough, I suppose!

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

{ORIGINAL COMMENTARY} More developed sketches of FA’s central hall from the bottom floor. I really like the little hangout area down by the base of the tree. Still thinking of ways to incorporate more greenery.

{NEW COMMENTARY} That’s starting to look a little more like the Foundation A I know! This was before I had the concept of the big metal doors and hexagonal signs.

Also of course the perspective is off and you don’t start seeing the canopy of the tree until the third floor, but hey I was still working on things.

[For the hiatus, I’m going to be posting a bunch of the development art I made for the series. It’ll be posted in the order it was made, leading up to the week the comic resumes]

{ORIGINAL COMMENTARY} The Geck are the major scientists of the universal community. Their home planet has a perfect mix of land and sea, both of which they adapted to near-perfectly.

{NEW COMMENTARY} I only made the aliens largely as background fodder – the few solarpunk stories I’ve seen rarely include aliens – but if I had all the time in the universe, I’d love to dive deep into details on them all.

I love lizard nerds, you guys.