Project I : Invisible Cities

Here are the first ideas that came to my mind for cities Anastasia, Argia, Armilla, Baucis and Despina.

The cities that were most interesting for me so far were Argia and Baucis. I was quite influenced by two animation series. My reference for Argia was a Japanese animation called Tengen Toppa Gurren Langann by Gainax Studio, series with post-apocalyptic, sci-fi concept. The series follow the story of a boy who grew up deep down underground hiding from all the monsters that roam free on the planet.  The human population is believed to be all there is in this village. It is know that Japanese artists have an interesting way of making a point with their art. This is why I have always admired their imagination and creativity. What I used as reference was the underground city. Here is a short trailer of the series:

Baucis was also inspired by Japanese animation called Laputa: Castle in the Sky by (Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta)  Studio Ghibli. What I see as similar is the idea of a fortress in the sky, untouchable and hard to be reached. Something that seem like a legend, seen by few, present only in stories, a dream for some.

While I was doing these thumbnails I realized that maybe would have been better if Despina looked they way I tried to recreate Anastasia. These two cities seem somehow easy to imagine, but hard for me to actually draw. It was quite hard to imagine the design though*wider research needed*

Armilla was a city at first I was unable to imagine at all, but in the end I managed to sketch something, with the idea of a post-apocalyptic idea, but somehow a place where the life still continues.

Here is my influence map for these 5 cities

P.S: I think I might need a scanner...

Update : I got a scanner Wohoo~.. Images have been updated!