Deviation Actions

The Pearl Divers of Connell-B: Process Time-Lapse

Published: Mar 13, 2026

11.5K Views1 Collected Privately

Badge Awards

scifi blackandwhite digital digitalillustration drawing drawingprocess illustration ink inking pen process procreate timelapse wip videogamesfanart inkillustration scifiillustration inktober analogsf

Description

This video shows the process of creating a black-and-white ink illustration

for the March/April 2026 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact (Vol. XCVI, No. 3 & 4).

The artwork appears as a two-page interior spread

for the short story “The Pearl Divers of Connell-B” by Scott Steensma.

📖 The story follows the dangerous work of miners extracting a rare mineral from the surface of a remote asteroid surrounded by orbital worker settlements. In a way similar to pearl diving, workers descend from the station in specialized suits toward the asteroid’s surface in near-zero gravity, gather the valuable material, and are then pulled back to the base by a tether.

The illustration was developed over several stages: reading the story, sketch exploration, and the final drawing process. The finished artwork was created in Procreate using the INK• brush set, designed to recreate the expressive qualities of traditional pen-and-ink tools in a digital environment.

The drawing itself was created using only a few layers in order

to keep the process closer to traditional ink illustration techniques.

🛠 Tools

• iPad + Procreate
• INK• brush set
• Digital pen & ink workflow

🎨 Brushes used in the video:

INK• — Professional ink brushes for Procreate
➤ eldarzakirov.com