u/She-Jot

Copicmarkers + Whitepen

I've been building the world of Djaiko, my sci-fi webcomic universe, for quite a while, and this time I'd like to share some of the characters who inhabit it.

These are still character concept drawings rather than final comic pages, (execpt for the last entry showing 2 characters in final design on a comic page). They range from military personnel and members of the King's Guard to diplomats, civilians and some of the more unusual inhabitants of the setting.

A few of them have already appeared in previous worldbuilding posts, while others are being introduced here for the first time.

One thing I particularly enjoy about this setting is that I don't want everyone to look like they came from the same military catalogue. Different species, cultures, professions and personalities should all be visible in the designs.

All artwork is hand-drawn traditionally with fineliner and markers.

Who would you be most interested in seeing more of?

If you're new to the project: Rico de Vaellis and Djaiko are at the center of the story, and my previous posts go into more detail about the world and its characters.

world-> https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/1vp6gp0/cenex_and_al_fareen_building_a_believable/

moods-> https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/1vro4pg/character_worldbuilding_moods_from_the_world_of/

(ground)combat concepts-> https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/1vxvcpt/ground_combat_in_djaiko_early_concepts_for/

After the city + world map and the first character moods, I'd like to show another part of the world of Djaiko: some early concepts for ground combat.

These are not meant to be a complete or scientifically accurate military system. They are mostly visual and atmospheric studies of how warfare might look and feel in this universe — infantry, armored vehicles, medevac units, different environments, and the various species that inhabit the setting.

Some of these drawings are from 2025 and have already been published on DeviantArt, while others are more recent. I'm gradually bringing the worldbuilding material there and here to roughly the same state, rather than dumping everything on this subreddit at once. :)

One thing I'm particularly interested in is making the technology feel functional without turning the setting into a catalogue of futuristic gadgets. The soldiers still carry equipment , get wounded, need medical evacuation, take cover, cross difficult terrain, etc. The technology changes the possibilities (while everyone carries a anti-drone-electronic-warfare-backpack making that kind of warfare/technology a bit less effective in this world), but people are still people.

The combat scenes are also part of the larger visual language I'm developing for Djaiko: hand-drawn Copic-marker artwork, fairly colourful environments, and a somewhat retro sci-fi feeling rather than dark/gritty military aesthetic.

I'm still figuring out a lot of the details, so I'd be interested in hearing what you think works — or doesn't work — from a worldbuilding perspective.

Just if interested:
Link to mentioned world+city map https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/1vp6gp0/cenex_and_al_fareen_building_a_believable/

Link to mentioned first Charackter Moods https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/1vro4pg/character_worldbuilding_moods_from_the_world_of/

A few character and atmosphere drawings from the world of my sci-fi webcomic Djaiko — the same setting as the maps of Al Fareen and Cenex I posted here recently.

Before I move on to the more detailed character sheets, I wanted to share some of the drawings that helped me develop the people and atmosphere of this universe.

Some of these are quite recent, while others are older pieces that have already been posted on DeviantArt. I'm currently trying to bring the worldbuilding process there and here up to the same point, but I'd rather do that gradually instead of dumping the entire backlog on the subreddit at once. :D

So this is a bit of a mixed selection:

“Madeleine and Rico” — a scene at the spaceport,
“Unacceptable Terms” — a diplomatic scene playing in the room, where the entire first published chapter takes place (with different carackters) to set up the mood and feeling of this room.
“You f*cking Idiot” — A key scene (first concept) in later chapter for a story turning point.
“Near miss” — A set of three pictures with skech charackter of first ideas how space combat might look in this series
Lireen in the Blue Forest — The homeworld (Niovalid) of Lireen (diplomat of Niovalid).
One unnamed picture of Djaiko (name givng for the series) the second main charackter walking down a staircase.
"The wedding" — Lireen and Rico in center with Madelaine to the left and an early concept for the Snake "Sandarkon" (Chief of intelligence Service)

Some of these drawings have since evolved into more developed designs, which is actually part of why I like looking back at them. They show how the world gradually took shape before I started fixing everything into maps, character sheets and lore.

All artwork is traditionally drawn with Copic markers, fineliners and white pen. No AI. Some pieces received minor digital adjustments afterwards.

The goal with Djaiko is to build a sci-fi setting that feels inhabited — not just by its locations and technology, but by the people who actually live in that world.

More character sheets and worldbuilding will follow, but I'll try not to overrun the subreddit every 24 hours. ;)

I posted this map on r/worldbuilding, but here I'd like to focus specifically on the mapmaking process, including some first skeches of the city map, delted content for the port area and the lineart before getting colorized.

I've been working on the maps and geography for my hand-drawn space-opera webcomic Djaiko, and what started as a simple location map has gradually turned into a complete city guide.

The process went roughly like this:

Cenex world map → Atorien regional map → Al Fareen city map → individual districts → harbour infrastructure → public transport → aerial view → finished tourist guide

Al Fareen is the capital of Atorien, a mountainous island nation on the ocean planet Cenex. It's a midsize coastal city built around a large bay, with residential districts, a CBD, government and diplomatic quarters, beaches, a naval base and a major orbital harbour.

One of the things I wanted to establish in Djaiko is a future that still feels familiar and functional. Spacecraft capable of atmospheric flight land on water and dock in harbour basins much like modern container ships. The spaceport therefore evolved from the city's existing maritime infrastructure rather than looking like a giant futuristic landing field.

I've drawn the maps and illustrations traditionally with fineliners and Copic markers. I wanted the finished guide to feel like an actual tourist guide from the world of Djaiko, rather than just a collection of maps, so I ended up drawing individual locations, streets, harbour facilities and city views as well.

The guide is intended to be included at the beginning of the chapter taking place in Al Fareen, so readers can explore the city and get a feeling for the setting before entering the story.

I'm posting this here because I'm particularly interested in the mapmaking side of the process:

Does the geography and urban layout read clearly? Does the city feel like it has grown organically, and are there things you would have approached differently when designing a fictional coastal city?

This project took considerably longer than I originally expected. 😅... This is by the way the final version, so no more posts of this particular map in future, if you already feel tired of AL FAREEN :)

I've been developing the world of Cenex for my hand-drawn space-opera webcomic Djaiko, and I've spent quite a lot of time lately working out the geography and one of its major cities.

Cenex is an ocean world with roughly 70% of its surface covered by water. Most of the major landmasses are concentrated in the northern hemisphere. The largest landmass is a Pangaea-like continent, with the island nations of Atorien and Palien to the west and the island group of New Spain further west. (I had already posted the world map in the last pictureand reuploaded it for those, who haevent seen it yet for context)

The second chapter of Djaiko takes place largely in Atorien, so I developed its capital, Al Fareen, in much more detail.

Al Fareen is a midsize coastal capital surrounded by mountains of around 2,000 metres. It has a modern but relatively restrained skyline, a large tourist and diplomatic district, residential areas, a naval base and a major commercial spaceport.

One of the things I wanted to avoid was the typical sci-fi spaceport with giant landing pads and spacecraft hovering over the city. In the Djaiko setting, spacecraft that are capable of atmospheric flight are essentially space-going ships. They land on water and dock in harbour basins much like modern container ships. Cargo is handled by container drones and the civilian and military ports are integrated into the existing maritime infrastructure.

I've also been developing Al Fareen as an actual functioning city rather than just a backdrop: districts, roads, public transport, industrial areas, beaches, hotels, government buildings and even tourist guides.

The maps and illustrations are all traditionally drawn with fineliners and Copic markers.
I'm planning to include this map guide as an introduction to the chapter, giving readers a first impression of the world and, in particular, of Al Fareen.

I drew all the Copic illustrations for the guide specifically to make the city feel more immersive. Rather than simply showing a map, I wanted readers to be able to explore the different districts, get a feeling for their atmosphere and hopefully have some fun discovering the city before the story even begins.

I'd be interested to hear what you think about the geography and urban layout. Does Al Fareen feel like a believable city to you, or are there things about the geography/infrastructure that you would change?

(For a full Linklist and publishing procedure of this comic go here: https://www.deviantart.com/cf-jot/journal/Djaiko-Webcomic-Full-Linklist-1361510900

Last picture for a mapguide to a fictional city. This will be the cover image and took me 4 days to make. I basically used all colors I had. Not that happy with scale of the skyscrapers ( at the end a bit too massive - I had planed them roughly 250 Meters / 820 ft. at max, now they look more like almost the double. I 'll knew better for next time.

Can't whait to finish the mapguide, now

For the first one I used only C3, C5, C7, C9, W1, W3, W5, W7, W9 for the structures and Frost Blue, Pale Blue, Ice Blue, Sky and Aqua for bluisch color code. First I markered everything only in the grey tones and added the blue layers later. I also included the first sketch for this. .... For the second the sky is a gradient from Pale-Yellow over Yellow, Cadmium Yellow (Y15) Pink to R02. The clouds are E04. The car was colored with cool grey and the trees are a combination of W5, W7 and W8. A bit unsatisfied I'm still with the hotel architecture in the second picture and the shape of the (hover)car, since I'm not really a car designer

I posted some wip stuff of this in the past, but I think this is the final version now of "Al Fareen", the captital of the fictive state of "Atoria" on the fictive planet of "Cenex". 99% inhabitated by humans. This step is part of a world building and lore building process of a webcomic I'm currently working on. The second chapter will take part in several locations of this city, so I want to give the reader some kind of 4page "tourist guide" covering the areas of this city with further map-sections based on this map and mood pictures of the architecture and street life of each important quarter. I want to make it interesting and fun to read/explore. The final "tourist guide" will be hopefully ready in this week, yet I don't know exactly, if I have to post it in this subreddit or at worldbuilding (or both), What I mean with moodpictures can be seen in r/copic https://www.reddit.com/r/copic/comments/1vhhrgr/some_fictional_city_finelinercopicwhitepen/

After beeing not so happy with a map for a city in where a lot of the story of my sci-fi opera webcomic takes place it did a redraw. The colors are Copic Markers. The Street-Lines are fineliner. Lines aand colors were drawn on seperated papers so I could multiply the streets in photopea. Letters placed with Figma. The gap to the left is a placeholder for a legend. GTA SA was inspiration for the map style. Al Fareen is the capital of "Atrorien" which was mapped here: https://www.reddit.com/r/mapmaking/comments/1vc00sj/scifi_wordlbuilding_maps_with_copic_markers/

I hope this is the right subreddit.

A guide/map I had created after I finished my last project. A webcomic about people participating in an escape game with an open end number of participants. It's not a "royal rumble" where pssychopats can join and just kill each other. You have to follow certain game rules to stay "clean" which makes you not killable for others. If you violate the rules, you are "birdsfree", but have still chances to hide this status from others ans "slip through" somehow. Since the project had approx 1500 pages and so plenty of several separated stages (or escape rooms, if you like) - with some of them reaching the size of entire small cities - has been introduced, I wanted provide readers with an overview over the gaming area (as far it was discovered by the players in this story) - and the pathes of the main cast through it. .... Maybe this post fits more to "worldbuilding", but the world is already built.

Mood of a luxury quarter of the capital "Al Fareen" of the fictional Island State of "Atorien". I'm currently creaing a map of this city together with several copicmarker moods for different quarters and industrial areas. Inspiration are taken from cities like Aukland, Reyjkavik or even Cadiz. My goal is to create some kind of "Tourist Map" for this city with a city plan, public transportation routes, major sights, special locations.

Al Fareen and Atorien are a major plot location for a space opera webcomic I'm currently drawing. Since this is such an important place in this lore, I want to create this place in high detail before I start creating the story pages that will contain this city.

More about this world in this post https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/1vczgme/working_on_the_worldbuilding_for_my_handdrawn/

The city map in the second picture absolutely did not turned out like I wanted. Made the streets with black pen and inverted them over a copic coloration. Any suggestions how to do it better with this tools? (map is for the second chapter of my Webcomic "Djaiko")