You can add layers of storytelling by considering the period of time leading up to the moment you’re showing.
Some of the vehicles and buildings might be brand new, but others might be holdovers from an earlier period in your world’s history. Surviving elements from earlier times might show wear and tear, or they might reveal changes in the culture or even the government of your imaginary universe.
For example, here’s a concept sketch for Fritz, a “hoverhead” robot that I designed for Dinotopia: First Flight. First Flight is actually a high-tech dystopia, set in Dinotopia's distant past, with vehicles based on the design of dinosaurs. Fritz is based on a ceratopsian head. He's rusty and dented, an outmoded model, and he’s missing the chrome ring that’s supposed to go around his right eye.
Early science fiction paintings, TV shows, and movies often showed a world where everything was in neat, new condition and was designed in the same style. But in real life we’re surrounded not only by the latest technology but also by antiques and out-of-date equipment that we keep using. Adding this sensibility to your science fiction artwork can give much more believability.
Here’s a plein air sketch in pencil and markers of a Buick Special. Note the rust stains coming up through the roof section, the cracked window, and the junkyard fender.
You can give your future a “lived-in” look by adding such signs of decay: rust, dents, skid marks, pot holes, chipped paint, broken glass, dead bugs, bent corners, peeling labels, faded lettering, graffiti, litter, trash, and weeds. In both digital and painted artwork, surfaces usually come out looking pristine and new, so adding these qualities takes deliberate effort.
On Wednesday I’ll do a deep dive into specific ways to give your science fiction or fantasy images a sense of lived-in history.
US customers can order a signed copy of Dinotopia: First Flight
I didn't remember Fritz's missing beauty ring while reading _First Flight_, yet this detail likely reached mine and others' subconscious, adding to the book's evident realism. _Star Wars_ often shows such imperfections -- spaceships break down, get dirty and need washing, creatures yawn, and Yoda could use a serious grammar lesson. _Star Wars -- The Phantom Menace_ is a special case where a portion of its world-building was apparently taken from yours -- as shown in this article:
web.archive.org/web/20160304002827/www.echostation.com/interview/gurney.htm
Fantastic points, as important in visual world building as in literary fiction worldbuilding.