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Having trouble coming up with something to draw? No worries - while you'll eventually learn how to start from a tiny seed of a thought and gradually nurture it into a complex concept to explore through design and illustration, it's perfectly fine not to be there just yet.
For now though, here's an idea that might interest you.
Learning from Mother Nature
Humanity’s finally moved beyond the boundaries of our own planet and its immediate neighbours, and the wheels-and-wagon approach to vehicles simply won't cut it anymore. We need something new. Something fresh. But also, I don't want to spend a lot on testing…
I've got it! What if we just looked at nature? From insects, to mammals, to birds, to the creeping mosses under our feet. They've all got unique approaches to getting from point A to B, and even better? None of them bothered to file any patents!
Design a vehicle or a mech based off something from nature. Pick the kind of terrain or environment it will be traversing, then study animals, insects, and even plant life from those ecosystems to devise a better (or worse) solution. Does your design climb along cave walls? Fly through the sky? Or perhaps it explores the depths of the sea, and must contend with the extreme pressures experienced there? Pick a problem, then let mother nature tell you how to address it.
This one isn't doing it for you? How about this one instead: It's Not Easy Being Small >>>
The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something we've used ourselves, or know to be of impeccable quality. If you're interested, here is a full list.
PureRef
This is another one of those things that aren't sold through Amazon, so I don't get a commission on it - but it's just too good to leave out. PureRef is a fantastic piece of software that is both Windows and Mac compatible. It's used for collecting reference and compiling them into a moodboard. You can move them around freely, have them automatically arranged, zoom in/out and even scale/flip/rotate images as you please. If needed, you can also add little text notes.
When starting on a project, I'll often open it up and start dragging reference images off the internet onto the board. When I'm done, I'll save out a '.pur' file, which embeds all the images. They can get pretty big, but are way more convenient than hauling around folders full of separate images.
Did I mention you can get it for free? The developer allows you to pay whatever amount you want for it. They recommend $5, but they'll allow you to take it for nothing. Really though, with software this versatile and polished, you really should throw them a few bucks if you pick it up. It's more than worth it.