Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Some of my vintage drag racing art


1320paul

Recommended Posts

Tell me more about your technique.

What brand/grade of pencil do you use? What about paper... Anything special? By the subtle tonal gradations in your work I'd guess a hot-press paper? Do you start by roughly sketching out the various masses or do you go right in and do finished work section by section? Do you use an Artograph to start with... or freehand sketch?

Sorry for the third degree, but your work is very good and I'd like to know more... :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No problem Harry. For pencils I use Staedtler 2B, 4B, 6B, and 8B. The paper is Strathmore Bristol Vellum, it has a nice "tooth" to it so the graphite spreads around easily for shading. I use the grid method to lay out my images. I go block by block and freehand sketch everything in, then erase the grid and go to town shading. I've never been one to do "studies" or test pieces, I just make sure I don't screw up the one I'm working on. I've been thinking about trying to loosen up my work a bit. With the way I draw now and the detail I put into my pieces it's really time consuming. If I'm set up at a car show I can usually count a half dozen people that say "nice photographs" and they keep on walking :blink: .....I need a sign or something. Anyway, if you have any other questions just ask. Take care.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No problem Harry. For pencils I use Staedtler 2B, 4B, 6B, and 8B. The paper is Strathmore Bristol Vellum, it has a nice "tooth" to it so the graphite spreads around easily for shading. I use the grid method to lay out my images. I go block by block and freehand sketch everything in, then erase the grid and go to town shading. I've never been one to do "studies" or test pieces, I just make sure I don't screw up the one I'm working on. I've been thinking about trying to loosen up my work a bit. With the way I draw now and the detail I put into my pieces it's really time consuming. If I'm set up at a car show I can usually count a half dozen people that say "nice photographs" and they keep on walking :blink: .....I need a sign or something. Anyway, if you have any other questions just ask. Take care.

Paul

I assume you work from a photo. The "grid" method is really time consuming. Have you ever tried projecting the image onto the paper with an Artograph and quickly laying in the basic shapes that way? It's a whole lot faster than the grid method.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is VERY time consuming. I did buy one of those projector thingies that you put over a photograph and it shows it on a wall or piece of paper, but the largest picture it will work on is a 5x7. Is that the same as an Artograph?? I usually take a photo and blow it up to the exact size I need, like a 16x20, and then grid it from there. Maybe I should try another way, I might get more work done that way too.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are several types of Artograph projectors. One kind sits on top of the image and projects the image onto the wall. The max. size image it will cover is about 5x5 inches, so if your original photo is bigger you would make a copy on a xerox machine and reduce it down to 5x5... then you could project that image onto the wall (you'd tape your paper to the wall). Size of the projected image depends on how far away the wall is.

Then there's the kind that's mounted on a stalk, kind of looks like a photo enlarger. You put the original in it and it projects down to the table top, up to about 4x magnification. If you need bigger, it can also project onto the wall.

Either way would save you a LOT of time, especially when you add up the time saved over several illustrations (or more!)

Here's a link to get you started:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...%3Doff%26sa%3DN

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I appreciate the info Harry. I think I'll try the one I have and reduce an image down so it fits under my projector. I know it'll save me alot of time but this little part of my brain thinks it's cheating! Eh, I need to get with the times. Do you do any drawing Harry? You seem to know about paper and what not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I appreciate the info Harry. I think I'll try the one I have and reduce an image down so it fits under my projector. I know it'll save me alot of time but this little part of my brain thinks it's cheating! Eh, I need to get with the times. Do you do any drawing Harry? You seem to know about paper and what not.

I've been drawing since I was old enough to hold a pencil. But for the past 20 years or so I do all my "drawing" in either Illustrator or Photoshop. I can't remember the last time I actually drew or airbrushed the "old fashioned" way! I've gotten so used to drawing in Photoshop that it's second nature to me. Here are a few examples (all drawn in Photoshop)... sorry about the "non automotive" ones... :(

Hey, at least Springsteen sings about Pink Cadillacs, Wrecks on the Highway and Racing in the Street, and Hendrix sings about Crosstown traffic... ;)

hotrod.jpg

firepower2.jpg

jimi.jpg

sheryl.jpg

springsteen.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to do ALL my art the "old fashioned" way... pecils, markers, airbrush and acrylic paint. But once I got good at Photoshop, I liked it so much that I never went back to the old way.

At first it felt very weird to me... when drawing or painting in Photoshop you don't get the tactile sensation that you get by running a pencil or brush across paper... it's really a totally different feeling, and one that's quite weird until you get used to it. I didn't like it at all at first, but since my business is graphic design and illustration, I HAD to make the switch to digital, because that's the way the industry went. But now that I've gotten pretty good with Photoshop, I like it! No more clogged airbrushes! And I save a fortune in paint! Plus I never run out of a color right in the middle of something... ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1320paul, once you blow up your image to the size you want , you can also just put the face of the image against a window so you can see the image through the back of the paper. Then use a soft pencil and cross hatch over the image lines. Lay this onto the paper you are going to draw on and start tracing. It is kind of like homemade carbon peper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...