1937 Chevy truck pen/ink 1970 by Wick Humble

[W Humble]

This was from an Instamatic photo of a '37 Chevy truck I owned; former town fire pumper with 7K actual miles, but lots of hours on the engine!  It never had this van body, but just a home-made flatbed when I bought it in 1968; another guy in Alturas CA who had won an almost new Homelite chain saw on a bet and I decided to haul firewood with it.  I'd been a forest fire fighter all that summer, and was waiting for the draft to get me after using up my 2-S student deferrment getting my BA in art/English.  He was waiting for second semester to start school, so in the fall we gave it a try; mostly ate donuts and drank coffee because the snow came early that Fall!

The thing ran like a top, but the guy who bought it surplus from the city (another wood hauler) had built the bed and painted the cab stove-black enamel.  We named it "Not so Sweet Martha-Lorraine" after the Country Joe & the Fish song; as sometimes it was even more reluctant than we to start the day!  I drew this while at the Medical Field-Service School at Brooke Army Med Ctr, Ft. Sam Houston, in SanAntone.  (I was influenced by a professional named Jeff Godshall).  It's on a 24x24" piece of illustration board, and actually doesn't have any lettering on it; not finding a teaching job after getting my MA. I went back to what I learned from my step-dad, who had a Mayflower Van Lines agency/warehouse; (aaugh!) moving and packing household goods for $3.25/hr!  But I was friends with the agent in my new town, Chico CA, and when he bought a second agency in nearby Redding, I made three photo-mechanical transfer (PMT) copies, lettered each with his two and the old man's names, and gave framed copies to them.  Armor's was the family business, now long gone.  I posted the real classic truck from H.P.'s little fleet on the trucking forum: a 1952 White 3000 tilt cab with factury sleeper; had it once but had to sell!  H.P. had begun driving in 1933, and was near retirement.  So, in 1971, I found a 1935 Packard 120 Business Coupe that an old Alturas farmer wouldn't sell, but he fell for "N.S.S.M-L" and swapped me.  By then it was stripped and in primer; he painted it Rusto green, and gave it to his dad!

Yep, I wish I still had that facility, but it was over half a century ago; that bird has flown, as did the Packard when both the kids needed tonsils out the same winter!!  Wick

[Kenmojr]

Love it. Very impressive.

[Bainford]

Very cool drawing, Wick. I like that pen & ink style.

[W Humble]

Again, thanks!!  This style is used by a number of car artists; the one I liked enough to adapt is Jeff Godshall, a designer for Chrysler, and auto historian.  He did a whole series of 'Spotter's Guides" for a mag I used to write for, Hemming's Special Interest Autos, now long gone and replaced by a muscle car mag.  It's dramatic, evocative, and best of all not too hard to emulate!  Bob Hvorka also worked in pen/ink similarly; very pure and attractive both illustrators.   Wick