An Unusually Colorful Painting of a Unique Hot Rod.

 This painting is a small one, just 8" x 10" but I packed a lot of color and texture into it.   The subject is a unique hot rod that often prowls the local car shows and is a work of art in it's own right.  The engine is a Packard straight eight with dual carbs and a custom exhaust header.  That alone is very unusual, but what really sends it over the edge is the Mccullogh centrifugal supercharger.  The rest of the car is a conglomeration of parts and pieces from different vehicles and custom made.  I believe the "bomber" style seats were made from scratch by hand as was the windshield frame and many of the brackets and small parts throughout the hot rod.  I also heard that the back of the body was made from a 1950's pickup hood.  Just all around a very cool, creative hot rod.

Sketching in "Art City"

 
I made a day trip this week to visit Springville, Utah, also known as "Art City".  I started out by doing a little shopping at the Treasures antique mall where I picked up a couple old art books.  

I then headed into town to visit the Springville Museum of Fine Art, something I haven't done in quite a few years. Unfortunately the first floor exhibits were roped off, they apparently were changing them out.  However, there was plenty of great art to see on the second floor including a celebration of the 100th Springville Salon showcasing paintings going all the way back to the 1920's.  There also was a retrospective of the Springville artist John Hafen that was very impressive and interesting.  The permanent exhibit of Soviet impressionist art was also worth seeing even though I've seen it before.

After the museum visit I only had to travel a couple blocks to downtown where I made this line and wash sketch, a rare urban sketch for me.

After sketching I decided to walk to the other side of the street and check out a little art gallery owned by a senior couple and had a nice chat with them about art while perusing the art hanging on the walls, which turned out to be all by them.

Overall it was a pleasant way to spend a day, that is until the crazy traffic I encountered going home.

Car Show and Historic Farm Sketching

 This past week I had two outdoor sketch outings, the first at a car show where I sketched this cool twin turbo vintage Ford pickup.  I used a fountain pen, an ink brush pen and watercolor for all of these sketches

    

Then I sketched this 1932 Cadillac sedan.  Obvious it's the Halloween season, I left out the decorations though.

Since the weather was going to be bad for the last two days of the week I decided to go out the next day after the car show and go to Wheeler Farm to take advantage of the sunny weather and sketched a couple small cottages.

Framing a Sketch Without Glass

 Glass and acrylic cause glare that interferes with viewing of the artwork and museum glass is expensive, is there an alternative for framing works on paper such as pen and watercolor sketches?  There is and I'll share with you my process right here.

I did this sketch a couple years ago, it is pen and watercolor on paper.  Normally something like this would be framed under glass with a matt.  The reason for that is watercolor is susceptible to damage with contact from moisture and paper is fragile as well, it can be easily stained and damaged by contact with water or just high humidity.  

To remedy this situation I gave the sketch two heavy coats of archival UV satin spray varnish by Krylon.  After the varnish was dry I mounted the sketch to a piece of hardboard that I cut myself.  I used a table saw but this can be done using a box cutter as well, it will just require multiple passes with the knife to make one cut, or alternatively matt board would work as well.  

I mounted the sketch to the board by first applying a layer of wood glue to the board.  It is important that you work fast so the glue doesn't start to set up before you apply the artwork.  Make sure the board is thoroughly covered in a thin, even coat of glue.  Next, line up the artwork with a corner of the board and carefully lay it down straight and lined up with the edges.  You will have time to make adjustments but not much.  Next it's a good idea to smooth out the paper with pressure to remove any air bubbles and make sure the artwork lays flat.  I used a brayer but something hard with a well rounded edge would work as well.

Now the art can be mounted in a regular open frame just like an acrylic or oil painting without worry of it getting damaged.  This works best with smaller artworks, such as this 8x10, the larger the artwork the more challenging it will be to get it lined up with the board and to avoid air bubbles, or even just getting it flat without damage. In my case I made a frame myself out of used pallet wood with a couple coats of gray stain for that rustic look.  If you have a table saw and a miter saw you can make one too, it's not difficult at all.

Hot Rod Sketches

 This week I did a couple hot rod sketches based on a couple photos I took at a car show years ago.

This first one is something many people might call a "rat rod" because it is rusty.  However, that is not correct, this is just a traditional hot rod that hasn't been fully finished with a shiny paint job.  Originally this is basically what the term "rat rod" meant, however rat rods have morphed into caricatures of traditional hot rods, to the point of almost becoming "art cars" though much of the time bad art, cars.

This second sketch is of a very unusual and creative hot rod. Someone uninformed might call this one a rat rod as well however it is anything but.  First it is powered by a Packard straight eight engine with a centrifugal supercharger. A Packard engine in a rat rod is not unheard of but adding a supercharger requires significant engineering and in this case the execution is superb. In fact that's what sets this hot rod apart, the craftsmanship.  No, there is no shiny paint, no polished billet parts but there is a ton of inventive fabrication that is done to a high level. This is definitely not a rat rod.

Petroliana Sketches

I think all car guys love petrolania too, old oil and gas stuff, I'm definitely no exception. Old oil cans are especially appealing to me, I think it's that art deco and mid century design, just so much more pleasant than modern design.

One of the things I do when I visit antique shops is take pictures of old oil cans and other interesting stuff. I combined stuff from various photos I've taken at antique shops to create some sketches. Eventually at least one of these will become a painting.

A Series of Vintage Truck Paintings

 I am attending a swap meet soon that is specifically for GM C10/C15 pickups which are 1/2 ton Chevy and GMC trucks produced from 1960 through 1987, I decided to produce a small series of paintings and sketches for the swap meet.  I showed you some of the sketches last week, this week I share some paintings, one from each generation of C10/C15.

The first is a first generation C15, a blue 1966 GMC.  This is a very small painting, just 5" X 5" so I just show the front corner.

The second is a gold 1970 GMC 4x4, again only 5"x5" so just the front corner is depicted.

And finally, a third generation C10 "square body" 1979 Chevy stepside in teal.  This painting is 8" x 10" so I was able to paint the whole truck.

Vintage Chevy Truck Sketches

 Here are a few line and wash (ink pen and watercolor) I've done recently of vintage Chevy and GMC trucks.

This first one is a lowered custom 1962 Chevy stepside painted orange based on a photo I took at a local car show.

This second sketch is of a blue 1963 Chevy fleetside pickup that I found in a junkyard in Nephi. Utah. The actual truck was painted brown, I decided to make it blue.

This sketch is of a blue 1972 Chevy fleetside pickup I found in Fairfield, Utah, I don't know if it was abandoned or not but if it was drivable it wasn't driven often.

This last sketch is a green 1970 GMC Jimmy SUV based on a photo I took at a local car show.

Car Show Sketching

 This week I took my mini sketching kit to the Veteran's Alliance car show at Wheeler Farm in Murray Utah and did some sketching. The way this show is arranged and the fact that it was tightly packed meant I could only sketch cars from the rear, but still it was good practice.  I don't know why but I struggle to get the shape of Corvettes quite right.

Sketching at the Parkway and the Truck Show

 It's been a very long time since I posted in this blog, I've decided to try resurrecting it, but I make no promises.

A habit I've formed over the last couple years is near daily sketchbook sketching. I've actually had the habit of sketching for a long time but I've really ramped that up the last two years.  What I like about sketchbook sketching is it's simple, portable and relatively stress free. Not all of my sketching is done from life but much of it is and I especially enjoy it, there is just something special about sitting in the environment and sketching directly in front of the subject without the filter of a camera getting in the way.  During the warm weather months I try to get outdoors and sketch a couple times a week, so this blog post is about my two sketch outings I did this past week.

My favorite feature of the Salt Lake Valley is the Jordan River Parkway, which starts at Utah Lake in Utah County and stretches almost all the way to the Great Salt Lake. I go on walks on the Jordan River Parkway nearly daily since I live close by, and once/week I like to take my sketchbook and go visit a section that's further away that I don't get to often, or maybe ever.  This week I went to a section that goes through three cities, South Jordan, Draper and Riverton. The weather was warm to hot but overcast which made it a little more pleasant, especially for sketching in areas that had no shade.

The first thing I sketched was a pump house, (at least I think that's what it is)

Next I found a spot on the river that the city had placed large, flat rocks on, a perfect place to sit to do a sketch by the river.  I decided to try a straight watercolor sketch with the style of JWM Turner in mind.  I've never claimed to be a watercolorist let alone even to have a small fraction of the talent of Turner but it was a quick, fun experiment.

On Saturday I attended the Great Salt Lake Truck Show held in the Electric Park in Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and managed to get three sketches of vintage heavy trucks in.  First a "needle nose" Kenworth.  Then a Peterbilt 359, I met the owner and gave him the sketch, he gave me a hat.  Lastly, I sketched an Interntional cabover.

Colorful Abstract Hot Rod Sketch Paintings

 I decided to do some small paintings on paper to experiment with bolder color and abstraction, below are the results.

The first one is a blue flathead powered Model A Ford hot rod roadster with a vibrant orange, yellow, green and blue background and a violet and pink foreground.

The second sketch is a red Model A Ford five window coupe hot rod with an orange and yellow background and a pink and purple foreground.

The third painting is a 1936 Ford chopped coupe hot rod with a red and blue background and a pink and blue foreground.

I really enjoyed these little sketch paintings and plan on exploring this colorful abstract style further.

First Sketches of the Year

 I decided to challenge myself to spend more time in my sketchbook this year, here are my first sketches of the year.

This pen and ink sketch is based on a photo I took somewhere in rural Utah, I don't remember quite where. I used a fine liner pen, a brush pen and diluted ink in a water brush.

Sketch No 2 is based on a photo I took in Hanksville, Utah of an abandoned and partially disassembled vintage Ford pickup.  I used a brown ink applied with a dip pen and a brush.

There was plenty of brown ink left in the palette so I used it for sketch no 3 as well which is based on a photo I took while hiking in Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.

I used the dip pen and brush again but with black water soluble ink this time referencing a photo I took in rural Fountain Green Utah.

November 2023 Sketchbook

 I tried taking up the sketchbook habit again in November, here are some of the highlights.

This is an abandoned circa 1950 Ford tank truck I found in Spring City, Utah.  I used a fine liner pen, a black brush pen and diluted India ink in a water brush to make this one.

This is a mid 1950's Pontiac two door sedan largely stripped of it's useful parts that I found in a wrecking yard in Grantsville, Utah that I sketched using the same materials as the 1950 Ford truck.  Unfortunately this cool old wrecking yard no longer exists.

From the same Grantsville wrecking yard, this is a late 1950's classic car of unknown make though it does appear to be possibly a Ford or Mercury, almost.  For this one I used water soluble ink in a nib pen and brush and three colors of watercolor, burnt sienna, paynes gray and yellow ochre

This is an abandoned 1958 Ford stepside pickup I found somewhere in Cache County, Utah. I used fine liner pens and a black brush pen and watercolor for this sketch.  I used a special technique for the rock on the right, once the watercolor went from wet to just damp I dragged an old credit card through it to make the lighter areas.