Back to the Classic Cars

 I haven't been spending as much time as I should at the easel lately but I'm trying to do better.  I also haven't painted a classic car in a while, I decided to rectify both situations recently, as well as get back into making blog posts.

Blue 1965 Ford Thunderbird
Acrylic, 10" X 20"

Prints Available

We've all heard the line from the Beach Boys song "We'll have fun fun fun until Daddy takes the T-bird away".  I don't know what year of Thunderbird they were singing about but it couldn't have been a 1965 since the song was released in 1964, though the 1964 through 1966 Thunderbirds were almost identical in body style.  So why are Thunderbirds so fun?  Initially introduced as Ford's answer to the Corvette they were really more of a luxury sports car, then in the late 1950's and early 1960's they turned into a four seater and got rather large, still a somewhat sporty car but far from being a sports car.  Then the "Bullet Bird" was introduced.  The 1964-1966 body style was referred to as the "Buller Bird" because it's profile shape was very similar to a bullet. This generation of the Thundered bird took it somewhat back to it's roots, it was downsized while still remaining a four seater and given a much more sporty profile, but still not really a sports car, but definitely much more sporty than the second generation.  I believe this version belonged in the "personal luxury" category.

My painting focuses on the passenger front corner including part of the grill, the top of the corner of the bumper, the headlights, the wheel/tire and part of the hood.  I decided to paint this one mostly with brushes but kept it looks and added some textural touches with the palette knife.