Sketchbook Wednesday #2

 I'm actually on time this week.  I have three new sketchbook sketches to share with you.

"Vintage Dodge Truck Sketch"
Available on Etsy

This sketch christened a whole new sketchbook that's made up of tan toned paper.  I used a Tombow Fude brush pen for the black and a Posca paint pen for the whites.  The subject is a 1946 Dodge flatbed farm truck that has seen better days.  The sheets are peforated in this sketchbook so I decided to make this sketch available to purchase, click on the image.

"Abandoned Cars and Trucks in a Row Sketch"

The second sketch uses the Tombow fude brush pen for the line work and Tombow gray brush pens for the toning. The subject is a line of abandoned cars and trucks in the grass.  I took the reference photo at the Erickson Ranch in Wallsburg, Utah.

"Custom 1940 Ford Pickup Sketch'

The last sketch is a custom 1940 Ford pickup from a photo I took at a car show.  I used the fude pen again for the line work but used color Tombow brush pens for the shading this time.

The Allure of Abandoned Vehicles

 I've mentioned this on this blog before but I love abandoned old vehicles as an art subject but I'm not sure why.  Sure, I love old cars, trucks and tractors.  In my opinion classic and antique vehicles are far more aesthetically pleasing than modern ones.  Sure, modern designers are very limited nowadays because they have to work within a streamlined envelope to minimize fuel consumption at speed, I even acknowledge that modern cars are superior in every way to classics...except in appearance. But that's beside the point. Why are rusty, abandoned wrecks so interesting?  I guess it's the combination of classic design and the aesthetics of imperfection, often referred to as "wabisabi" (ya, I know this is a westernized term for an Asian concept.)  That's my best guess anyway, and is also the subject of the two pieces of art I made this week.

"Abandoned 1959 Ford Fairlane" pen and watercolor, 8" x 10"

This line and wash painting is based on a photograph I took in a wrecking yard nearby that sadly is no longer existing, currently being replaced with housing developments. 

"Abandoned 1965 Ford Pickup" Prints Available

This detailed pen line drawing is based on a couple different photos and my imagination.  The 1965 Ford pickup had a background I did like a lot except for the dying tree, so I pulled a derelict wood barn from another photograph and the background to the right of the truck is from my imagination.

A New Series Begins

 My painting has been very experimental lately.  I've been trying new techniques, styles and subjects.  I touched on that in my last post when I shared new texturing techniques I've begun to use for my landscapes. A couple new series of paintings have spring from these experiments, I'll share one now.

"Checking Out the Six"
Acrylic and paper "14" X 18"

One new technique I've been experimenting with is collage.  I've always found old photographs and advertisements interesting, especially those that are automotive related. For the first in my "Vintage" series I made a collage of antique automotive advertisements and added a painting based on a vintage photograph on top of the collage. I couldn't figure out what make, year and model the car is but I could tell it's from the early 1920's or a bit older and it has a six cylinder engine.  The photograph featured three men checking out the engine in the new car, I eliminated one of them from the composition and kept the background abstract. At that time six cylinder engines were typically only found in mid and high level cars.  Six cylinder engines were not only valued for their power verses four cylinders, they also ran smoother which was very important for luxury brands. 

The original photograph was black and white of course so I was free to choose my own colors.  I decided to make the primary color blue with red and yellow accents, in other words a triadic color scheme.  I added some drips and splatters using high flow acrylics and some line work using paint markers.  

I plan on making many more in this series, usually automotive themed but still with a wide variety of compositions including everything from antique cars, to customs, hot rods and trucks.

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Hot Roddin' With Paint

I've been slacking with my posting lately, sorry about that,  and this one is going to be a short post, sorry about that too, but at least I'm giving you a video to watch to give you something to occupy 15 minutes of your stay at home time.




This painting is based on a photo I took at a big car show last year.  The car was built at a shop in Grantsville, Utah and is a bit famous having been published in Wheel Hub magazine so I stayed pretty true to the colors and features, of course the palette knife applied layers made it more abstract, but it's still quite obvious that it is a 1932 Ford hot rod.  Here's the finished painting;

"32 Hot Rod"

Click on image to purchase

More Things With Wheels

I went back to playing with the pastels again, I decided to try a vehicle painting.

"Glory Passed"

Pastel on paper 9" X 12"

The truck is a 1946 Ford flatbed abandoned on desert ranch.  It's kind of sad to think of the current state of this old workhorse.  Just think of all the useful work it did for some farmer or rancher back in it's glory days.

I also recently did this mixed media sketch of an abandoned car;

"Has Potential"

Mixed media on paper, 5.25" X 10.5"

This poor 1939 Mercury tudor sedan certainly has seen better days, but what a project it would make for a restoration or a cool custom car.  The sketch started with watercolor washes for some subtle underlying color.  Once the washes were dry everything was sketched out in charcoal and then some colorful touches were added with pastel pencils.

Skin and Bones

This unusual car, or what's left of it is sitting in a lot behind the mining museum in Eureka, Utah along with other rusty remnants of Eureka's mining past.  Luckily someone had written on the cowl what the make is.  I'm a car guy but I don't believe I'd ever heard of a Mitchell, I would have never figured that out on my own!  The year of manufacture is 1918.

"Skin and Bones"

6" X 8", Acrylic on panel

Original - SOLD

Forest Find

I took a bit of a break, now I'm back and with another small derelict vehicle painting.  This painting is based on a photo I took at the Antique Power Show held at the Erickson Ranch every year in Wallsburg, Utah. The background in the painting is totally invented.  In the real scene a Model A Ford truck and other junk are in the background. What car nut wouldn't love to come across an abandoned 1940 Mercury in the woods and drag it home to restore it?

"Forest Find"

5 X 7. Acrylic on panel

Original - SOLD