The Mystery Machine

Like, Zoiks, Scoob! A hot rod take on a classic van – The Mystery Machine was a total hippie-mobile in the cartoon, but how cool would it be as a street van?

I’m continuing to explore side profile views on toned-tan paper, which is perfect for a livery as lively as The Mystery Machine.

The van started out as a simple line sketch using #2 pencil. I started with the wheels – this time with different sizes. The front wheel is 3/4″ and the rear wheel is 1″. I then went on the block in the body and added the radii at the end.

Unfortunately, I have a habit of getting “in the zone” and forgetting to take pictures of my progress until all of a sudden the drawing is done. So I only have one in-progress photo of this one.

After the line work was finished, I laid down only one shade of Copic blue and tinted it with grays for the shadows. I added the Micron line work using 005 & 01 and finished the drawing with the white charcoal accents (my favorite part). I especially like the white outline border.

I left the wheels open at the bottom, which contrasts with the dark shadow under the van. This is a car-designer design sketch trick and makes for a cool effect. It looks quite nice, framed – perfect for a kid’s bedroom (or grown up kid’s office)…