Category: Car Art Blog

Detroit Firetruck

I was excited to get to do this commission of a 1965 Seagrave Sedan Pumper firetruck for my friend Bill this week. This particular model was only ever used by the Detroit Fire Department, and was manufactured in Columbus, Ohio. Getting all the detail in was tricky – between the controls, hose hook ups, lettering,…
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Late ’30s Olds

This past weekend, Jessie and I visited the R.E. Olds museum in Lansing – I highly recommend it, by the way. One of my favorite cars there was this late 1930’s Oldsmobile Business Coupe. I thought the subtle silver paint sitting on the bright red wheels with white wall tires really popped – a really…
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1969 Chevelle Malibu

Beautiful 1969 Chevelle Malibu for my man Aaron, rocking the Cragar SS wheels. Starting off with pencil outline on sketch paper. It took a few tries to get the proportions where I wanted them. First weight of ink – Micron 0.2mm (005). Here’s a scan of the completed line work with a variety of weights.…
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Magazine Sketches

I have a ton of old car magazines in the basement and I thought it would be fun to start a series where I pick my favorite from one and sketch it. This is my favorite from the October 2011 Hot Rod – a Willys gasser. This sketch was done using a Uni-Ball Onyx Micro…
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Paper Matters!

I tried sketching this 1966 Plymouth Valiant on course sketching paper, but the porosity and sponginess of the paper caused me to not get any ink out for the lighter shading. The shading is super thick. So, I tried sketching the same car again on 8.5×11 printer paper and got a much better response from…
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Chicken Scratch ’32 Roadster

I do my best to draw something each day. I don’t always get to it, but even if I can just spend ten or twenty minutes, it keeps the feel of the pen fresh. Some say it takes 10,000 hours of practice and study to become an expert at something. I’m light years away from…
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1956 Chevy Wagon

Second sketch of 2020 – a 1956 Chevrolet 210 wagon 4-door with a mild gasser set up. All the chrome trim except the bumpers is gone. Here’s the sketch roughed out in pencil, and then lined with Micron 01 ink pen: I chose to really force the perspective with extra thick lines, so I went…
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First Sketch of 2020!

Happy New Year! This is my first sketch of the new year – a 1950 Ford. The 1949-51 Shoebox Ford is one of my favorite designs – it’s very simple and understated, yet shows the start of the space age-inspired design influence of the 1950s. This photo shows the rough sketch in pencil. I like…
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1963 Pontiac Tempest Wagon

The Pontiac Tempest was unique in that it used a transaxle rather than a traditional transmission directly behind the engine. In 1963, Pontiac produced just six Super Duty Tempest wagons – this one with a 4-speed manual transaxle and a Super Duty 421 V8. This sketch was roughed in pencil, then lined with Micron pen.…
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1962 Chevy II – Sketching Styles

I’ve grown into two different sketching styles, and this drawing shows their differences next to each other. First, the car is a 1962 Chevy II 4-door drag car running in Factory Experimental. 2-door cars are more commonly remembered, but in reality, the 4-door cars frequently had stiffer chassis and had greater interior space for installing…
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