57 Buick - watercolor

watercolor, 2020

available, 11"x15"

      A little piece of the tail of a 1957 Buick. It's hard to tell from the reference photo I had, but I think this car had been hit somewhere in the rear causing an odd looking shift in direction for certain parts. Or, I guess it's possible that at such an isolated view some things just look like they fit together quite right.

50 Super 88 - watercolor

watercolor, 2019

available, 11"x15"

      In spite of the attempt at looseness, this classic car still looks pretty detailed. It also seems more darkly-toned than most of my car paintings. That wasn't really intentional. But the shadows in the reference photo were a little unusual. Maybe I captured a little atmosphere without knowing it.

Wasteland Buick - watercolor

watercolor, 2019

available, 11"x15"

      Just an old Buick left to its own devices on the prairie. I used a little thinned gesso to knock back some of the color intensity in the bottom corners. I like the look of the gesso rather than just lifting with a wet brush. There's also a considerable amount of dry-brush to get the lightest grasses.

Desert Blue - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Nice value contrast. Nice foreshortening. I like how the color contrast worked out between the manganese and phthalo blues and the burnt sienna/umber reds. My favoritest part is that highlight just behind the headlight. I don't know if I could do that again on purpose if I had to.

Chrysler Farm - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Milton's rusty old Chrysler hasn't run in 50 years.

      There's a fair amount of dry-brush on this one. I also used some thin acrylic gesso to wash out corners.

Bessie - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Bessie is the car used primarily by the third incarnation of the BBC's Doctor Who played by Jon Pertwee in the early 1970s. The original car used in filming was a kit car built on a British Ford chassis and is in an automotive museum in England. The car in the reference photo I used for this painting is either another kit car or an original Ford modified to honor the original Bessie. While filming the license plate read WHO 1 or some variation depending on which Doctor was using it. But the car couldn't be registered under that number officially because it already was in use by a private citizen. I left it as it appears in the photo because I just didn't feel like struggling with the problems of perspective and lettering. 

      I initially set up this post in late December since you can schedule blog posts and I like to know I'm covered for a while and all the information above already was set two months ago. And I included that information about the original car because I was afraid (and rightly so) that someone would have an issue with this painting and it's subject matter. Sure enough, some idiot on a gallery site this week spent several hours (by his own admission) researching information about the original car used in filming to try to one-up me on calling this "Bessie" while it was "so obvious" that it wasn't the original on-screen car. Sometimes - even in art - you just want to slap some people.

Marathon - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      A Marathon cab in a dark garage. Yellows are always a struggle for me. There were times when I didn't think this one was going to make it. Then I had to deal with that black background with the backlighting. The license plate isn't misspelled; it includes my kids' initials as most of my paintings do.

70 GTO - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Convertible red muscle cars are always popular. I've started experimenting with shooting my paintings with my dslr instead of scanning them. The gradients and color are better. But, I'm still struggling with even lighting and getting the paper as white as it should be.

The Quick And The Dead - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      I couldn't resist juxtaposing a rusting out hulk of rolling sculpture that's only about 70 years old against the still-chugging steam locomotive that's probably well over 100 years old  in the background. There are a couple issues here, but everything pales in comparison to how well that smoke turned out.

      The title is from Sam Raimi's mid-90s Western. I thought it was appropriate.

On The Nose - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      Just a close-up of a bullet hood ornament. I just can't remember what model this is.

55 Series 62 - watercolor + ink

 

mixed, 2018

available, 11"x15"

 prints and gifts also available

      Back when American cars were big, heavy and beautiful. A look at this one before the watercolor was applied is below. 

prints and gifts available only

Glory Days - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      A little looseness, a little detail, a little chrome, a little rust. 

65 Bonnie - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      A 1965 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. Yellow is a pretty difficult color for shiny sheet metal.

Red Bird - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      More fun with suggesting details. And, yes, another red car.

57 Fleetwood - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      Another classic Cadillac with lots of shiny paint and chrome. I had some fun with this one finding ways to suggest more than show and still get plenty of detail and/or the appearance of detail, a skill I want to continue to enhance.

Peekaboo E - gouache

gouache, 2017

available, 8"x10"

prints and gifts also available

      The venerable Jaguar E-Type peeking out from under a car cover. I gave this one a watercolor underpainting using the several left over colors on my palette - making that gray background color. The gouache covers right over with no migration or noticeable lifting like you might get with a watercolor wash. The abstract background shapes aren't meant to signify anything, just add a bit of depth around and behind the subject.

Rusty Wings - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      This one worked out a lot better than I thought it might. For some reason I struggled more than usual with this type of subject. Maybe it was the paper; I think this was a trial sheet of Lanaquarelle. Overall, I think I like the paper. But every paper takes some "getting-used-to." I might have had an easier time on Arches or Moulin du Roi.

54 Corvette - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

     I'm not sure I've painted a Corvette in a while. Classic Corvettes are one of those cars I have to paint once a year or so because of how beautiful, popular and fun they are. So, I guess I've filled my quota for a while.

51 Kaiser Henry J - gouache

gouache, 2017

available, 8"x10"

prints and gifts also available

      I've had the reference for this one for years. I was never quite sure about the odd angle and foreshortening. I finally decided that gouache would be better than watercolor for the almost cartoony look of the image. It turned out this was one of those paintings that painted itself in just a few hours. It was possibly the fastest I've ever painted anything with this level of realism.

58 Ranger - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 8"x10"

prints also available

      An old '58 Edsel Ranger left in a field.