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.
mixed; 2019
NFS; 8"x10"
A quick little piece I did for a friend's father. This was a car he used to own and only had a couple photos of it in his driveway. I sent it to him through his son, my high school friend, and he liked it so much he mailed me a hand-written thank-you note. Better than any commission check.
watercolor, 2018
available, 11"x15"
A 1965 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. Yellow is a pretty difficult color for shiny sheet metal.
watercolor, 2018
available, 11"x15"
More fun with suggesting details. And, yes, another red car.
watercolor, 2018
available, 11"x15"
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.
gouache, 2017
available, 8"x10"
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.
watercolor, 2018
available, 11"x15"
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.
watercolor, 2018
available, 11"x15"
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.
watercolor, 2017
available, 8"x10"
A very loose still life of a classic Nikon F.
gouache, 2017
available, 8"x10"
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.
watercolor, 2017
available, 8"x10"
An old '58 Edsel Ranger left in a field.
watercolor, 2017
nfs, 11"x15"
This is a commission I did back in December meant as a gift for my sister's boss. I was surprised at how quickly this one came together, somewhere around 6-7 hours.
watercolor, 2017
available, 11"x15"
mixed, 2017
available, 9"x12"
My mom had a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 when I was little. It wasn't a red convertible like this one. It was a sensible white four-door hardtop bought just before I was born. My dad drove a little two-door Ford Falcon with an engine that barely fit in the engine compartment.
It may sound strange but I'll always associate the grille of the 65 Galaxie with my mom's big, bright smile. I guess it's a mental association akin to pareidolia in which our brains automatically search for pattern and familiarity in an otherwise random jumble of stimuli. It's part of what makes us see familiar shapes in clouds or faces in the burn pattern of toast. I suppose a lot of people see faces in cars - some cars more than others; it's probably the genesis of the Cars animated movies. Maybe everybody thinks of their mom when they see a particular car. I consider myself blessed to get to see mine smiling at me when I see this one.
watercolor, 2017
nfs, 11"x15"
Loosening up on car paintings always feels like a double-edged blade. I'm inclined to render cars photographically as I did for several years. But, as I've mentioned here before, I no longer want to be a camera; I want to interpret and paint loosely. So, sometimes I try to split the difference and render some parts tightly and some loosely. Baby steps. The grillwork on this one is loose partly out of necessity. If I were painting this on a full sheet or even a half, I might have been more exact in the execution of all that grill chrome. I've done it before. But, at this size I'm not sure my hand is that steady. So, we went loose and gave the impression of lots of chrome grill tines (for lack of a better word). The yellow is a factory color of the period, I think, though the original color probably wasn't so bright. The original isn't for sale because my daughter expressed an interest in it when it was still in progress -- mostly because her favorite color is yellow.
ink, 2017
available, 9"x12"
I found some Winsor & Newton Pigment Markers on clearance locally so I thought I'd give them a try. I just bought a couple grays as I've been wanting to experiment more with grayscale and with markers. This is a first attempt. Not bad if I say so myself. The two pens I chose were a bit darker than I expected. I was looking for four levels -- two grays, black and paper white. Not really what I got. Even so, they work nicely in a horror theme, obviously. I'll be playing with these some more for both finished pieces and preliminary grayscale sketches for watercolors.
watercolor, 2017
available, 11"x15"
This is from an old photo from the late '40s or early '50s found in one of those caches of "found photos" becoming popular on the web these days. When I thought I was done I felt the buildings in the background were too dark and intense, demanding too much attention. So I used one of John Lovett's tricks and added a very thin layer of white gesso over them and the most distant car to tone them down and push them back. Worked like a charm.
mixed, 2016
available, 9"x12"
A quick, little ink and wash classic car. This one works out pretty nicely in spite of a general loosening of the details in the chrome grill.
mixed, 2016
available, 9"x12"
Not much to say about this one. Just another ink and wash classic car. I really like the graphic nature of Buick's old vertical grill. The ink on this one has a unique look because I used Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper instead of the smoother paper I normally use for inks. The paper texture made for a lot of skipping -- or micro-skipping -- in the ink line. I like the look a lot, but I'll probably stick to the smoother papers most of the time.
watercolor, 2016
available, 11"x15"
The fashion now is to restore old trucks especially, but some cars, as well, to good running condition but leave the exterior paint and rust alone for a "vintage" look. These usually are sprayed with a few coats of clear-coat to arrest any further rusting or paint loss. I wasn't aware this was a thing until I saw it done on one of those car restoration "reality" shows. I have to admit I like the look - and it makes for a lot of great subjects to paint. My only problem is that the clear-coat makes the rust shine, which looks odd because rust doesn't shine. At least, it doesn't have to shine on my paper. This one worked out nicely, though a little darker than I meant to go with it.
