Madeline - ink

ink; 2020

available; 9"x12"

      A portrait in ink. I've found myself doing many more portraits and figures over the past few months. So, the handful of regular visitors to the blog will be seeing more people in my art than cars or landscapes if you haven't already. I am, however, trying to remedy that at least on the landscape side. We'll see how that works out.

50 Plymouth - watercolor+ink

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.

Proleek - ink + watercolor

ink & watercolor, 2019

available, 8"x10"

      A quick ink and wash of the Proleek portal tomb in County Louth, Ireland.

53 Commander - ink+watercolor

mixed, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      I've always felt Studebaker was ahead of its time with the aerodynamics of some of its car designs. Many of their cars look like they're moving fast just sitting still.

50 Nash Healey - ink+watercolor

mixed, 2018

available, 5"x7"

prints and gifts also available

      A little American roadster from the era of the roadster.

72 Gran Sport - watercolor + ink

mixed, 2018

available, 8"x10"

prints also available

      This is a 5"x7" ink and wash piece I did fairly quickly earlier in the summer. I was still getting used to some Isograph technical pens, but chose a watercolor paper that was a bit too rough. So, the ink lines are a little choppy. Still, I think it works.

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

Smiling 65 Galaxie 500 - ink+watercolor

mixed, 2017

available, 9"x12"

prints and gifts also available

      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.

49 Cadillac Hearse - marker

ink, 2017

available, 9"x12"

prints and gifts also available

      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.

Red Barn - watercolor + ink

mixed, 2016

available, 9"x12"

      A quick, little ink and wash sketch of a barn in early fall. This one is actually 5"x7" on a 9"x12" sheet to help set off the image.

Buick Super Hearse -- watercolor+ink

mixed, 2017

available, 9"x12"

      I haven't done Virtual Paintout in a couple months. This month we're in Ghana. As is evident from many paintings on this blog, I'm drawn to church buildings. So, while I wasn't looking for a church in the Ghana Street View images, I did happen across one that just happened to be having a funeral at the time the image was taken with a Buick hearse parked out front.This checked a couple things off my favorites list -- it's a car AND a hearse (to cover the horror theme). One of the few late model cars I've ever done.
      The original ink drawing is below.

 

Sunday In The Park - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      This is from a photo I took during a Sunday afternoon food truck rodeo in the area. Not exactly my normal scene, I thought I might see a thing or two worth painting. I was right. I'm pretty happy with the looseness of this portrait. I'd like to go a bit looser with the color, but the drawing itself works well and retains a strong naturalism/realism.
      Below is an ink drawing I did as a preliminary.

55 Desoto - ink + watercolor

mixed, 2016

available, 9"x12"

prints and gifts also available

      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.

53 Skylark - watercolor + ink

mixed, 2016

available, 9"x12"

prints and gifts available

      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.

Tivat Church - watercolor+ink

mixed, 2016

available, 11"x15"

      Virtual Paintout is in Montenegro this month. This is as close as Google Maps Street View gets to this small church on a hill at the center of an island. But I liked the view with the walled dirt road leading in.

Edgar - ink

ink, 2016

nfs, 8"x11"

prints and gifts available

      Just a quick ink sketch I did of great American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. And, yes, if you haven't noticed before, his face - eyes especially - is definitely NOT symmetrical. None are; his is just really obvious.

442 - watercolor+ink

mixed, 2016

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      I decided to jump forward into the muscle car era with an Olds 442, or 4-4-2 to be exact. The numbers stand for four-barrel carb, four-speed transmission, and dual exhaust. I had my doubts about doing a yellow car. But, using three different yellows and controlling the highlights actually made this one pop. The ink-only version is below and prints and gifts of it are available here.

50 Futuramic - watercolor+ink

mixed, 2016

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      It's been a while since my last ink+wash car. This time I thought I'd show the ink-only version (below). This one worked out very nicely. I played just a little loose with both the ink and the watercolor. Prints and gifts of the ink version also are available here.

Mallorca Villa - watercolor+ink

mixed, 2016

available, 8"x10"

      This is another reference from Mallorca for Virtual Paintout. I'd seen another artist use a blue watercolor wash with an ink sketch and liked the effect. So, here you go, some thin Prussian Blue over an ink sketch.

37 Chevy - watercolor, ink

mixed, 2015

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available