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.

Apaches - watercolor

watercolor; 2020

available; 11"x15"

      Just a couple old Chevy trucks left to guard the shed out back. There's a fair amount of dry brush in this one.

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.

On The Go - watercolor

watercolor, 2019

available, 11"x15"

      I've been trying to do more figures that were dressed and going about regular daily activities. This girl seemed perfect, although I rarely use much true yellow. I feel like I should have used a more contrasting background color. But, maybe the lighter neutral helps preserve the light airy-ness of the subject.

53 Skylark - watercolor

watercolor, 2019

available, 11"x15"

      This was meant to be a quick, sketchy car painting. But, it turned into a much more realistic piece, though it still took just a few hours. Most of that was drying time for the several layers of red.

Spare - watercolor

watercolor, 2019,

available, 11"x15"

      Once upon a time, your spare tire was part of the elegance of your car. Painted fairly loosely to begin with, I made this one intentionally looser with a judicious addition of gesso even in unusual areas. I like the result enough that you'll probably see it again. A little white watercolor pencil helped with the spoke reflections.

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.

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.

66 GTO - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      That was a tough green to create. I tried to match an actual factory color. It's close-ish. If you know the color, you'll get the idea. Call it a "suggestion."

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.

56 Packard - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      A classic Packard coupe in front of an old gas station. To emphasize the car as the focal point I added a wash of thin acrylic gesso over practically all of the background. Then I restated the lines with charcoal. In addition to making the realistically rendered car pop, this also reminds the viewer of the two-dimensional nature of the piece. While the focal point may look realistic, its environment is a barely-colored drawing.
      That's the academic explanation. The truth of the matter is that I fully intended to paint the entire scene in watercolor relying on loose rendering to push the background "back." But, after nearly completing the painting I realized the deep shadow of the gas station portico completely overpowered the car. So, it had to go. There's more than one way to get a painting where you want it.

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

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.