Drawing cars... arrgh!
When I was attending school there were a number of students (all boys) who could do amazing drawings of cars, usually with no photo reference and often with a lot of detail (accurate or otherwise). This never impressed me much at the time mainly because I wasn't interested in cars and therefore not all that interested in drawing them either. These days, I'm still not interested in cars but I have a lot more respect for the skill of motor vehicle drawing.
At some point, several years ago, I made a conscious decision to get serious about drawing cars and other vehicles. It seems many of my comic stories involve conversations in cars as characters get from point A to point B and as a cartoonist I needed to know how to draw something half decent. The cars I used to draw were rather woeful... I'd post a scan of one I did in 1994 except... well, let's just say "woeful!" One thing I started to realise was that cars have a kind of anatomy - the front and rear wheels are almost always placed proportionately in the same place regardless of the length of the car. Since my drawing style is somewhat cartoony there is a lot I can fudge, but I still want to get the various aspects of "car-ness" at least looking right so that readers know they are looking at a sedan, or a van, or a wagon, or a ute, or a 4WD/SUV, etc. Years ago I owned a VW Beetle and feel obliged to include one in just about every comic I draw. Having something to draw from has been useful and to that end I went and bought a few realistic toy cars so that I could draw them from any angle.
Here are a couple of car drawings, both from another project. The first features (surprise surprise) a VW Beetle - I'm particularly happy with this one due to the angle of it... can't remember if I used a reference, possibly not as VWs seem to be stamped into my subconscious. The ute in the second came out rather well too (please note, right-hand drive - we drive on the left side of the road here in Oz!) - I know I didn't use a reference for that as I don't have a toy ute!
Maybe one day when I'm feeling brave I will post that drawing from 1994! As a footnote, I always thought Ross Carnsew of Streetwize Comics drew the coolest cartoony style cars. (*Shakes fist at Ross*)
At some point, several years ago, I made a conscious decision to get serious about drawing cars and other vehicles. It seems many of my comic stories involve conversations in cars as characters get from point A to point B and as a cartoonist I needed to know how to draw something half decent. The cars I used to draw were rather woeful... I'd post a scan of one I did in 1994 except... well, let's just say "woeful!" One thing I started to realise was that cars have a kind of anatomy - the front and rear wheels are almost always placed proportionately in the same place regardless of the length of the car. Since my drawing style is somewhat cartoony there is a lot I can fudge, but I still want to get the various aspects of "car-ness" at least looking right so that readers know they are looking at a sedan, or a van, or a wagon, or a ute, or a 4WD/SUV, etc. Years ago I owned a VW Beetle and feel obliged to include one in just about every comic I draw. Having something to draw from has been useful and to that end I went and bought a few realistic toy cars so that I could draw them from any angle.
Here are a couple of car drawings, both from another project. The first features (surprise surprise) a VW Beetle - I'm particularly happy with this one due to the angle of it... can't remember if I used a reference, possibly not as VWs seem to be stamped into my subconscious. The ute in the second came out rather well too (please note, right-hand drive - we drive on the left side of the road here in Oz!) - I know I didn't use a reference for that as I don't have a toy ute!
Maybe one day when I'm feeling brave I will post that drawing from 1994! As a footnote, I always thought Ross Carnsew of Streetwize Comics drew the coolest cartoony style cars. (*Shakes fist at Ross*)
Labels: art technique
posted by xmung at
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