Car drawings

[Nessy]

This looks like a closed cockpit go kart to me. SICK IDEA! 600 cc Import Sport Bike engines maybe even a 1400cc class Busa and ZX14 engines.

I like your way of thinking, that is a Sick! idea. 👍

Cano..... what can i say, that is Perfect!, i was expecting something Really good.. but not that Good! , i hope you don't mind me saying (not criticism), but the style reminds me a bit of H.R. Giger (Swiss artist, did Alien.. for those who don't know) he's one of my favourite artists.

And it's all by hand!


I had a look over what was wrong with my Trans-Am (tried my best to suss it out), and iv'e made a few slight adjustments.. i'm a lot happier with it now.

the old red line work:



the new green line work.. i had to show the red one, as it's hard to spot the subtle adjustments iv'e made:



[EDIT]

Thing is... the more i look at it, and the more work i put into it looking like an actual Trans-Am... i think it's starting to look like less of a Car-Toon..

 

[Cano]

Thanks all for the comments. I'm glad you all like it. I also have to show off saying that NO REFERENCE was used whatsoever. I remember the car well enough, and deformed it enough to get away with it without using a reference pic.

Now lets see.

I dig the wheels. Lamps little off, as well as the right wheel arch. I should put more time into my next drawing.

Indeed the right fender flare is a little off now that I see it It's difficult to put round things in perspective. As for the headlamps, if you say they are off because they have a totally horizontal/vertical perspective instead of going with the inclination on the car, that's on purpose, I wanted the car to be angrily looking at YOU instead of the floor. That's also why the lines inside the headlamps are on the upper right corner of each lamp, to give the sensation of an eye looking at you.

Sick!!!! Please go to CarToons and make them hire you. Then make more of the best mag ever.

You could get your team from here lol.

Man, I'd be HONORED to work with George Trosley! He's already seen my work and liked it very much.

Sick stuff, Cano. How long did that pencil drawing take you?

I could not tell for sure, as I did it in dead times at work. Maybe around 5 effective hours because of all the black.

Cano..... what can i say, that is Perfect!, i was expecting something Really good.. but not that Good! , i hope you don't mind me saying (not criticism), but the style reminds me a bit of H.R. Giger (Swiss artist, did Alien.. for those who don't know) he's one of my favourite artists.

And it's all by hand!

Ah, I wish I could develop such a organic style as Giger. Thanks for the comments.

Also:

I had a look over what was wrong with my Trans-Am (tried my best to suss it out), and iv'e made a few slight adjustments.. i'm a lot happier with it now.

the old red line work:



the new green line work.. i had to show the red one, as it's hard to spot the subtle adjustments iv'e made:



[EDIT]

Thing is... the more i look at it, and the more work i put into it looking like an actual Trans-Am... i think it's starting to look like less of a Car-Toon..

It still looks toonish, just not that deformed. You can still exgerate some features on the car, but I likehow it looks right now.

Also, those stock Pontiac rear wheels, where did you get those?

 

[Nessy]

Thanks all for the comments. I'm glad you all like it. I also have to show off saying that NO REFERENCE was used whatsoever. I remember the car well enough, and deformed it enough to get away with it without using a reference pic.

That is super cool 👍, it's really hard to draw cars from memory.

Like yourself, i too can draw many cars from memory, but as much as i love the Trans-Am.. the Trans-Am is not one of those cars which is up in my memory bank (same for a lot of American cars unfortunately).

Anyway, this is the pic i'm using as reference for the car and wheels Cano, (i didn't take the pic, just saw it on the net, pretty much 1st one i came across), that rear wheel took me well over an hour to do, because of the awkward angle .




Do you think the stock wheels are the way to go?, or do you think it would look better with some different ones?

 

[Cano]

If you make it stock looking, go for the stock wheels. The wheels you previously had in it looked pretty good, as I said, Like Radirs or American 200S's. Also, if you're going the stock wheel route, their center should pop out more.

 

[AOS-]

I think, if you put less thought into making it "look somewhat realistic", you might get the cartoony impression you've been looking for. I have a terrible habit of trying to distribute value in such a way that it is scientifically correct. Not only does it make me overwork the shading, it also kills visual excitement and any life it may have.


Also, my next cartoon drawing just might be a Ford Fiesta due to all the hype I had in last week's DiRT3 competition. If anyone else wants to play along, knock yourself out.

 

[MSTER232]

 

[DarkAvengerZR1]

Way better MSTER232... take now one of your old drawings and put them beside each other.

 

[MSTER232]

Way better MSTER232... take now one of your old drawings and put them beside each other.

Just did that, and the differences I noticed is that the proportions are much more accurate and the contrast between the dark and light areas is greater, resulting in a more realistic looking drawing. Thanks for suggesting this!

 

[DarkAvengerZR1]

It is good to see the improvement... makes you want be better and better.

You can draw very well, patience is the key, don't try finish it fast... try finish it perfectly... so, take your time, enjoy the drawing.

 

[MSTER232]

Just finished a coloured drawing of a Nike One 2022 (despite having drawn the car already) and will post here later on because I can't scan it right now. Unfortunately it looks more artistic than realistic in my opinion .

 

[Cano]

subaru

Way better!! Now, two things. First, always thy that your straight lines look like straight lines and not all fuzzy and wavy; second, if you're gonna make movement, try to make your pencil strikes in the same direction as, in this case your tire, is going, that way the pencil lines will emphasize the circular movement; this is not easy as it involves a quick, swift wrist movement in order to achieve small semicurcular strokes, but it's pretty well worth it.

 

[Nessy]

MSTER.
Excellent Suby pic 👍, exactly what DarkAvenger said, the improvement is really impressive.

AOS.
I hear what you're saying, i too have a similar habit (i think i try too hard in the wrong direction sometimes), but with me, i haven't got a clue what is scientifically correct, i do like trying to make things look realistic, but it's all just guess work for me.
Thanks for the tip 👍, i will take that approach the next time i attempt a Car-Toon.

BTW, hows your Firebird coming along?, it looked quite good to me (good depiction of the car yet maintaining the Car-Toon quality), would definitely like to see it finished.

Cano.
Cheers for the feedback regarding the wheels etc 👍, i think iv'e decided to keep the Trans-Am SD looking stock, but i really like those AM Racing daisy wheels, so i think i'm going to go with them (shouldn't look too out of place hopefully), thanks for suggesting them.


Slight update:

Nearly there... well not quite, still plenty to do, it's taking way longer than i expected, i always knew these Car-Toon pics would be difficult to do, but wasn't expecting it to be quite so hard as it actually is, so-far it's been a real challenge... but enjoyable at the same time.

P.S
Please ignore the placeholder wheels and rough lights etc.

 

[MSTER232]

Way better MSTER232... take now one of your old drawings and put them beside each other.

Way better!! Now, two things. First, always thy that your straight lines look like straight lines and not all fuzzy and wavy; second, if you're gonna make movement, try to make your pencil strikes in the same direction as, in this case your tire, is going, that way the pencil lines will emphasize the circular movement; this is not easy as it involves a quick, swift wrist movement in order to achieve small semicurcular strokes, but it's pretty well worth it.

MSTER.
Excellent Suby pic 👍, exactly what DarkAvenger said, the improvement is really impressive.

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone, and Cano, thanks for the advice that I should use the next time I draw an action picture.... But for now, can someone tell me if my most recent drawing looks artistic, realistic or both ? :

 

[Crumpet]

You did a good job in making the glass look see-through, especially with it being pink.

 

[MSTER232]

You did a good job in making the glass look see-through, especially with it being pink.

It's actually supposed to be red but when I scanned the drawing it came up a little bit pink-ish. But other then that it looks better than the drawing in real life does .

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Started about three years ago, forgot about it, then finally got around to finishing it recently! Pencil drawing on A3 paper. The rear wheel isn't perfect, but pretty happy with the rest.

 

[MSTER232]

Started about three years ago, forgot about it, then finally got around to finishing it recently! Pencil drawing on A3 paper. The rear wheel isn't perfect, but pretty happy with the rest.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7125/7433720620_643510464f_z.jpg

That is a very nice drawing that you have there, and it looks realistic. But it also got me thinking; it doesn't have a lot of contrast in the drawing but it still looks realistic and your brain tells you that you are looking at a drawing of a white car. What if your brain is looking at other features than the body of the car when deciding if it looks realistic or not? I think that it's the headlights, wheels, mirrors and grills that give it that realistic touch despite having not much contrast on the body itself.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

What if your brain is looking at other features than the body of the car when deciding if it looks realistic or not? I think that it's the headlights, wheels, mirrors and grills that give it that realistic touch despite having not much contrast on the body itself.

Thanks, there is actually more contrast than can be seen in that pic, as I took a photo of the drawing, rather than scanning it (I don't have an A3 scanner.) That's also why when you look at the image, it looks slightly faded around the front grille. In particular, the black areas are actually much darker than they appear.

your brain tells you that you are looking at a drawing of a white car.

In the actual photo from which the drawing is copied, the car is a very pale pearlescent blue.

 

[AOS-]

That is a very nice drawing that you have there, and it looks realistic. But it also got me thinking; it doesn't have a lot of contrast in the drawing.

There most certainly is a lot of contrast... You can definitely see a clear and crisp definition and differentiation of lights and darks. Also, Ingram's linework and shading is much cleaner than yours. That gives it a very convincing look.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

MSTER232, I've had a look at some of your drawings and by taking one in particular, I feel I can offer some advice which should hopefully improve your work (and many others') in the future.

What strikes me about your drawings is that the perspective seems to be a little off in many of them, by looking at the guide lines I have added above you can see what I mean. You said yourself that the right headlight is higher than the left, but you can also see that the base of the windscreen and both grilles are not level, and the left tyre is higher than the right, to name but a few. I know these errors are minor, but if they are out by the tiniest amount it spoils the drawing. It can help to lightly draw lines like these when making the initial sketch, but this must be done before adding any detail to the image.

By the way, this is fantastic advice, and something I also do myself.

i can't strongly recommend enough by using a mirror to check your sketches whilst doing them to check for perspective errors etc.

This is an example of one of my drawings when I haven't applied these techniques:

I drew this when I was bored at work, it took about half an hour. It was drawn in biro on the back of a notepad, so I could not sketch any guide lines because I couldn't erase them if I did. As a result, the right headlight is smaller than the left. Getting the perspective wrong caused the knock on effect of making the width of both the number plate and the left headlight/bonnet line a little out, and my errors are clearly visible.

Another thing I noticed is that it appears you smudge larger areas to add shade; avoid this, as it makes the drawing look less defined. Draw any shading carefully instead, and you'll instantly notice an improvement.

It helps to be a perfectionist when drawing. Look at every little detail on the car, ask yourself if it looks exactly like it does on the image from which you're copying, and do it again if it doesn't. For this reason, the front wheel on the Alfa 8C I posted earlier will have taken me several hours alone, because I wasn't happy with it. Frankly, it drove me mental to get right.

By the way, I'm not picking on you! Given your age these drawings are pretty good (especially the Subaru pic!), I'm sure that if I dug out some of mine from when I was young, yours would stand up very well to them

 

[Cano]

MSTER.

Cano.
Cheers for the feedback regarding the wheels etc 👍, i think iv'e decided to keep the Trans-Am SD looking stock, but i really like those AM Racing daisy wheels, so i think i'm going to go with them (shouldn't look too out of place hopefully), thanks for suggesting them.


Slight update:

Nearly there... well not quite, still plenty to do, it's taking way longer than i expected, i always knew these Car-Toon pics would be difficult to do, but wasn't expecting it to be quite so hard as it actually is, so-far it's been a real challenge... but enjoyable at the same time.

P.S
Please ignore the placeholder wheels and rough lights etc.

Almost there! I'm really liking it, can't wait to see what you do with the colors. Remember the shaker is rounded!

Can someone tell me if my most recent drawing looks artistic, realistic or both ? :

It looks neither, because of...

Also, Ingram's linework and shading is much cleaner than yours. That gives it a very convincing look.

MSTER232, What strikes me about your drawings is that the perspective seems to be a little off in many of them

...what these two guys are saying. AOS is right on the money with the linework, your lines are way fuzzy and undefined. Just look at the tires on the Nike car, they are like trapezoids instead of circles. In here I'd also throw in again my comment on the subaru, your straight lines are all wavy. You have to remember you are drawing smooth stuff, it's shiny metal and round tires. You REALLY need to work on cleaning up your linework.

Ingram also hit the nail on the perspective, he even comented on the same drawing I myself comented a few pages back. I know it's quite hard to put things on perspective sometimes, but that's another area you need to work on.

As I said before, stop drawing complex cars like the Nike thing and concentrate on squarish cars so it can be easier for you to work out the bugs on your lines and your perspective issues. The BMW and the subaru came out better than the OLambo and the Nike thing because they are easier to draw. Learn to draw easy stuff first, then you can move on to more complex stuff.

Started about three years ago, forgot about it, then finally got around to finishing it recently! Pencil drawing on A3 paper. The rear wheel isn't perfect, but pretty happy with the rest.

Very good Ingram, nice shade/brightwork. I like the headlamps.

I drew this when I was bored at work, it took about half an hour.

yay I'm not the only one!

 

[MSTER232]

MSTER232, I've had a look at some of your drawings and by taking one in particular, I feel I can offer some advice which should hopefully improve your work (and many others') in the future.

What strikes me about your drawings is that the perspective seems to be a little off in many of them, by looking at the guide lines I have added above you can see what I mean. You said yourself that the right headlight is higher than the left, but you can also see that the base of the windscreen and both grilles are not level, and the left tyre is higher than the right, to name but a few. I know these errors are minor, but if they are out by the tiniest amount it spoils the drawing. It can help to lightly draw lines like these when making the initial sketch, but this must be done before adding any detail to the image.


By the way, I'm not picking on you! Given your age these drawings are pretty good (especially the Subaru pic!), I'm sure that if I dug out some of mine from when I was young, yours would stand up very well to them

No problems, I accept all advice and feedback, be it positive or negative. I've never used any guide lines or grid when drawing my cars, and maybe that's why on nearly all of my drawings there is a slight part of the car that is out of proportion and shape. The Aston Martin drawing I was a little bit lazy because I knew that one of the headlights was slightly higher than the other when I was drawing it but I didn't know that other areas were out of perspective too, so thanks for pointing that out to me.

There most certainly is a lot of contrast... You can definitely see a clear and crisp definition and differentiation of lights and darks. Also, Ingram's linework and shading is much cleaner than yours. That gives it a very convincing look.

I think that I got the contrast part of drawing nailed down comfortably, it's just the proportions that I need to work on, correct?

Almost there! I'm really liking it, can't wait to see what you do with the colors. Remember the shaker is rounded!



It looks neither, because of...

...what these two guys are saying. AOS is right on the money with the linework, your lines are way fuzzy and undefined. Just look at the tires on the Nike car, they are like trapezoids instead of circles. In here I'd also throw in again my comment on the subaru, your straight lines are all wavy. You have to remember you are drawing smooth stuff, it's shiny metal and round tires. You REALLY need to work on cleaning up your linework.

Ingram also hit the nail on the perspective, he even comented on the same drawing I myself comented a few pages back. I know it's quite hard to put things on perspective sometimes, but that's another area you need to work on.

As I said before, stop drawing complex cars like the Nike thing and concentrate on squarish cars so it can be easier for you to work out the bugs on your lines and your perspective issues. The BMW and the subaru came out better than the OLambo and the Nike thing because they are easier to draw. Learn to draw easy stuff first, then you can move on to more complex stuff.

yay I'm not the only one!

Again, thank you very much for the feedback and the suggestions for my drawings of the future. The next time I draw a car (more than likely today because my watercolour pencils just arrived) then I will draw it properly and in perspective.

And just in case that I'm not the only one who is finding it hard to draw cars in perfect perspective, then I found two useful videos on YouTube. Here they are:

​

 

[AOS-]

yay I'm not the only one!

I'd draw at work, but it's not a job of sitting down and doing nothing... I did however quickly scribble a Yamaha VMAX on a piece of cardboard with 2 sharpies the other day.

 

[MSTER232]

How is this Porsche 911 coming along guys:

 

[aadil717]

It's looking good, I like the lights - they look quite realistic.

One thing I'd remove is those circles that are supposed to be the parking sensors - spoils the car IMO.

Also the exhausts could be bigger, why not change them to turbo ones since you are drawing a Turbo 997?

Looking good so far. 👍

 

[RedStradale]

Hey guys Ive been looking at this forum for a while and love the stuff done.
I have some pieces myself I used for my college portfolio. sorry about the bad quality, im useless with technology haha.

Also MSTER232 thats awesome 👍

 

[Nessy]

Excellent Alfa pic Ingram 👍, also love the Pug sketch, it's not that far off really, though the sketch has given me the idea to do a quirky concept car with asymmetric headlights at some point.
I'm another one that sketches at work.. well, in lunch breaks mainly, (working part-time at the mo though unfortunately, + is plenty of free time for drawing though )
I'm glad to see someone else uses the mirror method for pencil sketching as well 👍, as for spending hours on wheels... kind of going through that exact same thing at the moment with my current piece of work, it's very frustrating.

Cano, yeah it's nearly there but i keep getting sidetracked with the stupidest little things/details... at times i wish i hadn't started the damn thing , (as said before, harder than i initially thought)... i really do take my hat off to you and others who do these Car-Toons, trying 1 for myself has really made me appreciate the skills that unfortunately i don't quite possess.

P.S, don't expect anything too special with the colours, i'm really not being brave enough with the highlights TBH, appreciate the advice on the shaker as well, will try and make it more rounded.

MSTER, the Porsche is looking well tasty in my opinion 👍 really love the detail in the tail lights, i'm no expert but you're making some really great improvements, and the added colour to your sketches is really bringing them to life.

[EDIT]
RedStradale, that's some awesome portfolio work 👍 love the Corvette/BMW pic, also what media did you use for the F1 pic?

 

[RedStradale]

[EDIT]
RedStradale, that's some awesome portfolio work 👍 love the Corvette/BMW pic, also what media did you use for the F1 pic?[/QUOTE]

Thanks man, hopefully the college feels the same ha. For the f1 I used oil paints and for the background I used water colour.

 

[Nessy]

Ahh.. thought it may have been oil, i've done 1 car painting with oil before... and never again!, it took eons for it to dry, the end results are nice though with oil.
Water colours are great to work with but my personal preference is acrylics (love the textures that can be achieved... so easy to work with), i also like gouache as well (haven't used it much though).

 

[aadil717]

Red Stradale the pictures are really great.

Maybe a few touch ups on some regarding the proportions on some of the cars - I.e the rear wheel on the F type. The spoiler in the Formula car needs to be straightened.

Your shading and colouring is great though, adds realism to the cars. 👍