While up in Medford my wife spotted this long blue/black Chrysler parked out near an old laundry, so I had to try and draw it. It was so long and mean looking it reminded me of the Batmobile. I stood in the hot sun to draw this, trying to get shade from a lamp-post (they don’t give much shade, by the way). This is a car that says, you’re gonna listen to what I gotta say, then I’m gonna run ya outta town. This isn’t a car for the streets of Colindale. This car is master of his domain.
Tag: vehicles
a bug’s life
A Volkswagen Beetle, yellow of course, my entry for the Pence Gallery’s Bug Show – yes, it’s not an insect type bug but it is still a bug. When I dropped it off, Eileen at the Pence (a big VW Beetle fan) told me someone else had also submitted a Beetle; I’m not surprised! It is a classic among automobiles, the old Beetle. I have always loved them, and love seeing them (those newer ones are nice too, they look a bit like stormtroopers, but I prefer the older ones). Jurgen Klinsmann drives one I recall (I heard he got into a minor collision, fell theatrically out of the door and the other driver got a red card, or maybe I dreamed it). We all remember Herbie the Love Bug (well, actually it’s unlikely anybody has heard of Herbie any more, let alone remember it, in fact I don’t really remember it). My personal favourite was Bumblebee the Transformer, the original one, which was a classic yellow Beetle. When they made the new ones and turned him into a Chevy Camaro, I thought that was like remaking Star Wars and turning Chewbacca into Cousin It.
I didn’t draw this from life, it’s from photos, drawn on Canson textured white paper in micron pigma 005 ink, with watercolour. It’s for sale at the Pence Gallery in Davis for $66, during the Bug Show.
and like a true nature’s child
Saw this Honda motorbike parked outside Bainer Hall today. After massive wake-you-up-at-night rain, the Sun came out at lunchtime, and so did the sketchbook (Stillman & Birn gamma one). I stood and drew, until the glare of the Sun started to make me squint so badly, and my eyes were heavy anyway from my allergies (and from the wake-you-up-at-night rain waking me up at night), then they started to stream like the Tigris and Euphrates. People probably thought I was a bit mental, crying while drawing, but I wasn’t really crying. Still the glare was getting to me so I put my hood on and crouched over the paper (and I look odd when I draw normally). I laboured on, trying to get every, um, axel, er, metal machinery bit (I am not an engineer, unlike the folks in Bainer Hall). And get this – by the end of the drawing, it had started raining again! Wouldn’t you know.
Tomorrow my eyes and the weather will all be fiunctioning perfectly once more, because it’s the next Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl, on G Street. Meet us at 10:30am on the corner of 2nd and G. See you there!
free as a firebird
This blue Pontiac Firebird, with furry dice in the window, was parked on 2nd Street last week when I was on my way downtown. I had to stand and sketch it. There’s a real primary colours feel to the classic cars I’m finding to sketch lately (ie, they’re usually red, yellow or blue). Speaking of primaries, big ones today in America. Michigan and Arizona. Mitt vs Rick, with Newt and Ron sitting it out. They should just merge them all into one candidate, “Mittrick Newtron” and have done with it. I must say, I’m dreading this marathon-of-marathons election season reaching California, all those horrible endless pointless soul-destroying attack ads, paid for by super-pacs and other nefarious organizations, which unfortunately really do have an effect on the outcome of elections, regardless of a candidate’s actual worth. And these torrential ads are called free speech… free to the highest bidder. I’m almost glad I can’t vote for any of them.
she’s a nice girl
Bloody lovely weather yesterday in Davis, so I went and sketched for a bit in the afternoon. I spotted this beauty parked on 3rd Street, so I parked myself on the sidewalk and whipped out the moleskine sketchbook. There were quite a lot of very sketchable cars out yesterday, for some reason, but I didn’t have time for them all. One thing that drew me to this car was its shadow – basically, it is Batman. Who knew?! There’s this advert on the telly these days for Fiats where this guy is confronted by a tall young Italian woman who slaps him in the face and then acts all seductively, before the guy realises she is just a car. My four-year-old saw that commercial, and he said dryly, “she’s a nice girl”, which had me in hysterics. He does like cool cars though, so this one’s for you matey.
petescully 