PERSPECTIVE ‘SHapphing what we know about perspective to this Choysler show car, ist we need to deterine our horizon line, vanishing points, and view ofthe car we wish to depict. The ‘minor elipse axes determine where the wheels 30, and how they are drawn, More on thisin CChapcer 5, Te heaw box drawn around eur car shows the perspective setup in simple box form, Some arists start with lightly drawn box before drawing the car, asa guide for their a's perspective. Them they erase the box afer they ae walinto the sketch, Our setup is a ‘ypical front view ofa car 1 Our subject Chrysler show car shown in yet another eye level. This time, our vantage point is almost at the ground, for a worm's-eye view Indicating the box around the subject inthis view would be confusing, soit has been lefc out. But the arows show where our perspective line are convergingwhich 's waaay out beyond this book, The view makes fora very powerful, dramatic setup for your drawing 21 ‘Showing ou carin simplified fat plans, our horizon line hasbeen moved up fora higher ee leve-in ather words, ooking down on cur subject Again, the box shows our perspective setup {ah the planed suis smoothed out to represent real car, you can sce the shape take place, and how the view froma diferent vantage pons, ‘or ee lee, rom the peevious view Organic cars lik ths one area bitharderto daw. you are having some problems, you might choose after, more angular car to practice this wthLX. Ths truck side view gives us a starting point for determining details before we spin it into perspective. Again, a this point we wil need to choose where to place the horizon line, to give us our eye level, as well as which view of the truck we want 0 show. _ZA The simple box drawing shows the view and the basic perspective setup. The cartoon gives the eye level, which places the horizon linea litle above the middle of the space we have created. ONE LEVEL ABOVE 74 VIEWPERSPECTIVE ANE UNEL Atve 7/4 ewUl€ DOA dS YOUR SUICE, UU YOU Set COMMORADIC WITH VOUT VISUGNZatIOl OF LITE Cal you wish to draw, you may want to use this method as a means to get those pro- portions right. Z1Here’s a good trick to help you. Wheelbase is very important when determining the proportions of any vehicle. Using an element of the car you are drawing for scale, like a tire, can be a terrific aid in figuring out the wheelbase and can help you with its proportions. A general rule of thumb would be 3 tires for regular cars and trucks, 2for smaller cars like a Honda hatchback, and 3% or more for larger cars and limousines.PROPORTIONHOW TO DRAW CARS LIKE A PRO can jump ahead just abt with sme sherching methods nd proportioning, theres an easier know about perspecti wayto sketch outa car Tiss a especialy good wick when your eye cars that your perspective nes wheels, and aso gives you a guide for determining the: proportions. Loosely rough silhouette or outline of the car you wish o sketch Sketch inthe be back. I draw these lines in very lightly at frst, then darken or tighten them up as! “fee” the cartaking shape, We now have an outtine of the car, which we will coon fill in with more details Window lines, tailights, door cuts, and miscellaneous details star to give our sedan some lif Reflection and wheel design guideline shadow, s details as well as ground final sup forHOW TO DRAW CARS LIKE A PRO Let's trya sketch that doesn't require drawing boxes for perspective help, This ketch wil put our ee level right in the riddle ofthe car, 3 we don have to be as concerned with vanishing porns, Remember f= \ why? Our line represents the - point from which we wil build this sketch I becomes the horizon line, approximate middle of the bod), location ofthe | | minor ais, and abo the pine | rfehvetle hea | [} ve picked a poine back from ‘the headlights for our front whee, and approximately 2 tires back! have placed the: tire in atightr ellipse. This gives ‘me a point to determine the approximate bottom of the car nd a ground line {We'll rough in the outline or silhouette ofthe car, plus indicate the windshield A-pillar location, Ifyou do these stages lightly a first, you can change them laterifyou don’ ike where they fiHOW TO DRAW CARS LIKE A PRO Now, let's put that same car re and see what off, | did a quick perspective thumbrna th the previous sketch, | ter as a build-off silhouette, buildoff point for and bottom of the car, At this pint you can play with proportion and silhous ar this stage ofthe sketch. 422 a i REFLecTionS , fURFACE HraniaTs gene DELINEATION/ Cones ZX Totake the finder examples one step further, this ilsration shows that a rendered car's merely the combination ofthese three effects on its surface. Just as with che ist finder, the surface delineation in area No.1 ives us abasic surface foundation. Beeause a shiny surface ats asa mito, it registersits surroundings a eflections. With the addition of highights and some random election, the illusration i complete, More on reflections in Chap 8 [The placement ofthe light source i upto you. However, placing i inthe general area ‘of your head, either to the right o left depending on which parts ofthe car you wish to highligh, puts the source in the best location for defining a car. Here, the ight source is in the area of your left shoulder or lef ear 52LIGHT SOURCE Jere, we have reversed the location ofthe ight source and placed it ver your right shoulder or ea. Ths location ves you an opportunity to place bunch of highlights in the gle detail and headlights Dain this wil make fora flashy setch with al ofthe brighework ofthis Buick > emphasized [Asa genera ue, backlighting your car gives you litle opportunity to separate and define the surfaces. Ir also gves you a rasty shadow lying infront while drawing attertion away from your car-not good! Since there ino ight soure hing the surfaces you se, you have no opportunity to highlight those areas, However, once you have mastered the ues of ight and shadow, you ean break them. Check out, agai, our lead ilsration by Darel Mayabbt 53ZX Assurfaces move away from you, they th the highlight in the hood ire reflection in the hood side, this car is rendered as a dull or soft surface.HOW TO DRAW CARS LIKE A PRO Think ofa carasa nt, slightly convoluted UGHTEST sky METIUW SKY VALLES the point Hoerzon sal 196 cehanges tha pick up GemtieD conditions within its qu CRE SIDE SECTION only ist picking up reflections itis picking te Ki “DUNS LINE up cast colors ke cool changes,SHADOWS AND REFLECTIONS OPTIONAL: SUGHT DETAIL UKE: ZS So, what is reflected onto your car? All ——FLOWEIS , SIDEWALK CEALKS, cf what is shown here and more. Anyehing you COBBLESTONE, ETC. wish co elec is fair game-just make sure you don't confuse the viewer, or your car draving wil nd up looking ike the dierin Flay cat bow, Mos of the examples inthis book SZ Whatis happening on the side ofyou car's tend to simplify this scene. A car's body wll bodys also happening on its wheels, burpers, usually compress and stretch out reflections, windows... everthing Thisilustaion shows sa thatthe horizon becomes merely a thin, you the envionment that is being reflected back dark area eflected onto the sie ofthe car. imo the whee. And since chrome is aloes, the reflections much more lida ror.‘\illusratig this further, we have Djs irene vei sie ews al eflstng the same ‘emironment. The numbers across she bodies indicate vals, with No 1 being white and No. 10 being black. Not that due tothe harsh crease in the Camaros sid, the horizon line becomes perfectly la atthe bottom and does not cary down into the aea blow the «crease Blow that crease the surface picks up ground indication ‘only. There areall kinds of variations on these examples, but they area foundation fr every car -deawing that includes reflections. FLURT OEMS oe cece EOFECT\7 For our “Vette-again” 2008 Corvette, this line drawing was traced from a rough underlay on Bond paper. There are Bond papers for markers available, and vellums such as Vincent vellum which take chalk and marker very well. You can do this in black Verithin or regular pencil, or pick up the color of the car you plan to render, which is the case here. If you do use a color, make sure that things like the wheels, trim, shadow guidelines, etc., are done in black or gray so you don’t end up with a colored line running around these areas. You may also want to keep your linework on the light side, then come in at a later stage and beef them up. Since | knew where this was going, | went ahead and chiseled them in. Color enriches a sketch with added interest and dimension. When used effec- tively, it is an eye-grabbing tool, It draws the eye into the sketch and helps give an added dimension, thanks to a few simple tricks you can try, However, color can just as easily ruin a sketch if overworked or used in the wrong manner. Having a good range of colors available, whether they are markers, pencils, or chalks, helps you blend and highlight color with color. If your funds are limited but you're itching to try color in your drawings, start with a range of colored pen- cils or markers within a particular color, such as blue. Building up or “layering” your drawings works better with a range of one or two particular colors. Having a good range of one color is better than a beginners’ set consisting of a green, a red, a blue, etc. Then, if you feel like you want to develop this further, you can begin to get into other ranges of colors to gradually fill out your pallet, When it comes to color, there are color theories like the classic Munsell and Ostwald color systems (used in most art schools), things like tinting, contrasting colors, comple- mentary colors, and so on. But for drawing a car, we are not dealing so much with systems or theory as we are trying to depicta car in a particular color. I's not as simple as it sounds, but is fairly easy to master. So let's concentrate on car color theory and leave the other information for another time and another book, perhaps one on color that you find at your local brary or bookstore. Cool colors such as blue, purple, or green tend to recede or go back into a per= spective sketch, Warm colors such as yellow or red or orange come forward ina sketch. A trick when doing a color sketch: Use a warmer version of the car color for areas closest to the viewer, which is you. Similarly, to get portions of the car to g0 back into the drawing’s imaginary perspective space, use a cooler version of the cat's color, And as you learned in Chapter 3, as you go back into that space, you will also want to make the car lighter in value. These changes in color should be very subtle and used more as a veiled trick than something overt. Ifthe change is too obvious, it becomes distracting and you lose the effect you are trying to achieve. It may even give the illusion that the caris painted ina blend of one color to another on its surface. Once you master the use of color on a car, this might be a fun experiment to try. But for now, let's concentrate on a single color. Here's another trick to use with color: Since a car is almost always viewed out- doors, the sky reflects a subtle blue cast over the surfaces ofthe car that point upward. But doy't forget that those surfaces pointing up also get lighter, asin the ‘one, two, three-box examples in Chapter 7. And just as the sky reflects << We wane to exabish our from above, the ground reflects into the lower portions of a car body. harsher ection rat because they These ground reflections will cast awarm or yellow/brown tone into those establish the darkest values you will lower surfaces. With the cooler sky-tones in the upper surfaces and the _ render onthe body This becomes your warm ground-tones in the lower portions of the body, your rendering will 2s¢ for values so you know how farto start to take on some real-world characteristics. As you start thinking #2\"envOs" chk or avons ‘gradations later on. These reflections about the use of warm and cool tones, try to experiment to decide how foul have stopped at the fon fender far you want to go to introduce these cast tones to your drawing, Too lit tohlp give us amare dparate to- tle and you hardly notice, while too much makes for a strange “circus theese (renember the ont Peaoriicne oncuneneie’ three-bor?), Because ths view ended There is another pit to avoid falling into when applying color to $P™A Mea lephe shor weh he your drawing: If you are too timid with your colors, you can give the Iny font are fangouremaginay illusion that the car is made of tinted glass. The drawing takes on a horizon line, so the horn rections characteristic of being visually lighter than air. So when you lay in color, would cary through both the fone try to remember to Keep “volume” in the drawing. The car is a very 294sde Lay inthe ed marker witha heavy, solid object. You want it to have that appearance in your draw- "Bhs touchandlesphesvokes ing. Ifthe car is alight color to begin with, the variation in value will So" camo vs Puse become less. The No. 1 side of your imaginary box may be only slight- jean soppy. Notice the windshield ly lighter than your No. 2 side. | know this is alot to remember, so try reftd ono the cow these suggestions a litte bit at a time. Keep refer ring back to this and other chapters for these useful tips. awith the marker peton. A Wearenow fins wantto mask off the entire ba the masking film. For ‘mask material tape, Frise filmi sheets or rolls, or Nito tape, which looks lke Scotch tape but has less tack. The Nat tape i shown here. es eens ger than the reas of the ca rp XACTO kn delicate touch are needed her beeen color with chalk or airbrush, To help enrich we will ulsmarely use, | chose yellow hich can be the most pad of Bond or ow better, and on’ seratch the paper-trust me | just tracing paper. This help ub the chalk righ the areas | wish to work. If you are doing this on board, be careful not to scratch the surface with the sick. The gauze pads King chalks in the chalk with hem removes too halk rubbed in, h the yellow Feathered i, | com the red chalk. Again, fora black rend jould now come in with black chalk. Here, rubbed the red stick into the areas into which I have just feathered the yellow. The excess re y see can either be nubbed into the drawing or blown or brushed off after you are done with this stictakes a deft touch, but you will gt the hang of rubbing inthe red with your fingers fi how far you want maybe do a quick thumbnail to see g0 with the color gradation, look like a real car no an newer con he chalk to any great enen Because ofthis, Ler Bockinthe ares wish | to have a gradation in and come back with a | penciltype of pink eraser to eliminate chalk fro p, orto gh highlight. Cut che end offusith an X-ACTO knife for a really clean, sharp tool. Once it ges round a bit, ou ust cut more off. The fender lips were done this way. | ike co run those eraser highlights right through the core ofthe chalk gradations fo added sparkle and interest. | have observed this in reality, but also experienced it missing in certain circumstances, These types of deails come from observation and what you fee! works best forthe drawing, In some ways, this kills the clean, smooth radation you have worked so hard to execute If you fel this way, you can omit this step. | Run allie spray foative over the serch to help hold inthe chalk, because we wil be lying another mask ove some ofthese areas. Once the Fativeis dry, run a mask ove the windshield 3 Cut ou the mask where the windshield is. W be chal, aya gradation over the enire | windshield. Te light area is picking up the horces Point in the sky, whichis our ght source. As the windshield points out toward the sky, away from our ight, starts to pick up the colar ofthe sly. we were creating alate afternoon seting his might be range or even purple. Try it and see what works best forthe imaginary environment you hare created for this shech, You may want to play with some | gadating bein the wheel at his stage. Fyou | ig ke what you come up with, it's eas to erase