Trucks Again?

I was looking at old truck drawings yesterday and the experience made me want to draw another. This first one isn't any less wonky than the old ones!,

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

 

Miss Fiona

 

You can find the inspiration photo by @mozarts_ride here.  Carey reposted his photo for St. Patrick's Day and I learned something new about the feast day reading it.  

Playing With Inktense Blocks

Years ago my sister bought me a set of 72 Inktense Blocks for Christmas.  (What a lucky girl I am!)  I've been using them lately as a massive set of pan paints to paint truck drawings.  I've been using my Paul Rubens Hot Press Watercolor sketchbook which is lovely to draw and paint in.  It's another more recent gift from Dianne.  She's queen of (the) Amazon.

Creativity and Making Choices

 

It is much easier for me to start the creative process if I begin by limiting my choices.  I wanted to make some "guy cards" - what we cardmakers call cards suitable for men and boys.  It has been awhile since I printed some trucks, but with my huge selection of wonky drawings, how did I choose which to print?

I have a file which has a few folded cards all ready cut and folded, so I dipped into that and found two brown cards that have been there for far too long.  That limited my choice of trucks by color - perfect.  The card below is going to my nephew for his birthday, and the one above will go in the box for when I need a card quickly. 

 

Engaging or Relaxing?

 

Sleep Therapy continues to inform my art, as I look for things to do at midnight that are relaxing rather than engaging.  I've played with coloring books (relaxing), drawing (engaging), and slopping watercolor paint around (the jury is still out on this one).

After a boring but relaxing session with a colouring page, I thought about creating my own colouring book filled with trucks.  So, I drew these trucks to paint later. 

All of these trucks were inspired by the wonderful photographs by @mozarts_ride on Instagram.

Sketching With a Folded Pen

 

At the February Westcoast Calligraphy Society meeting, we were playing with our folded pens.  The instructor kept saying "it's a drawing tool", so naturally I gave it a try.

"What's a folded pen?" you might be asking.  Well, I took a picture for you on my next attempt.

You draw with the tip and add more ink by changing the angle of the pen on the paper.  This increases the amount of the open part of the pen that is contacting the paper.  (Think of holding a taco with the open part down - the filling falls out, right?)

And then, to test the waterproof qualities of the sumi ink I was using, I added watercolour:

The verdict on the pen is 5/10.  I like it better for lettering.  

Because you have to dip the pen in ink rather than having the convenience of a cartridge, the ink matters too.  I'll only score the sumi ink 2/10.  It takes too long to dry which can result in smudging.  (You can see where I dragged my hand through the ink on the first drawing.)  It isn't truly waterproof either, so it isn't really suited for watercolour.  I don't think that I let it dry overnight, but who wants to do that when you're drawing?

Photo reference:  mozarts_ride

 

Miss B

 

This is another sketch inspired by a photo by mozarts_ride.  The history of these is very interesting - you can read about it and see the photo here.

Terrible Truck?

 

I was not happy with this sketch after I did it, but with the benefit of a few days it grew on me.  It has the childlike quirkiness I've come to appreciate in my trucks.  They aren't technically good, but that doesn't make them bad, does it?  

Very small children draw only to have fun, and like many people, I stopped drawing because I wasn't "good".  The very reason I like seeing these later is because they look fun. 

They make me smile, I hope they make you smile too.  What is art, anyway?

Merry Christmas!

 

I added a little Christmas sparkle and shine to each printed card.  I hope everyone has a merry, merry, Christmas.  Stay safe, all! 

Miss Sophia

 

I left the elegant colours of Miss Sophia true to the inspiration photo.  @mozarts_ride describes her so well in his Instagram post here. 

Miss Olive

 

Miss Olive is a 1954 Chevy Flatbed truck from New Mexico.  You can see the inspiration photo and read more about Miss Olive on Instagram @mozarts_ride.

Etchr Demonstration with Ian Fennelly

 

I found another demonstration by Ian Fennelly sketching an old truck.  It was sponsored by Etchr Studio back in March and it can be found on YouTube if you want to watch it. This is my version of the photograph that he used. 

Old Art Materials

 

The Vancouver Urban Sketchers are running an online event called "Old or New Art Materials".  I decided to sketch on an old book page.  The inspiration photo came from @mozarts_ride and can be seen here.  

Miss Ann

 

Miss Ann is sporting whiskey  barrels.  You can see what photographer @mozarts_ride has to say about her here.  His stories are always entertaining!

1937 Ford Pickup

 

An interesting background plays well with the Elegant Writer, so for this drawing I chose this photo by @mozarts_ride as my inspiration.

Miss Emily

 

Thanks to @mozarts_ride for the photo that inspired this Elegant Writer pen and wash drawing.  You can see the photograph and all that he says about this 1940's International Harvester here.

Truck Meets the Elegant Writer

 

Trucks are my favorite thing to draw (right now, at least LOL).  The Elegant Writer is one of my favorite drawing tools.  It was about time they met.

This is another Instagram Challenge, #drawwithmeSunday.  

Another Perspective

 

@jenloves2draw has posted another perspective of the #drawjensoldtrucks challenge I posted on Thursday.  You can find the photo here.

Miss Hilda

 

This drawing was inspired by a photograph by @mozarts_ride.  He says the following about it on Instagram:

1940-41 Ford Fire Truck... I spotted "Miss Hilda," while driving through the town of Knab, Utah.. She's a wonderful old fire truck, but her days of putting out fires and rolling in town parades are over. It is nice that the town honors her by having her on display outside the small fire station.... I'm proud to say that my son-in-law is a Fire Fighter in Houston, Tx.... God Bless all of our "first responders" that put their lives on the line every day so that we can enjoy the life that we live...