Classic Lincoln in colored pencil

[gbritnell]

I haven't been able to post to my gallery and I wanted to share another one of my colored pencil drawings so I'll post it from my Photobucket account until things get sorted out. This was done quite awhile ago so some of you that may have visited my Photobucket account might have seen it. To the new members or others that haven't here are the particulars. The drawing is about 15x13 done on white Stonehenge paper with Prismacolor pencils. Normally these take anywhere from 25-35 hours depending on the complexity of the reflections and detail.
gbritnell

[acoustic]

the detail is astonishing! the two front fenders are probably the most impressive.

p.s.what set of prismas do you have/ how many do you use/have?

[Roboduck]

Wow.. The realism is amazing. Your attention to detail is unparalleled. I always look forward to seeing your work. Robo

[gbritnell]

Thanks acoustic and Roboduck. I don't know exactly how many pencils I have. I do have an extensive set because I do portraits, landscapes, animals and cars. That requires many pencils. Along with the colored pencils I have quite a few of the greys, warm, cool and French. On certain pictures I use the Prismacolor colorless blender so I have several of those. I have some Prismacolor verithins but seldom use them because I find they're to hard for the paper that I use. I have tried using a clear marker for blending but I didn't like the results I got. Some people use alchohol and paint thinners but I have never ventured in that direction. The pictures that get posted don't have the depth that the originals have. I try to set up natural lights and adjust my camera different ways but the shots don't come out quite like the originals. We have some excellent colored pencil artists on this forum and I enjoy seeing everyone's work.
gbritnell

[i-is-in-da-house]

Thats art to its finest, but not my style. Nice Work!

[acoustic]

Alright, thanks for letting me know. Im lookin around right now to buy some prismas... i def dont need an extensive set, as drawing is simply a hobby that i can only do every couple weeks/ months. Ill prob just get a 16 set or 24 or somethin. Thanks though!

[Blip]

Great work, but the detailing in the fender reflections just takes it to another level.
Did you use a ref photo for creating the reflection images or just create
them in you mind?
Amazing to see how many surfaces you have that are reflecting the surroundings..

[gbritnell]

Thanks Blip,
When you draw a car there are standard drawing elements that apply to reflections that you can use. For instance the horizon line. It will be at the point on the body where the curve is at it's maximum. From there toward the ground you will get a reflection of the ground or things below the horizon line. As the body panel curves upward you start to get the distant backround till you get up into the sky. The upper surfaces will all reflect the sky and things that are in line with the viewers line of sight, like windshield frames. On a highly polished car surface there are times when you won't even see the body color but just the reflected surfaces. On a car drawing like this Lincoln the fenders are so smooth and highly polished that they reflect just like a curved mirror. With alot of practice and study of reflections you could "fake" the reflections and wind up with a good drawing but it you want it to look truly realistic nothing beats the real thing. Usually I take a bunch of reference pictures and use the reflections that will best show off the surface. That means eliminating some or many of the reflections that don't add to the picture and sometimes would even make it to "busy". If you look back at some of my earlier posts you will see many different types of reflections. It's up to the artist to determine which way to apply them to get the most visual contrast out of the picture. I hope this hasn't been to confusing.
gbritnell

[SieG]

amazing work!

[Blip]

gbritnell--thanks for explaining your design process.
I've got a good handle on the basics for reflections/shadows, but the photo-realism of this
one just amazed me.

Things like which people reflected in the fenders, also appear on the door and
which ones don't. The Repeated reflection of the person with the camera on both fenders. Those were the things I was wondering if you have a ref picture (s) for those kind of details or do you make it up from you minds eye or
even create it from a composite of other ref photos.?

I struggle with background (or foreground) detailing, that's why I'm so interested in this one.

[bonzelite]

your rendering skills are top-notch.

my only crit is the background, as it competes for attention with the myriad details of the car. my cheap advice is: do not overly detail any backgrounds if your main gig is reflections in chrome and metallic painted surfaces. were the treeline in softer focus, the eye would not confuse between looking at the wonderful work you've done on the car and the work you've done on the trees.

mind you, the background is rendered well, the trees being drawn very convincingly. but that is actually what comprises the drawing. you went too far. instead, i would have changed the background entirely to something more minimal or at least in softer focus.

or you could have kept the trees as they are, but punch up big time the shadows on the ground in the foreground to nearly black. right now, the lighting you have is rather diffuse and cloudy/overcast, so the cast shadows do not pop anything out. the atmosphere chosen is too murky for that.

you render excellently and your drawing can go to another level by implementing some of what i have stated.