I painted for 10 solid hours yesterday to complete this gorgeous car in time for my client for Christmas. I’ll have to overnight it, but that’s ok – I am SO excited to show you the final scan of this painting once it’s dry. You can see this painting as it has progressed here. This is my first “official” custom car painting. I’ve done sketches of cars and a colored pencil drawing back in high school – but this rocks. It’s entirely different from pet portraits, obviously – the line work and edges are not so forgiving. I love a challenge though – and I love a good artistic stretch. This was definitely it! This painting has to be seen in person to really appreciate – because the reds overwhelm the lens of my digital camera. It’s a rich, beautiful red with cherry red lightening it up. It’s glossy without being pink – the treads on the tires are deep and show slight wear – the chrome is gleaming. The background color (payne’s gray) is not blue, really, and it looks like she’s sitting on a showroom floor. I’ll scan this piece and share the final detail shots in a couple of days.

 

Finally, the underpainting is complete. You can see this painting as it has progressed here.

It’s made an amazing transformation, but these are still just the basic colors. (fyi: the license plate has been blurred for display on the web.) I’ll paint the car all over again with highlights, lowlights and make further enhancements to the midtones. You’ll be able to hear the engine purr when I’m through with her.

Tidbit: These are the brushes I’m painting with, on a 16×20 canvas – that should explain why this is such a long process.

For those of you who guessed red, of course she’s red! Sweet rides are always red, aren’t they? I must just be one of those. Except my dream car is a ’66 Mustang – midnight blue with cream pony leather interior. (So if you ever run into one of those for sale, I have to know!)

This is just a partial underpainting. I wanted to lay the red down first because the bulk of detail work will be on the body of the car. Once this layer is try, I’ll finish up the interior, then move to the rims and bumper/grill area, tires, then the underpainting will be complete.

OooOOOo she’s a ghost car right now, but before long (and after the background dries – which is gray, btw – on an overcast day) you’ll see what color she is. Feel free to make some guesses, just for fun – and for those of you who figured out the make & model – you’re right. It’s a GTO, and I’m not sure what year.

I’m pretty excited about adding a car painting to my gallery, if you can’t tell!

psst…KDiddy – what year is she? And is she a she? She has to be.

Here’s another painting sketch ready for oils. This one is going to be a blast, I am such a car fanatic myself – I am looking forward to painting this old hot rod! (Not giving away too much information on this one until I confirm with my client that the coast is clear.)

Here’s #4 in the Eye Ate It™ series, a brown M&M on an orange dish. I know a few of you who are really going to have a sweet tooth after you see this one, and I will not apologize for that. I’ve been sitting here snarfing them down, so please – go get yourself a bag and try to catch up, would you? My Hips & I would appreciate it if you did.

One set is now complete in my Eye Ate It™ series. They look awfully tasty together, see?

As shown:
#1: Walnut, #3: Blackberry
#4: Brown M&M, #2: GoldfishI’m really enjoying painting these little 4×4’s. It’s stretching my brain, and I feel like I’m getting a really great refresher in depth, shadow and dimension. Who knew these tasty treats would teach me so much?

Enjoy.

I just completed #3 in the Eye Ate It™ Series, a nice plump Blackberry. Unfortunately, my poor little perishable looks pathetic now next to its sweet and former self of a painting, so Eye May Not Eat It this time around. I have, however, eaten a few of its cell mates. (cellophane – hahaha. get it?)

4-inches square (all of them in the series will be this size), a perfect sized oil painting for bite sized goodness.

I’ve added the scans of the first two in the series to my gallery today as well. You can see them here:

Eye Ate It #1 : Walnut
Eye Ate It #2 : Goldfish

I just completed #2 in the Eye Ate It™ Series, a Goldfish (the crackers, not the critters!). 4-inches square (all of them in the series will be this size), a perfect sized oil painting for bite sized goodness. This is my second this week, so I’ll shoot for one more Eye Ate It™ painting this week, just because I’m an overachiever.

Yes, Eye Ate It™. Just in case you were wondering. It was tasty.

I’ve been planning this series for quite a while and finally got started on them today. Here’s #1 in the Eye Ate It™ Series, a Walnut. It’s just 4-inches square, a perfect sized oil painting for bite sized goodness. I’m planning on completing at least two Eye Ate It™ paintings a week.