Simple Car Construction Illustration

This week, I'll demonstrate through a number of slides how I constructed the car above.

The image above shows the construction of the car, starting from the base frame of the car and working up to the full design of the car. Using simple shapes, I can quickly work through the proportions and figure out where the main features of the car lie. The most important thing was getting the interior right since you can see into the car. Once I had the seats drawn in the correct place, I proceeded to add the lights, rear view mirrors and a gas tank.

For this illustration, I decided to create a warm color palette with a range of pink and purple colors.

 I was pretty happy with the outcome of this illustration, but I felt the need to add a little more detail to create more depth that my initial drawing lacked.

 Finish!!!

Adding foreground rocks, and a tree in the background really bring this illustration together. In addition, I added a shadow under the car, and rear view mirrors to complete the vehicle.

Enjoy!

Droopy Bird

This sketch of a bird came fairly quickly, with big droopy eyes, a short beak, and square head, I felt this sketch had enough character to press forward.

The above grid is the template I used to create a simple but compelling composition. I usually try place objects close to where two lines intersect.

I placed a window in the top left corner to allow the viewer to see outside the window. It's a way to inform the viewer there is more going on outside their visible area. In the bottom right corner, I placed a wooden perch where the bird will sit and fill the bottom half of the composition.

The triangle shows the flow through the composition, as I try lead the eye around the illustration.

 Here's the final Illustration.

On the final illustration, I added a bird chirping in the window and a some noise(grainy texture) to the background to help push the droopy bird forward from the background.

Speed Car Illustration

Starting off with a few sketches for a retro race car.

Leaning towards the last sketch.

Once I'm happy with the sketch of the race car, I'll create a black and white silhouette to observe if there is enough movement in the design of race car. The next step is to clean up the design and trace over all the details.

For the background, I went with 3 clouds placed in a circular manner to keep the eye moving across the image. The variation in the size of the clouds keeps the composition interesting.

To frame the race car in the composition, I added a futuristic podium with a glass enclosure and rings around the base of the structure. The base of the structure leads the eye into the center of the composition where the race car will sit.

Here's the final illustration.

Taking it one step further, I added a digitally painted background and wood texture to give the impression of a real painting.