Car Sketch

[cobra20]

well I have been practicing drawing cars and was wanting peoples oppinions of this particular sketch. I hope you guys like it, I am open to any and all feedback.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...0/659f962c.jpg

[customcam]

Hi welcome it looks good
check out the artwork page theres some talented guys around here that could guide you and give you great advice

[Hdesign]

Pretty cool sketches. You seem to be very detail oriented judging by all of the schematics of internal components. John McBride is also extremely talented with technical drawings, maybe he will have a chance to chime in as well.

Here's my constructive critcism:

Composition-
The entire composition is very interesting because there's so much to see. It's like a Where's Waldo book. There's a lot going on. I think you need some sort of heirarchy, one main subject and other supporting images that create a background. Everything is drawn with the same line weight, scale and value (lightness/darkness). You don't want 10 combined images that compete for attention. The background should compliment or put the car in context, not overshadow it.

Lines-
It looks a little muddy and overworked though I see a lot of cool details like the tribal flames and fuel shut off. Pencils make a mess very quickly if you're not careful. Get some "Magic Rub" white erasers that come in a pencil form to add highlights and value changes. Erasers and pencils are equally important design/drawing tools. They aren't limited to only fixing mistakes. Get a set of drawing pencils that vary in softness from H (thin light lines) to 6B (heavy dark lines). Always start with very light lines and build on them. Always keep your pencils sharp or lines start to look fat and undefined. Use tracing paper to adjust lines you don't like rather than working and reworking an area.

Car-
It's a good start, I would lower the height of the front fender. It's almost as high as the top of the windshield.

Other than that, great job. Sorry if this was more critique than you were looking for. Keep the drawing coming, this is how you learn!

Ben

[cobra20]

Well the drawing being overworked I would have to say it definitely has been, it is probably about 4 years old and I really haven't stopped drawing on it at all. I am going to transfer it to another piece of paper though because that one is about dead and I want to adjust the spacing between the wheels and passenger compartment a little bit.

[ottatyme]

I agree, great sketches you have here! You are, as Ben pointed out, obviously very detail-minded, considering the amount of component sketches you have.

I agree, as well, that perhaps there is a bit too much going on for one composition. Perhaps if it were broken down into a series of smaller compositions, with perhaps a few smaller detail views pertaining to the main subject matter (i.e. a larger dash view, with smaller views detailing gauge layout/placement, controls, etc), you'd be right on.

Further agreeing with Ben (geez--if you ever have one of those days when you feel the world's against you, Ben, read this post, and know that a fellow East-coaster has your back!), I'd concentrate on using line weight to further help deliniate surfaces, and give more depth to your drawing.

It shows a lot of thought, and you can really see the final concept developing over a series of re-works, which, in my opinion, is just killer to see! It's like the old masters would work on canvas, building up layers to arrive at the final destination. It's awesome to see someone's thought process on paper like this! Thanks for sharing it!

Brian

[JayR]

Good Job! it's hard enough drawing a car that already exists but a whole other level to design your own.
Not to beat a dead horse but I have to echo what Brian and Ben said. Get some vellum and do an overlay of your favorite parts of the original piece and refine them with pen, one or two pieces at a time.
You're off to a good start and this is exactly how good designs evolve. Get the idea down loosely and then tighten it up and refine it with the overlay.
For exercises, try some 3/4 views of that car and check out Thom Taylor's book; How to Draw Cars Like a Pro and How to Design Cars Like a Pro by Tony Lewin. Both books have lots of great designs as well as great advice that will help you refine this design and add some more to your portolio.
Good Luck!

[cobra20]

Well I have been working on cleaning up my sketches hopefully in the next couple of days I will have another sketch to put up for you guys to check out.