The DVD cover captures the heritage and imagery from the movie that was created for the event.  I will be making copies of the dvd for family members too.  The cover shows both front and back.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Clouds have always intrigued me.  Often times I look up into the sky and say “It’s a bird…a pla..”….wait a minute…wrong story.  Cloud formations are one of the most beautiful visuals that nature has to offer.

I am always find myself in a position where I see a stunning cloud formation after a quick, brisk, rainy storm where the sun rays burst through the openings inbetween the clouds (input chorus sound now “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaawe”).  It’s almost Godly.  Of course I never have my darn digital camera  to capture the moment.

However, it really brings about so many  types of emotions such as a feelings of hopefullness,  optimism, sanguinity, or depression.  Mostly good thoughts.  At least I stick with the one’s that make me feel good.  So I have a few speed paintings in Photoshop

Once you master some of these techniques, it’s very easy for you to integrate and create your own compelling imagery.

Hope you enjoy these.

Arv

Thumbnails are great way to crank out several sketches when exploring options to create a larger rendering or piece of art.  I started sketching on post-it notes for a little while and really had a lot of fun doing it.  I used a 3X3 post-it note and try to squeeze in 3 sketches per post-it.  It helps you to work out your perspectives ,views, and rough composition without getting into the details.

I have been working on a series of vintage race car scenes.  These are  my preliminary concept sketches before getting into my final piece…which God knows when I’ll be done.  However, I will post them here when they are finished.

So here is a “quick” photoshop rendering to increase the contrast and focal points and add a little “e-motion” to the sketch.  I say quick but it actually took me on and off a few hours since my 11 month old son wouldn’t leave me alone   Funny how things that usually take 1/2 hour to an hour turns into 1/2 day…but hey…I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The second and third set below were sketched on 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper. Again, the objective was to crank out as many ideas as possible.

Finally,  a little Photoshop action was used to add a little “punch” and visual interest to the sketches.

Paintings that is!  So I thought I would  switch gears and show a quick speed painting tutorial.  Nothing too fancy….enough to get the idea across.  This digital illustration was created using Photoshop; reminiscent of the “Fast and the Furious” or EA’s “Need for Speed” series.

So there are a few elements to consider when creating a typical illustration.

1.  COMPOSITION – How do you want your audience to view your work?  What’s the primary object of interest?  Secondary object…and so on…

2.  VALUE AND CONTRAST -starting to lay down your darks and lights – this adds to your composition in determining how your eyes are led through an illustration

3.  COLOR – having a solid understanding of colors and what colors mix well with others is always a plus.  It helps you to establish contrasting elements within your comp.

4.  TEXTURES – helps to create the illusion of realism to objects as well as visual interest.

5.  DETAILING AND FINISHING TOUCHES - Adding some more visual interest to the base content of your drawing.

So let’s start with the first step:

Background/Composition:

I basically start off with my background color. The tones here sort of set the dark “mood” that I am trying to set for the entire piece.   Secondly, I start to add in my perspective lines.  The perspective lines below are pretty crude and dirty.  I threw in a “box” to kind of indicate where I wanted to lay out the cars.  The perspective also helps to establish your view.

I then start to block in a rough composition illustrating where the cars will be and the general content of the illustration.  Here I show the cars exiting under the bridge with a dramatic frontal view point.

All the colors and textures are laid in really quick.  You don’t want to spend more than 10 or 15 min laying this out.  I love showing these steps because this looks like absolute crap!  I remember watching Bob Ross (God rest his gentle sole!) starting his oil paintings.  Numerous times I used to look at the beginning of his paintings and I would think…Oh…God NOOOO!!!…not that texture…it’s RUINED!! However, with that soft voice and happy afro,  it  would always come together magically at the end….not that I am going to pull a rabbit out of a hat here.

I start to add in a little more detail to the cars and start indicating what kind of objects I want in the background.  I start to create this dark “industrial” look to the city.   All this will be cleaned up as I progress.  I spend about another 15min. or so on this.

Value and Contrast:

Here I start to add some more contrast to the piece.  You can see a good amount of contrast between the bridge and the light behind it.  I start to add some details to the cars by tightening up the wheels and indicating detail in the headlights. I added another bridge behind the main one in front. There is a little bit of “time” lapse feel by indicating the streaking lights of the traffic on the second bridge.  Not much of a value spread here.  Very dark and dingy piece so far.  I will start adjusting as I go on.

Textures and Detailing:

This is a lot of fun.  Photoshop has so much flexibility in terms of creating brushes with different textures and stamps.  It’s a lot of fun to just experiment with all the cool textures you can create and apply.  I applied the texture on the bridge and start to detail out the background adding buildings and so forth.  I add little highlighted areas with different hues of colors using the color dodge tool.  I also start with a little bit of clouds in the background to give it that foggy look.

Almost done.  Added some reflections to the windshield and a cop car trailing behind in hot pursuit.  I had to airbrush a darker tone to the background around the cop car to help it pop out just a little.

Finishing Touches:

Incidentally, this pic and many other wonderfully talented designers from the automotive and toy industry have displayed their work are in our Charity Calendar.  100% of the proceeds go towards buying Hotwheels for the kids at the Childrens Hospital of Michigan.  It  can be purchased at www.cardesignfetish.com…..or you can follow this link:  http://www.cafepress.com/cardesignfetish

Ok….I have been waaaay too busy and have not posted in ages.  Turbulent times in our industry dictates more commitment and time to run our projects which unfortunately leaves less time for fun stuff.  So anyway…here it is.    One rendering…..I know…all that time and this is what we get??  Sorry….will do better next time.  Most my renderings are done using photoshop.   The cool part of photoshop is how easy it is to be able to manipulate the rendering to add backgrounds and and different colors.

So above,  I change the background and color of the vehicle to a warm sepia toned car.  Nothing really special, but it helps you to visualize and explore color without redoing the entire rendering.

Here we have a sort of purplish gun metal grey color.  You see a lot of this color on Mazda vehicles.  I think this turned out too much on the grape side.  Adjusting the hue to the background produced a very dark and almost black color to the background stream lines that help to pop the car’s shape out of the page.

Lastly, the background texture here gives an entirely different mood to the rendering.  Almost sort of an electrifying look.  One must always be careful with the final piece and the composition.  The primary focal point of the car should not be overshadowed by it’s background.  I would have to say that this is a little much but it’s a great way to explore different ideas.

So to all…..I may not post in some time due to the holidays but here’s wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a safe trip to wherever your going!!

Arv

He has been a true inspiration to many and has revitalized a sport that seemed dormant for so long.  Even now, people do not seem interested in watching the sport unless he is out there on the course.  Hope you all like it.