[Capt.FlushGarden]

Hello dudes and dudettes!
Wow it was a long time Iposted something here hehe...how yall been doin?

A couple of months ago I tried painting a car the way automobile designers do...Yuck! It was so very difficult. Well, I posted 4 pics, the red, ugly, smudgy car is the first one I ever did. Did I make any progress? hehe

I wonder if you have to be good at anything else to become a car designer. there must be some math and science to it, right? Well I'd be glad to hear from some pro designers out there...Please gimme info, thank you!

"Psssst! C'mon spooge, it's your time to talk, what are u waiting for? hihi =)"

[ May 15, 2001: Message edited by: Capt.FlushGarden ]

[Visigothan]

Oh hell yeah you improved dude...Compare the first pic with the last, and it's obvious. I have the robot holding the apple that you did, printed out and pinned up @ my cubicle at work...hehe. The only suggestion I'd have (if you're up for some constructive criticism) is the last image -- Towards the rear of the car where it "fades" out...It looks more washed out or half-finished than what you intended, in my opinion... Maybe try leaving it crisp and complete instead of fading it out...? Just a suggestion.

[Capt.FlushGarden]

Hehe,are u kidding me? u printed out the appleman pic...coool!
thanx for crits! I hope you didn't notise the back wheel that's way out o prespective
pease dood!

[Blitz]

CAPTAIN!!!!!!
*Runs and Jumps on him*

Oh sorry got excited....Yes...the improvement is HUGE....These are great

Yah..the appleman...If I had a good printer Id print it...but insted its in my Fave.Art Folder in my computer.

Its been a while...havnt seen you on ICQ...Wasnt it just your Birthday...if it was Happy B day man...I got some ICQ messege saying it was your Bday so thats where I got the info from.

Well I hope all is well, Hopefully you hop on sometime and Im on. Ill seeyas.

EXCELENT WORK....

Blitz
aka
The Blitz
Blitzer
Blitzmyster
The Blitzster
Blitzorama
The Tooty fruity Boy...ummmm

[Loki]

very nice, captain ...
[poof&bye]

[ May 16, 2001: Message edited by: Loki ]

[Frost]

The 2nd and 3rd ones rock captain. The 4th has some major perspective problems... sorry.

[Capt.FlushGarden]

Loki, Yes your're totally right about that...I try to copy different styles so I can take good things from each style and then create my own, somehow I fell in love with the "you know who" style, But I could copy you instead? hehe. I just feel that I learn lots of stuff when I'm "copying" (let's not say copy, it's such a horrible word.) I don't know if I would take it as a compliment or anything else If someone tried to paint like me.

[spooge demon]

Flushgarden mailed me with his drawings and asked for a crit, I told him to post them and I would crit them here, So…


These car drawings are a little different than other kinds of illustrations. They are done strictly to communicate form. That they might have other aesthetic value is coincidental. I like em as art as well. They are also quite the creature of ACCD. The style evolved out of AC in the 50’s first done on canson paper with prismacolor, and later with markers on vellum with ground up pastel spread with a lithographers pad. There are many designers who think they are useless. They predominate because so many of the employed car designers were educated at AC. Designers from Europe generally are of the opinion that fancy drawings are a cover for lack of design ability. They prefer just pencils and use profiles or perspective drawings with section lines. They have a point. If the drawings are done to tell a modeler what the designer had in mind, a simple drawing is probably better.

So when you look at your drawing, think if it really is explicit in terms of the form. Is there anywhere that is not clear? Is the car symmetrical? Can you lay section lines over your drawing? Could someone else?

Use sections, draw the far wheel, use many construction lines, use centerlines. Draw the car like it is transparent at first. All these will make the car more solid feeling. Cars are very precise forms, and that aspect should be played up when you illustrate them (if you are after these design-y looking sketches)

But I think what you are after is to get better at these. Well, OK. You have probably seen a few car styling magazines or something similar. What you have to keep in mind is that the drawings that you are looking at are done by guys who have drawn cars for many years. In some cases they have drawn thousands or tens of thousands of cars. It is hard to describe how good they get at it. I started and quit in a pretty short period of time. So you are saying, “I want to get this good” but how can you get that good at it unless you are willing to do it over and over and over?

Every time I have to do some graphic design I find new respect for graphic designers. I suck so totally at it. Just look at my site to see the proof. I cannot ask a designer for a few tips and expect it will help much. It might, might not.

Your drawings are already at a very high level. To get better you just need to do it more, and follow the few suggestions I made above. But be realistic about how much better you will get, if you are using experienced designer sketches as your standard.

Forgive me if all this is obvious. You are an amazing artist already, and you probably know all this.

Another thing that concerns me is how you did these drawings. Are you mimicking the drawings you have seen or do you really understand what you are seeing? Do you know why the horizon reflection behaves that way? Since you did not go through tons of underpinning education about materials and construction techniques and proportions and reflective forms, it will be more difficult for you to improve. And these things are really complex, I could not even begin to summarize them here.

And this is just about the drawing. Car design is a whole universe all in itself. Like graphic design!

[TheMilkMan]

here here spooge...awsome stuff capt your amazing artist for your age man!!


Frost I dont agree with you about the perpective problems in 4...it just seems that has background lines dont go with the forground.so makes the perspective look off.

Personaly I think you doing damn good if you are a spooge clone.... ha ha dont be so quick loki I could name some artists which I see some deffinate influence with your work my freind...also besides spooge what other really high level digital painter is there to take notes from????

[ May 16, 2001: Message edited by: TheMilkMan ]

[Frost]

(I meant the FOV is too pronounced, and partly because of that, the angles of the main box of the car are not 90 degrees, but more skewed. Just being picky.)

[ May 16, 2001: Message edited by: Frost ]

[EviLToYLeT]

hehe , spooge does have a point captn. all your cars have the exact same horizon picture on the windows

But, no, you didn't improve at all. in fact I think you got worse....

(pssss....that's sarcasm )

[Capt.FlushGarden]

WOW!, thanx mr Mullins! I'm really trying to understand how surfaces on the car reflect the enviroment, I'm walking around on the streets, looking at cars instead of girls man! And no, I'm not just mimicking, I'm really trying to understand what I'm doing, and it's so very difficult...
Thank you very much for giving info and crits...

You know what, I think I'm gonna stop drawing cars now hehe, I mean, is it really that fun drawing cars all day at work? I don't know if i would wanna do that if I would become good enough for it...

Thanx again!

[ May 17, 2001: Message edited by: Capt.FlushGarden ]