Beached Weirdos #5

It's funny, the stuff you find sometimes when walking along the beach. Most of it's pretty unremarkable.  Bits of agate, broken seashells, a starfish or two.  But once in a very great while, you spot something a little more... interesting.

7x20 inches, painted in watercolor.  Available at Daily Paintworks.

Flotsam

Because it makes perfect sense to put a seafoam green car in the sea, doesn't it?

7.5x14 inches, painted in watercolor.  Available at Daily Paintworks.

Unleashed

Fear Me!  Fear Me and My Unstoppable Engine of Destruction!  Soil yourselves in Terror as we Lay Waste to (dammit, there goes the back tire again.  Stupid cheap lug nuts.)!

FEAR MEEEEE!!!!!!!!

14x19 inches, painted in watercolor.  Available at Daily Paintworks.

Miriam

It's not all automotive weirdos here in the studio.  Sometimes I mix things up with a landscape or a small portrait of a horned woman with a green Mohawk.  If you're going to grow as an artist, you have to stretch yourself, go off topic.

5.5 inches square, painted in watercolor.  Available here.

Marine Weirdos #11

Sea monster wrangling, the brand new hobby that's sweeping the seven seas.

Painted in watercolor, 12x14.5 inches.  Available here.

Truck Monster 3

Or, Attack of the 5 Foot Woman.

I find white painted trim, like grilles and bumpers, a little more difficult to render than chrome trim.  For chrome, you just paint the sky in the upper surfaces, and the ground in the lower surfaces. (This is a gross oversimplification, but it gets the point across.)  But white bumpers and trim require a subtler approach.  you have to balance the need to convey depth against the color of the bumper.  Go too far with the light reflection from the sand and you'll wind up with a yellow bumper.  Use too much blue from the sky over that yellow, and you've got some ugly green color.  Over rendering can lead to fuzzy edges, which are not so good for representing a glossy painted surface.

How-ever, I believe older trucks, like this Ford, look more truck-like with the trim painted.  There's a utilitarian feel to painted trim that chrome lacks.  Chrome is fine for the car, which, for some people, serves as a badge of status and identity.  It's basically bling, or a silk tie.  Trucks, on the other hand, were traditionally built and bought to do work, and chrome does not enhance payload capacity or stump pulling power.

Don't misunderstand me, I love chrome.  The lack of chrome on modern cars is partly why they're mostly boring to look at.   But if you want to emphasize the working side of a vehicle,  less chrome does the job nicely.

10x16 inches, painted in watercolor.  Available at Daily Paintworks.

Surf Weirdos #9

 Cruising back to the beach at a leisurely pace.  No rush, no fancy stunts.  Just the wind and the salt spray in your face.


I'm mostly happy with this piece, though maybe the '59 Caddy tail light is a bit much,  especially since it's partially obscured.

10.5x12 inches, painted in watercolor.  Available at Daily Paintworks.