Drawing sections on our car sketch

Dear friends,

today I would like to talk a little about the importance of drawing sections on our car sketches. Here a quick sketch I did, with no design.

Just a demo about how to draw sections on our car sketch. Drawing sections is very important to understand what we are really drawing and how reflextions are going to play on our design body proposal, it is also a way to see and modifie our shapes to tune up better volumes and proportion details. This technique is something we learn in school usually using monochromatic prismacolor sketches or (like I did) with a Bic pen, with those sections drawing done in several perspectives and in some cases detailed we can help ourself while translating the 2D work in a 3D model in Clay or using Alias modeling software if we do it with a computer.

Drawing sections on a car sketch will tell us how is our plan section and side body development, so I encourage you to do it before starting your models and your final illustrations.

How to draw wheels on a car sketch by Future Elements

Dear friends,

I received via my Facebook page several requests to view sketches asking for a critic. Most of the sketches I saw were not too bad at all except for wheels sketched with the wrong perspective.
So i did correct few of them sending back via email the correction explaining the reasons of my corrections, however I found this great tutorial video made by Fututre Elements that explains really well how to do it.

Check this out, too: Hot Rod Art Book to learn all about good proportions

Have fun!

How to draw a car sketch in side view

Tutorial by Luciano Bove

Dear friends,

I just made this quick car sketch in side view and I wanted to share it with you hoping that it might be of help. This sketch is the very first step to draw a quick car sketch in side view using the tyre as a reference to control proportions length and hight of the car.

First step

This car is a sort of small compact coupé type and to do it I just 3 and 1/2 tyres between the front and rear tyre to set up my wheelbase, after almost 3 tyres to set up the hight.

Second step

Second thing I did was the base (floor line) of the car (just a little lower than the wheels center) and its shadow on the floor to give a bit of perspective (in fact shadow's outline is in perspective). the rest was kind of easy because after the first 2 steps I could see the overall shape I wanted to sketch.

 Now I should  re-draw it giving a bit of extra balance to make it a bit more elegant and stretched to improve my car drawing. This is for next time!

Now if you want take my quick drawing and try to re trace it with your style and have fun!

Car Design styles.

Alfa Romeo rendering by A. Masera

Dear friends,

today I would like to provoke you on a very delicate subject: Car Design styles.

When we have a new car project do do in school as well at work we start doing our research to understand more about the project mission and how it should be done not to miss it, not to be off subject.

We make a benchmark of what other car makers do in the same segment of cars and then we decide how we intend to use our creativity to make our project to be better and different.

When we start sketching, doing our ideation or brainstorming stage, we explore several design style directions with new proportions.

After this stage we must make our choice about what direction we want to take to better answer to our breafing. This is the moment when we decide the Design style codes to use for our creative execution: more emotional or more structured? More muscle car or more minimalist?

According to my experience we go following our instinct and heart and in my specific case I love more the emotional side of muscle car design philosophy (my American influence from ACCD I guess). This is the reason why I chose the Alfa Romeo illustration made by Alessandro Masera for this post.

I think that car design is successful when provokes an emotional reaction (positive one) to people. This emotional reaction is provoked by body sections and proportions that create really cool light reflections on the car making it a sexy one, a seductive volume expression.

 To make sure we do get the right result we must be very careful to overall proportions (full of energy, dynamics) and how the light reflections will lay on the body (side, hood, back tale).

Another important thing to care, like a little delicate baby, is: detailing details like front lights and rear lights, door handles, plus all various decorations. the last important thing to do to reinforce the emotional effect and the quality of this sexy design is: materials choice and paint finish (mat and glossy, bi-color or monochromatic, chrome or alluminium finish, graphics)

Please do not forget that the overall wise use of all those element will make your emotional design expression a real winner...so: no overworking surfaces, no over detailing, no chrome exaggeration.

A nice balance is a must!

Driven Mavens on AutolineDetroit TV

My friend Arvind Ramkrishna guest star via Skype on AutolineDetroit TV to explain his DVD project to learn "How to draw cars now".
I am happy about his initiative and project, check out the video!

Chris Bangle Design Challange

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The most “notorious” car designer of all times is inviting you to design challenge. Winner will have a choice between a Bangle workshop in Italy or € 2000 in cash. Additionally, winner’s illustrations will be published in Chris Bangle’s book.

“I have written a fiction book about Car Design and the prologue takes place 25 years in the future. It contains some concepts I have been working on, and this contest is to see what YOU would make of them”. This is Chris Bangle’s invitations to students of all disciplines of design - not just Car Design students – who are not currently working as a paid professional in their field. The designs in Chris’s story are not included, students must do that!

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