Drawing Old Vehicles

(Adapted from an article originally on my website)

I draw pictures of old abandoned vehicles because I love how they look and the thoughts they bring to mind. They have - and I've tried to show this - the well-earned and hard-won beauty and character of things which have interacted with people and terrain and weather for many, many years.

Every vehicle is different because of the "life" it's had. The way they've been driven and the environment they've been a part of and responded to are always unique to each one of them; and so looking at one vehicle is not the same as looking at any other, even of the same make or model.

Besides being of interest themselves - the rust, the dents, the broken glass, the faded beauty (I think about when these same cars were brand new; they had a different kind of beauty then that had nothing to do with individuality), these old vehicles also bring to mind the humans we imagine having been associated with them. The vehicles are in a way extensions of (as well as possessions of) the humans who have used them, and so the worn-out old cars and trucks (and tractors, and etc.) not only have stories about their own lives to tell (or for us to imagine), but also make us think about the people who might have owned them.

Motorized vehicles exist only because of people - People invented them in the first place; people design them and make them and drive them, and people and people's possessions are carried in them. In other words, vehicles are not meant to exist alone - They need humans in order to be built in the first place, and then in order to fulfill their function they continue to need humans; in fact, it is only when they can no longer perform their expected "duties" in the service of humans that they are abandoned and left to rust to pieces or be picked apart or smashed with countless others to be turned into a part of something entirely different, never again to be what they were.

Sometimes while looking at the picture I'm drawing from, I not only imagine the people closely associated with the vehicle over time, but can hardly help from seeing in my mind's eye a "picture" of the world (or at least the area) those people lived in during those times. I think of the twenties, or the thirties, or the forties (those are the years in which the cars and trucks I like best were built).

Even if the stories I read into what I see are not quite the same as (or perhaps are very different than) the actual facts, it really doesn't matter. I still get something out of the experience of contemplating the subject, imagining its past and even its future, as well as its present circumstances. The drawing becomes a scene that I temporarily inhabit, allowing the contents of my imagination, my thoughts, ideas, experiences and knowledge of various kinds, as well as my emotions, to roam and explore within it as they will.

In addition to my desire to get across the "character" (and something of the implied "life story") of the vehicle, it is also very important to me to make each picture aesthetically-pleasing and interesting as possible, for my own satisfaction as well as for that of others who may see them. This is far more important than getting the car, or especially the setting, to look "just like it does in the photograph." What I make are pictures, not meant at all to look like photographs, and in fact I would feel as though I'd failed utterly if my pictures came out to look like photographs. A "work of art" does something different than a photograph does - It presents the subject via the particular medium used plus the artistic imagination of the artist who has, ideally, created the work skillfully and thoughtfully in such a way that the viewer experiences the subject as much as possible in the way the artist intends for him or her to experience it, while at the same time incorporating an overall look and quality that gives pleasure.

All of this is what I think about when drawing my "old car and truck" pictures, and these are the things that I hope to get across to the people who will look at them. I am not saying that I have accomplished my objectives in all cases, and in fact I myself am only really pleased so far by only a small number of my own drawings (and even those I would improve if I could), but I've done the best I can for now and even those that aren't my best are not too terrible - I like to look at them.

SOME EXAMPLES OF MY OLD-VEHICLE DRAWINGS

More of my old-vehicle drawings can be seen on my website in The Garage section, where I have links to all of my old-vehicle drawings.

1936 Pontiac
Conte Crayons

1935 Chevrolet truck
Conte Crayons

1951 Oldsmobile
Bic ballpoint pen, Sharpie marker, Conte pastel pencils

1947(?) Pontiac
Bic ballpoint pen, gel pen, Sharpie marker

1946 Fargo Truck
Conte Crayons

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Drawing with a Ballpoint Pen

I love to draw with inexpensive Bic ballpoint pens.  I believe there's nothing wrong with using ordinary ballpoint pens and other easy-to-find, low-priced materials when drawing.

I love these pens because they cost so little. I imagine other kinds of inexpensive ballpoint pens would work, but these are available everywhere and I know they'll do what I want them to do so why try something else? Besides, they're often on sale and cost even less than they usually do.

Believe it or not, just within the last week I've received (as a hand-delivered gift - no postage involved) six packs of ten of them (bought at three packs for a U.S. dollar on sale), and I already had two new packs that were bought for more (but still at a bargain price). This means I now have EIGHTY Bic "Cristal" (see-through) black-ink pens, and so I'm getting ready to really enjoy myself drawing with ink again.

I do realize that there are things you can do with good drawing pens and a large variety of bottled inks that you cannot do with ordinary ballpoint pens and the one-tone-no-choice ink inside them. However, there are also many, many things you can do with a ballpoint pen. The other things can come later. To me the most important thing is not the kind of pen or the color or tone of ink, but the person who's using the pen. What can I do with a simple ballpoint pen, using my own talent, skill, sensitivity and vision, I ask myself, and I want to find out. It's a great challenge. I like a challenge, not a "sure thing" (ensured by having fancy, expensive equipment that makes me look like I'm better than I really am - Let's find out what I can do without that extra help, I tell myself).

It's not that I mind hard work or taking the time to learn something new - I am a very steady, hard worker and nobody could ever say that I don't follow through and finish things that I believe are worthwhile no matter how long it takes. In fact that's exactly why I'm continuing to use these pens; I have hardly begun to learn what I can do with them.

Some might think that the time spent drawing with a ballpoint pen is time wasted because you are never going to produce anything that is of "lasting quality" or that can be sold, or etc., no matter how much time or effort you put into it.  I don't think it's time wasted at all.

If you're afraid to use an ink pen because whatever you do cannot be erased -- and you're certain to make mistakes (as I do) -- you can lose most of that fear if you have a zillion backup pens on hand, or can easily buy them most anywhere and for very little money. Because I realize that it doesn't matter nearly as much if I do make a mistake (the worst that can happen is that I may have to start over and I have endless pens ready to use, so I don't panic and make things even worse trying to "correct" my mistake), I'm able to relax, work with more confidence, try new approaches, and make better drawings (at least in general - I do have duds, too). And it's a lot more fun this way.

Below are some examples of my Bic ballpoint pen drawings. These drawings are all on my website, along with other ink drawings (plus Conte crayon and pencil drawings).


Gnarled old tree - Bic ballpoint pen and Sharpie marker



Cottontail rabbit - Bic ballpoint pen



Wrecked 1957 Oldsmobile - Bic ballpoint pen


Angel statue in Central Park - Pencil and Bic ballpoint pen


Ground squirrel - Bic ballpoint pen and Sharpie marker

Links to Other People's Web Pages with Ballpoint Pen Drawings:

Drawing Gallery
Shed in Bic Pen - Artist: Vincent D. Whitehead

There is another Bic pen drawing which you can see if you click on the blue, underlined words: other gallery page.
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Bic Pen Art by Juan Francisco Casas
These are big, photorealistic drawings made with a blue-ink ballpoint pen.
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Speeded up VIDEO showing drawing as the artist is working on it, from beginning to end. This was done mostly with a black-ink Bic pen, and also a black marking pen. Time: 3 MINUTES, 20 SECONDS

The music is very loud and if you think it might annoy you (as it did me) you might want to turn the volume way down. No one says anything, so you won't miss anything important.
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The following site is confusing to me - There's so much on there, so many pictures - But it's a site that has many artworks produced by someone who uses Bic pens, or I think they're Bics. At least they're black ink ballpoint pens (he has added some color to a few of the pictures). Biro Art Gallery - Biro Doodles with a ball point pen by "NobbyNobody." Click on the small pictures to see them in a larger size.

Apparently "Biro" is the generic word for ballpoint pens in the U.K.
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The Ball Point Pen Art of Dave Archanbault.
Some are more "photo realistic" than others, but these are nicer to me than most I've found on the web.
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