The Making of a StarCar

Welcome Back Bloggees!

You may recall in my recent posts about my trip to Circles, a design conference in Grapevine, Texas (you can read those posts below). While at Circles, I heard about James White's Star Kade series of 80's icons and designs. This inspired me to start doing a series of pieces based off of two of my favorite interests: cars and movies / TV shows. The result of that endeavor is Star Cars, a series featuring a new vehicle every week from the big and small screen. Today, I want to share with you the six-stage process I use in making a Star Car, featuring the Thorndyke Special from the classic Disney movie, The Love Bug. Let's get crackin'!

1 - RESEARCH

Before a new car is rendered, I go online and track down source photos for a particular car. In this case, I searched for photos for the Thorndyke Special (a 1963 Apollo 350 GT Sports Car). These reference photos allow me to figure out the shape, color scheme, and other details (like the racing number). Once I have a good idea of what the car looks like, I pull out the template.

2 - TEMPLATE

I devised a set of templates for cars, vans, and helicopters (not shown). These templates allow me to keep a cohesive feel with each vehicle for the entire series. The templates are saved to my computer and I print off a fresh sheet when I'm ready to draw a new car.

3 - DRAWING

After I have acquired enough source photos for the vehicle of the week, I draw out the car using the template as a guide (you can see the slight shape of the car template in this drawing.  This allows for quicker rendering the car and more time to figure out the look of the particular car. In this case, I've sketched out the line work for the car. The color and shading will be determined in the color stage.

4 - LINE WORK

Once the drawing is complete, I scan it into my computer and start working out the line work in Illustrator. This allows for fine-tuning of the actual drawing and making sure that it will be consistent with other vehicles in the series. At this point, I also add elements to add a level of detail to the piece. In this case, the racing number and stripes in the background. 

5 - COLOR

After the linework is complete, it is now time to add color and shading to the piece. I use a separate layer in Illustrator under the line work layer to add color. This allows me to lock the line layer and add color without messing with established shape of the car. The light / dark color design creates a nice sense of form without going completed complicated with multiple levels of tone (i.e. high light, light, mid tone, etc...) 

6 - RENDER

For the final stage of the process, The piece is brought into Photoshop for background color and texture. The texture in this case is a soft concrete brush. This gives the design a slightly distressed appearance, like the one that develops on a favorite t-shirt.

And there we have it! The Thorndyke Special is complete. This six stage process allows me to create these passion projects within a tight schedule. You can find the Throndyke Special and other StarCars pieces on my dribbble page.

Interested in doing a passion project like this, but you just can't seem to find the time? Well, starting next week, I'll share with you some techniques I'm applying to help add time to a busy schedule. 'Till next time!