Cars in the city
Thursday morning with Lapin and Gerard Michel Read more About the instructors
This workshop was originally to be co-taught with Florian Afflerbach (Flaf) , well known as a sketcher of cars who sadly passed away earlier this year. A tribute wall of sketches of cars in fish eye style was at the Benzie Building at Symposium 
Part 1 Car Portraits (quck sketch)
Gerard explained the elipse of wheels and axels – going through the axis of the wheels . Of course it all makes sense now !
The first part of the Workshop was to sketch a car from a distance of about a metre or so, maybe a little more. We sat on the sidewalk or near a car and sketched three quarter view. The instructors provided an example of how to work out the shape using simple boxes and we worked from that . I have no idea what I wrote here at the end of the page or what I was trying to make a note of. I think we had about 10 minutes each sketch.
and then the rain got heavier…so we moved
Part 2 (detailed sketch)
We found a nearby carpark and choose the car of our choice . I tried to find something interesting or obscure ( does nobody drive a gogomobile or a P1800S or Old Bentley to work ?) but a nice shiny black AUDI A5 was sporty enough for me. A hour here.
I sat at the far end of the carpark and was adding lines to the page. After a while, Lapin arrived and said no – move closer, move closer to the car. I was really close – but you can see how it changes the view of the car.
We were encouraged to start with the headlight and then draw organically through the reflections in the light (including your self if you were there). I found this very difficult without the context of the rest of the car, so sketched it in pencil. There is an immense amount of comparative measuring involved , as nothing your mind tells you is correct actually is!
I am so proud of this sketch, I cannot believed that I produced something so amazing that is outside my comfort zone. It is a character and almost a monster car. Each time I look at it I amaze myself .
We gathered to discuss what we had learned, but the parking attendant in charge of the car-park turned up and moved us on as it was a private carpark. oops .
Part 3 Cars in the City
We walked around the corner and found a sheltered area outside an office for the final part of the Workshop (and asked permission to use it). It had a row of parked cars and the city skyline (thanks to some building demolition). This final part was about drawing cars in context with the city around them. Gerard explained how to add depth by adding the foreground anchor to help understand the perspective of the scene. Cold and raining . an hour here.
I was more comfortable with this scene. I enjoy drawing cars. But the challenge here was how and what to emphasize. I decided where to add colour right at the end of the session.
MY TAKEAWAYS
- The perspective of an object can dramatically change as you get closer to it or you change your angle or height.
- Draw what you see and the perspective can figures itself out
- Dress warmly as you are going to sit on the ground outside
![IMG_1174[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.alissaduke.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_11741.jpg)
Fellow passengers across the aisle can be ideal subjects to draw . (Sometimes the seats are just to close together and I don’t feel comfortable sketching with my passenger right next to me looking over my shoulder ).They sleep, have interesting hairstyles, lots of creases in their clothing to sketch. The sketch above was in ideal circumstances. This was before take-off and all the people stayed in place for me. I sketched this with my Watercolour pencils, but with no water added. (and I received lovely compliments from the flight crew).
