Ferrari 275 GTB Pen Sketch + ramblings

Ahhh morning time again- time for coffee and to plan the day out a bit. Fortunately some of yesterday will make today a little easier content wise. Last night in IG I did a Live vid for about an hour where I went thru the process I use to sketch in ball point pen. Simultaneously while I'm drawing I'm reading the chat and trying to answer as many questions as I can which is a lot of fun and a great to way to really interact with folks. Admittedly I was initially going to draw a modified Chevy C10 (very out of character I know), but ultimately decided that since I end up keeping/hanging on to a lot of these sketches, it might as well be something I personally really enjoy. While yes of course I love C10's, so naturally I have pleeenty of drawings of them around. Enter the Ferrari 275 GTB. My list of all time favorite cars is mostly occupied with Ferrari's, and if you've read far enough back on this blog you'd have seen that I used to work on them exclusively. So to say they are special to me is an understatement. I am indeed a Porsche 911 enthusiast and owner, but nothing quite strikes me as deeply as Ferrari's and that has been the case for many many years.But I digress- back to the drawing. The live vids are some of my most favorite content to make, partly because it's so interactive and partly because I feel more space to actually be me. In a photo I post Im left to caption it in a way that gets people interested in what I'm doing, which is totally fine, but in order to keep it to the point I often have to leave a bit of 'me' out of it which is a bummer. In live vids it's just as much a chance for folks to see/hear the person behind the artwork as well. Plenty of people think that Im actually older (not that Im particularly young), or went to school for this, or my dad did it before me... all these things are easily addressed in videos. Sure, I could write out these answers, but the story telling element and connectivity isn't the same. Maybe it's surprising or maybe it isnt, but I love being in front of an audience. Probably a carry over from my days as a musician being on stage, but I always enjoyed a crowd and I never get nervous about it. In a lot of ways it creates an energy that you just cant synthesize. I think the general consensus is that artist's are more introverted and that may be true, Im just not one of them. I've had to learn how to be more introverted so that I can still be productive and happy working at home, but most days I would way rather be out in the world with people. Dont even care if their strangers. I can draw anywhere, so so long as I have a sketch pad and just a pen I can actually get a lot done. 

So if you've gotten to this point and you're like "Hey, are you going to talk about how you actually did this drawing?". Sure, I guess I could do that. If you're new here, welcome to my ramblings! I don't intended for these posts to be anything but me typing what I'm thinking and doing, and life isnt really a straight line. The moment I have to be more precise about what Im writing is the moment it stops being fun and let me tell you how much time im going to spend on something that I dont think is fun. But anyways, the Drawing:

We know it's a Ferrari 275 GTB, yes we've covered that. We know it's pen on paper, but there's a little more to unpack there. I use 2 pens to sketch with- a Pentel Fine black pen and a Bic Medium Black pen. Why? Each has a different tip size giving a little more overall range. Yes I can sketch and line weight with 1 and be fine, but if Im at my home studio Im going to use everything I have. In this case, Pentel for the initial sketch and Bic for the final lines and line weight adjustments. Everything is roughed out freehand and then tightened up a bit with Ships Curves, but there still has to be a lot of freehand to keep it balanced looking and not overly rigid. I say this in all my vids about the wheels: They really should be round. So if you're not good at free handing them, grab some ellipse tools and use them to get ultra precise shapes. Wheels being out of round is suuper distracting and even tho its just 1 detail, it diminishes the look of the entire drawing. From there, start to balance line weights allowing some bolder areas to grab attention while some thinner areas and transitions can show flow and shape with a lot more interest then simply using a 1.0 mm micron and making perfect, precise lines. Sure that can be done, it's not my jam.

I suppose I should also mention why I like to sketch in Pen as opposed to pencil. In short, pencil is messy and unattractive. Yep, it has an eraser. That's great. I dont draw with the intention of making mistakes (although of course I make them, a lot sometimes) so I prefer that a tool force me to be a bit more confident with my lines. I want to spend more time drawing, not erasing. And ultimately I like a nice bold sketch, and ink does that so so well. Plus I only need 1 tool to do everything at this stage, so I can take it anywhere and still be able to get work done. Of course there are times when I sketch in pencil- complex drawings that I know will need a lot of rework- but that doenst make it my preferred method. True of everything, use the tool for the job base don the scenario you're in, and adjust as needed. I have 1 of everything here at the studio, so if an approach isnt working I can change it up and try a different way so at least Im trying to make progress.

Well that's all for now- thank you if you made it this far and have a great day!

#ferrari #vintage #classic #italian #sportscar #v12 #bic #pentel #ink #sketch #sketchbook #drawing #howtodraw #carart #cardesign #creative #process 

The Traditionally Non-Traditional Hot Rod

 

I know what it looks like- "Hey arent you just using the same content from IG and FB here?". Technically yes, but also no. What I've learned from my years as an artist on social media is that I basically have to do the abbreviated version of everything on those platforms. Two sentences explaining why what I do should hold your attention is quite difficult, especially every day the way I do it. And pieces take hours and sometimes days, yet Im still to try to fit it all in to this minimalist typed space because well, people dont social media to read long posts. At least not on my posts, as I've found. So that brings be back to the beginning here- part of what I had loved about writing blog posts years ago here was that I could be as long format as I want, share photos, videos, links, prints, paintings... pretty much anything without feeling constrained. In fact, some of the best things I was writing 10+ years ago was right here, long before I joined the IG and FB. Ahhh it was a different time. A simpler time. In truth, I loove to write long posts over explaining things and sharing more of who I am comes with a lot more words. 

Maybe now I can finally get around to the actual post here- the artwork it self. This drawing is from 2016, and is one of my favorite pieces of content to share on social media almost purely because of the style. A loose sketch done using a Blue Erasable Prismacolor pencil followed by marker tones done using Chartpak markers, a little airbrushing courtesy of an Iwata with Golden Fluid Acrylic paints, and final details done using White Acrylic Paint for highlights. What I like about this drawing is that it is incredibly simple, but also thorough enough to show the hot rod idea I had at the time. And even being a 4 year old drawing, to me it still holds up. Some of my paintings from last year dont age as well as this has. But that's the simplicity of sketching- ideas dont have to be the full story, they are more suggestive. In fact, the more you leave to the imagination, the better (up to a point). When I'm drawing/painting, im often trying to figure out what to leave out, not how to add more in and just make noise. Simplify Simplify Simplify. That doesn't mean dont add details, that means add details where it matters. Sure, a more fully realized painting is going to have more details, and it should. But a concept sketch should leave some room to move forward with. Even here I probably got a little carried away and in truth I often do. At the very least if I start really simple it's much easier to ramp up then starting with so much detail that it's overwhelming to keep going and it can just feel like it's endless. 

Well that's my ramblings for the day on this one. Already super excited to rediscover there's a place on Ocean Avenue... oh wait that's a song. What I meant was there's a home for all my wordage that I never get to use anywhere else. Doesn't even matter if no one sees this, Im still glad to be able to do it anyways. Admittedly if more people did see it it does make it easier to keep at it, so there's that. Also if you made it this far and are even remotely interested in a signed and numbered print of this particular piece they are available right here: https://www.pinstripechris.com/store/Traditionally-NonTraditional-Hot-Rod-p90495235

Have a good one!

#carsketch #cardesign #drawing #sketching #hotrod #concept #sketch #rendering #hotrods #markerrendering #designstudio #creative #process #carart #industrialdesign 

Brand new Porsche 911 Artwork & Print Available

 

Alright, so I know it's been a while since I last wrote a post here but I figured, why not? I've got some 'extra' time so might as well do more of the things I've been wanting to, like painting.

Since all the lock down craziness, I've actually had time to slow down and re-evaluate things (a topic I'll get in to in a longer post). Upon my coffee infused day dreaming it occurred to me that this at home time is a fantastic time to make do on what I considered my New Year's resolution: make more paintings. Again, I'll elaborate on this in it's own post here as I think there are a lot of great insights to share from my time with me, coffee, my cars, paints, and my family. But for now, here's one of the latest offerings from my whirlwind of paint- "Flat-6" based on and inspired by many different facets of classic Porsche 911 Design. I've become quite the Porsche enthusiast since buying a couple 911's (yet another great story to write some posts on) so they've definitely made their way in to my artwork and I am quite ok with that. If you're here to so the visual story of my art journey (and it's been a long one) I definitely appreciate you- and if you're here and also wondering where to got a limited edition, signed and numbered print of this fantastic artwork, well that's right here: 

https://www.pinstripechris.com/store/Flat-6-p227677115

Thank you for coming by!

#porsche #911 #porsche911 #vintage #aircooled #german #hotrod #painting #artwork #flat6 #coffeetime #classic #design #creative #inspiration #limitededition #prints 

Quick Coffee run in the VW Roadster

1st day of the year and 1st Coffee Run of the year. Sure was a nice day here in SoCal and since my studio is at home I pretty much use any excuse I can to get out of the house for a little bit and get some air. I was surprised how many questions I got about this car on Instagram and Facebook today, but for anyone who's curious this is my 1969 Vw Bug/Roadster. It's a true roadster in the sense that it has no door glass and capped door tops and of course, no roof. I actually bought this car almost 5 years ago and it has a bit of a back story... but I'll have to save that for it's own post. That'll be a good one. Something I'd like to do a bit more this year is share a bit more of the behind the scenes and adventures that happen in between and during artwork things. Not every day is 'sit down to a painting/drawing' day so it'll be fun to share a bit more. Until then, Enjoy the Ride!

And if you'd like to find me on Social Media, im at:

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/pinstripe_chris/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/christopher.dunlop.355

Fresh Porsche Painting and a Fresh Perspective

As much as I'd like to make posts here a bit more frequently, I feel like I already struggle at times to manage the time I have involved in things I'm working on. That said, I'm happy to finally be sharing SOMETHING. Although I post almost everyday on IG (@pinstripe_chris) and FB (Chris Dunlop/Pinstripe Chris), posting here gives me the space to speak out loud about much more of what's going on and the process of doing things. On social media in general I get right to the point of my post- here I feel like I can open up a bit. So lets dive in to the why of this particular painting: Late Monday night I had been watching some videos on YouTube about other artists and their story (something I love to do and often inspires me)- a particular video resonated with me about how a particular artist was very aware of his 'bad paint days' (where artwork just does not come together) and rather then scrap the pieces he uses them as the story behind his day. One's mood can certainly effect artwork in many many ways- this artist chose to not use the bad days as self criticism, but rather evidence of what he was like that day. I had never thought about that before- I certainly have bad or off days where the artwork just does not meet my standards. Often times I will just smear the paint in worse just to end it, but not always. With that in mind, I had done a quick/rough paint comp of this Carrera RS piece that night with the aim of picking it up the next morning. The next morning my mood didn't match what I had started the night before. Rather then setting the piece aside, I decided to paint over what was already there (which served as a nice base) with a fresh look that I could connect with right then. The clean piece I had started with quickly become messy, energetic, and exciting. Admittedly I also enjoyed some good coffee in this process as well. This ended up being extremely cathartic for me, especially since I had spent the last month or so working on very clean illustrations for shops. It's tough to explain what it's like going from a clean to messy when the typical process is in reverse. I literally had to bury what I was comfortable with in order to create something authentic. When inspiration strikes, I grab anything and start drawing/painting on it. In the case of this piece I didnt have any canvas available so I grabbed a very used aluminum paint palette and worked straight over it. The result is a lot of spontaneous texture which I find interesting that the panel itself has its own story before it had artwork on it. There's a part of me that's apprehensive about sharing a more genuine/authentic side to what I really like to do- in this case, making a mess. I wonder if people who enjoy my clean artwork will be confused by my messier artwork. In a time when many creatives are focused on realism & detail, I would prefer to see the world thru a unique lens. I like the power of brush strokes and textures that life isn't likely to create. Does it seem like a step backwards? Maybe to some, but to me it's more me then I've been in a long time.

-Chris Dunlop / Pinstripe Chris

It's been quite a productive week (by eliminating distractions)

It's kind of funny- last night when I was talking to my wife about how much I had got done last week I started to feel bad about how selfish I had been with my time; that I had spent all the sun up time (and some some down) working on artwork & paintings instead of putting nearly as much effort in to some correspondences and communications. I love talking with people about artwork and cars and artwork technique, but this week I just focused on having a bit of 'me time' for artwork which I really haven't had in a while. While I was thinking about the week I at first thought of it as selfish, then I started to feel like, "no wait, this is just a display of my work ethic and passion for what I do". I should ALWAYS want to be having this much fun and making new pieces! I should also want to spend time doing the other side of business things or at least admit that I need to hire some help to keep the gears moving while I'm producing artwork. This week was unique in that I started and finished 9 new paintings- NINE!! Most days that was 2 a day, which is jammin'. Interestingly I had got my oil paints out at the beginning of the week and then just never put them away. It is funny how the slowest paints have helped me produce the fastest artwork. And sure, not every piece is amazing, but the process of creating is sometimes more important then the end result. If I could just sling paint messes about every day I fairly confident that would bring me joy, however, I think my social media audience expects just a little more of me. So I've been working on a happy medium- a mix of messy but legible artwork which has been a unique challenge. I've spent years refining what I consider to be a clean art style, so this want to create messes is different. While I've always enjoyed graffiti and many artists I follow that do do beautiful messes, I recognized my happy spot. But now I think that happy spot was a great way to learn a lot of fundamentals that can now be bent and twisted to suit the mood for that particular piece. I've also spent the last several years working on speed and technique mostly on paper which has given me a little edge on canvas. But perhaps the most important thing that allowed me to be productive this week was (almost) a total lack of distractions. We got a puppy for Christmas and she certainly needs plenty of attention thru the day, but, not nearly as much as responding to comments, emails, messages as soon as they are coming in; a habit I'm very familiar with. Yes, those are the things that keep the gears of business rolling, but if my business is art I also need to be creating art, but in an authentic, organic way (not just because its what Im supposed to be doing). There's a time to handle the communications, or at least there needs to be time set aside for them, but when I answer everything in real time I am constantly disconnecting myself from my artwork, and that's not cool. There's still a balance there that I need to work on, but all part of the journey. One last big factor is that I didn't schedule in any commissions for this particular week which kept me 100% focused on what I wanted to create without limitations. Yes I do some commissions, but most of what I do is non commissioned, actually. And while they can be great, too many may take you of course of your goals or eat up more of your creative time then you think, which is why I don't schedule myself full of commissions.

Well I decided today was going to be a non-art day so I could prove to myself Im not a robot. Going to wash the car and cruise the coast with my wife- have a good one!

I bought a Porsche 996 and now I seem to be doing a lot of Porsche Artwork

I bought a Porsche... whaaaaat? No seriously, yes I did. And lately that's inspired an unusual increase in German car art. I'll get in to the story of my particular car in a separate post, but I can say even from my point of view it's sort of odd that I got one. I'm very much a hot rod/classic car person, and when it comes to luxury/exotics I'm very much a Ferrari person. I certainly don't like ALL Porsche's, but there are a few generations that have my attention for clean, classic design paired with surprising performance. Last night while looking at some fellow enthusiast's cars on the Facebook I happened across a couple shots of a 996 Turbo and decided I had to do a nice dramatic painting. Like NOW. So I black gesso'd a piece of illustration board so I could start with a dark base, then transferred a sketch/outline using a white chalk technique. Initially I was going to use Oil paints, but once I got lines transferred I decided I was going to dust off the ole' airbrush and use some of my favorite paints: Holbein Acryla Gouache. These are basically Gouache paints that will dry permanent like an acrylic (instead of being able to re-wet with water). They also dry in a nice rich matte sheen which is super clean. All the airbrush is done freehand (no masking or stenciling) followed by final details & highlights done using paint brushes and the same paints. I'm a big fan of illustrating/painting in this dramatic/dark studio lighting type of fashion, and I always light my pieces from scratch (no photo reference) and I've recently been informed that that is quite an odd thing to do. For me I feel like I understand lighting & toning well enough to create shape & light interaction from scratch without an image to work from- this gives me the flexibility to highlight what and how I want without being limited to source material. I had an absolute blast working on this painting, next step is to varnish then have it off the framers to get properly completed.

The finished framed original artwork is available, please email us if you are interested: PinstripeChris@hotmail.com