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- Chrome Rising - detail of process on hood
I used the tattoo needle in the lengthwise direction, then in an angled direction (but not 90 degrees to the other direction). - Chrome Rising - detail of process on hood
This series of 5 images shows how I started work on the section of the hood of the "Chrome Rising" drawing.
This is an eyebrow (or cosmetic) tattoo needle. I used it to clear away some of the black on the car hood. - Chrome Rising - Final
"Chrome Rising" - 6" x 6" scratchboard. 1941 Cadillac hood ornament, from my own reference photo.
Scratched with a #16 X-acto & an eyebrow tattoo needle (on the hood of the car), re-inked (stippling) with a technical pen.
I was mostly happy with the previous version of this drawing, but the contrast between the hood & the background in the corner bothered me. It pulled the eye right off the edge. I re-worked the hood to make it darker and now it reads better. I stippled with a technical pen to make the entire hood darker, and then scratched to blend & add highlights.
Part of the reason I didn't anticipate the issue in the corner is that I usually erase the backgrounds in Photoshop to save printer ink and avoid distraction from the subject. This a case where that worked against me, because in the photo, the background was white, so I wasn't seeing that contrast between the hood & the solid black background until I was finished. See the next 2 images - my reference photos... - Chrome Rising - Reference Photo 1
Here's the original reference photo. You can see the hood was white, but without a dark background, the contrast situation wasn't distracting. - Chrome Rising - Reference Photo 2
To give me a better idea of how to re-work the hood, I took that section of the reference and made it darker. That brought up some details that I could incorporate. - Chrome Rising 1
Early stage of this one, plenty left to do at this point, but I was happy with how it was going. 6" x 6" scratchboard drawing of a 1941 Cadillac hood ornament. From my own reference photo. - Chrome Rising 2
She's lookin' pretty shiny at this stage! The lower section is the most tedious - where I worked to get a smooth, light value (but not pure white) on the hood of the car. I used an eyebrow tattoo needle to pull off some of the black (the rougher parts that are still visible) and a #16 X-acto blade to carefully blend the rough pattern. You can see the final value in the upper left section of the hood. - Chrome Rising 2 - Detail
Detail of the 2nd stage - Chrome Rising 3
She's all blocked in at this stage! Plenty of fine-tuning left to do... - Chrome Rising 4
I thought the drawing was finished at this point, but the contrast between the hood and the background was bothering me! See the next image for further discussion. - Chrome Rising 4 - Detail
Detail of stage 4 - Hanna 1
Hanna the Harrier (breed of Hound), in progress. 5" x 7" scratchboard Reference photo provided by my client. I started with the railing to be sure it was headed in the direction I wanted, then began scratching on Hanna. - Hanna 2
Watercolor on the railing: I've scratched & added color twice. I'm still building the contours & wood grain, but I like how it's going. I'll add some color pencil to define the grain further. Just scratching so far on Hanna. Clearly, I'm not worried about drawing the eyes first. Every drawing is different, the eyes happen when they happen... - Hanna 3
At this point, the railing was pretty much finished, with more scratching on Hanna. I've used watercolor & color pencil for the color & texture on the railing. - Hanna 4
Now with "spooky eyes". I know it looks weird - the eyes are overscratched at this point, they will be a lovely warm brown when the portrait is finished. I'll stipple the eyes with ink & scratch more to make them darker, while still leaving enough white for the surface to accept color. Her nose is over-scratched also, that will be stippled as well. I left a black outline, so I don't lose the edges of her nose against the fur in that area. Once I finish the scratching in the central area and that tiny bit on the left, then I'll go back in & stipple.