All your drawing is done by hand — why do you prefer pen
and paper to using computers?
Maybe it’s the era I was born in, when other people and myself were
more appreciative when you could see that the artist has put in the
grime to get it done. It’s more personal to the owner of the art and to
me to know that I had to use a pen or pencil and apply it to the paper
in different pressures and angles, and think about the shading, etc.
— not just click a couple buttons and wave a plastic pen over here
and there to get something done. Computer graphic art does have
its benefits in other mediums, but I personally think that in this style
of drawing, the automotive scene, freehand pen to paper earns the
most respect amongst the audience.How do you choose the cars you draw?
At first, I really only drew rotas; it’s the scene I’m in, I guess, so it
was the easiest way I could grab people’s attention to my drawings.
Now I don’t choose any; the people come to me and ask me to
draw their cars. It’s as simple as being contacted via my Facebook
page (Kustom Auto Art By SmugZ) with information and reference
photos, then I’ll put my own spin on their car.What reference materials do you use when starting a
drawing?There’s no way I could go and see every car that I draw; it would
mean spending more time travelling than getting the drawing done.
Having been a panel beater and around cars for so long, I’m lucky to
be able to define angles of vehicles from photos. I quickly search the
Internet for references of angles that I can’t see in supplied photos,
but the older stuff is easier, as it’s my era, and I recognize most of
the shapes from being around them. It’s the newer jelly-mould cars
that can get tricky, but that’s part of the job; it’s all by eye. Getting
the missus as a second opinion is key; she is no holds barred and
tells me if the ship don’t look right!How does a typical drawing go down?
After receiving the information, such as photos and details, from
the customer, I begin laying things up. This involves lightly pencil-
sketching the vehicle from the bottom up, getting the proportions
right; sometimes this is achieved on the first attempt, but most times
not so lucky, resulting in maybe three to four attempts before it’s
acceptable. Then, once I have the shape correct, I begin adding the
hard lines — a black outline of the body, doors, windows, wheels,
etc. — and fill in the shadow for the appearance of ride height. Then,
it’s time for the fill. Blending and matching custom paint jobs is the
trickiest part, but it gets done — all this is done in a time span of
between 15 and 24 hours per drawing.the
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