We went to Djurgården in Stockholm today to check out Gärdesloppet, a veteran race for cars older than 50 years. There´s a great event around this race, gathering cars and car enthusiasts from all over Scandinavia. If you like old cars, this is one grand feast for the eyes.
As I have a plan to start learning how to draw cars this year, I had to go see all these beauties and try to capture a few of them on paper (though I have to admit I captured a huge amount more of them with a camera…).
I hesitated for a bit at first, since there are immense crowds of people in this place and you feel like you are in the way wherever you choose to sit, but eventually I sat down and started drawing in front of this Volvo. I drew directly in ink, so mistakes and mis-measurements that got caught on the paper stayed on the paper. I can see clearly that the poor Volvo doesn´t quite look like itself here, but I´m still happy with two things about this drawing:
1. The vehicle is still in fact recognizable as a Volvo, and
2. I actually drew a car!
The other fella is a Mercedes, though that isn´t very easy to see,
because the owner got in behind the wheel and drove off before I even got to the emblem… Oh well. Still, I think I got the angle and the wheels pretty right. (I just discovered today that wheels in perspective is a huge challenge to draw! Practice, practice…)
I love old cars and I must say they give far more inspiration for drawing than modern cars. These oldies have soul, they have design, they have history, they have style, and thanks to the enthusiasts that keep them alive, I´ll bet these veterans will still be rolling when today´s cars are long gone.
Volvo: 19 x 13,5 cm, Mercedes: 15 x 8 cm, Lamy Safaris and Noodler´s Lexington Grey and Black, in sketchbook with unknown paper.