Tag Archives: Cafe Racers

Cafe Racer No.6 progress.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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Cafe Racer No.6

It seems that one only has to blink and time appears to have rushed past.Things have been a bit quiet on the Soulcraftcandy front these last couple of weeks as a hefty chunk of freelance work has done it’s best to sap the creative batteries. It has always been a challenge to keep focus on the art, and the blog, during periods of intense work. It remains to be mastered.

Cafe Racer No.6 b

But as you can see, things don’t stop completely, and progress is being made on the final drawing in this initial series of Cafe Racers. With a couple of free days ahead it should be complete soon. Psychologically speaking it will be an important moment to reach the end of this set. It will signal the completion of my first self-initiated “project”, and a time to reflect on progress and cast my mind towards what to do next.

A hint of where things go from here might be contained in this other sketch which I’m sharing with you on todays post. This is another relatively quick drawing done directly onto heavy weight lining paper. You will note that I made a right old mess of the front wheel. The freehand ellipse remains a tricky fish to land, but at the time it didn’t concern me enough to want to stop the drawing mid way and start again. The pleasure derived from doing these quick drawings, and exploring the view and texture, is more than sufficient to motivate the desire to complete them. There is nothing wrong with a flawed drawing, they are interpretive in nature anyway, and mistakes are always things that we learn from, be they major or minor.

 

It was not included in the main series as I’d already selected the group of six but, it does join a group of other drawings which I hope will inspire some experimentation with techniques and media that will follow on from here.

 

 

 

Cafe Racer No.5, One to go.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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Today is a good day. As you can see above, Cafe Racer No.5 is now finished. This means that there is now only one more to complete in this first series. It could go on to encompass a few more drawings, there are still quite a few ideas clinging to the studio wall but, it feels like a change of pace and subject is in order. A second series is bound to follow soon enough. Setting out to do a series was always going to be a bit of a challenge and it feels good to be nearing the end.

 

Variety is the spice of life they say, so some time spent engaging in a looser style, messing about with some paints and inks, exploring different subjects and doing some other things should provide a fair chunk.

 

There should be some “making” happening as well. Inspired by some desk drawers that get in the way of my legs, a new drawing table should be taking shape soon, using a combination of Ikea hacks and some basic metalwork. The basic design sketches and making process will be appearing here provided I remember to keep the camera handy and I know there are a couple of posts and updates to do for the final stages of the bike modification project on the Suzuki 250. There will be some drawings too as one can’t completely stop doing those. So lots to do.

 

Now, where’s that pencil underlay for drawing number six?

 

Cafe Racer No.4.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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So here we are, presented for your delectation today is the fourth finished drawing in the Cafe Racer series. Like the previous drawing it treads the line between caricature and reality, leaning in one direction or the other depending on which bit you’re looking at. I’m not one to shout loudly about my work but I have to admit here that I’m very happy with it, all things considered. What was mentioned in Post No. 63, “Cafe Racer 3, finally” about how ‘static’ and ‘moving images dictate the background in very different ways rings true here. The original idea of a stylised chevron barrier, you know, the big black and white things that alert you to a bend in the road, just didn’t work, so a far simpler approach was taken.

 

The perennial problem that faces you when you’ve got parallel or converging lines to cross-hatch between is staying inside the lines. If you have an occasionally wobbly hand as I do, then it can be a real ordeal. Each stroke of the pen is a potential mess maker waiting to happen. My solution, and it’s obvious when you think about it, is to mask off the area. Normal masking tape’s no good though, particularly if you want to preserve the surface of your paper. Every roll tried just seems too sticky. Back in my designer days, some guys I was working with at Philips’ studio used a lovely low-tac masking tape when making their marker renderings. It was brilliant stuff but I’ve no idea what it was called or where I could get any. If you know, please let me know. My solution currently is Scotch Removable clear tape which is similarly low-tac. It doesn’t bend as much as masking tape does, so it has its limitations but for these purposes it’s fine, and not so thick that it makes the pen jump on the edge. Pretty good and a neat way to get those edges really crisp.

 

The next two drawings are already laid out in pencil so I’ll be posting updates on their progress when there’s something to show.