Hot Rod Artist Larry Gardinier Shares His Passion     I can remember sitting in junior high school (yeah, we called it JUNIOR HiGH back then…what of it?) with a friend who was really good at drawing those Ed Roth style hot rods with the weird driver poked through the roof, slobbering all over and looking nasty. We loved it and thought “maybe someday we’ll just sit around all day and draw cars for a living.” Uh…didn’t quite work out that way.   Tons More Stories about Hot Rod Art (will open in a new window)   Larry Gardinier, on the other hand, probably dreamed of the same kind of life, but until he lost his “real” job as an architectural illustrator, there was little chance he would actually swing his legs off the bed every morning and go…draw cars! Gardinier sees his good fortune as fitting him perfectly. “I’ve always been an automotive artist,” he says. Since “going professional” in 1990 Gardinier says he’s been able to take this crazy car passion to new levels. “How could I not love it?”     Gardinier may have come by this...

Artist's Eye on a Model A Hot Rod   Which do you prefer? The real thing or Haropcat's drawing? Check out the "real thing" in the feature story I did on Voodoo Larry's Voodoo Psychosis! from the Detroit Autorama.     The engine shown was featured as a "Top 11 Hot Rod Engines of Detroit" and it was very cool to meet Larry down in the basement of the Detroit Autorama.   Check out more of Harpocat's cool drawings in his garage at MyRideisMe.com. Then, get your...

Hot Rod Art by One of the Best!   All artwork by Brian Stupski at Problemchildkustoms.com   Brian from Problem Child Kustoms Studio is a good friend and and a great artist! Feel like learning about his style and even how to draw cars? Then check out his garage at MyRideisMe.com. You can add your own artwork and how-to's just like Brian is. Then, add him to your crew so he can see some of your work. It all starts with Joining MyRideisMe.com.   So Check out the NASCAR inspired Ford Thunderbird above, with the title An Alternate Flight - and see more in the May 2013 issue of Street Rodder.     Next up is Brian's tutorial about how to draw this Chevelle. Dude makes it look easy!!     And finally, Weaving a Tale With Cars: Hot Rod Art With a Twist - How he does it and why. (Even I learned something! So check out Brian's garage and let him know what you think. He's gifted artist and can tell a story...

How do you draw the perfect car?   All artwork by Brian Stupski at Problemchildkustoms.com   How does he do it? An amazing car modified in ways to be described below, but then, in this drawing, it FLIES off the page. Love it!   As a bonus to the 45 Pictures of Poteet's Radical Torino Talladega I shared, here's the drawing that inspired the car. Brian works closely with Rad Rides by Troy to detail the lines and final shape. Rad Rides then transform the art into real metal shapes. Poetry! So here's the details on what went on... followed by some other choice drawings by Problem Child Kustoms.   (Click any picture to see it full size)   Can you pick up on a few ideas that didn't make it to the final design? I found a couple!       Well? What you think? How to draw the perfect hot rod? Let's ask Brian to put it on paper while asking George Poteet to dream up something...

Classic American Sports Car - AMC AMX I was looking through my buddy Mike Gulett's website called MyCarQuest.com when I found this beauty of an AMC. It immediately reminded me of this concept drawing: While not the same car, both show that the AMC make needs a little love! The drawing is hot rod art straight from the  mind of my buddy Brian over at ProblemChildKustoms.com. He called it, "Let them eat cheese" Mike's MyCarQuest article explains: The AMX could be bought with a 390 cid V8 that produced 315 hp, 325 hp or 420 hp depending on the options. The AMX appealed to both muscle car lovers and sports car enthusiasts. The result may have been confusion in the market place. While Brian takes a different route detailing the build and says, The concept: A '74 AMC Hornet built with a nod to the Mulholland road-race crowd of the '70's. A tube chassis with a 9-inch center section IRS and Corvette-based front suspension allows the car to sit right on the ground, and the full 'cage helps everyone inside feel safe as the world rushes by in a...

Tim Strange's Hot Rod Reality TV with at Taste of Arizona Saturday morning's got a new hot rod TV show and it's always fun watching since I know Tim and I've heard some of what's going on backstage at the show. One thing I know we're missing is the details of Tim's work. If they spun off that show and only showed the building parts, it'd still be a hit. I met Tim through Brian Stupski over at Problem Child Kustoms in Gilbert, AZ or just a few miles down the road from MyRideisMe.com headquarters. Brian's hot rod art was featured on the show helping out with a 1967 Ford Mustang. Take one look at the art and you'll know why this was no gimme for a friend... Brian's work is top notch. Here's Brian's take on the build and his part in Search and Restore: Having the good fortune to have made some incredible friends over the years is one of those things I'm thankful for every day. Nothing compares to being able to call one of the most skilled builders in the industry as a friend, or...

Learn How To Paint Like Hot Rod Artist James Owens The Dame Wore Red is the first in MyRideisMe's new feature, Artist Toolbox. Read on for tips and secrets how James Owens makes his car noir art. _______________________________________________________________ The Dame Wore Red By James OwensShe sat there mocking me. Her blank stare made me feel like it was my first time. But I’ve been down this alley before and I learned something every time, usually the hard way. Her kind can strike terror into the hearts of grown men. Her milk-white skin was almost blinding, taunting, teasing me till I couldn’t think straight. She sat there on my easel thinking she had me right where she wanted me. A canvas is like a dame, you treat ‘em right and they’re a little bit of heaven right here on Earth. You treat ‘em wrong and brother you find yourself in a mess. I guess the big difference is, I’m usually trying to put something ON a canvas. My name is Owens, I paint pictures. It ain't rocket science. Any yegg can learn it. But not everyone is nutty enough to...

Car Concept Drawings that'll blow your mind! This little Dodge A-100 has been the one piece of my work that gets me more emails, calls, letters and requests for re-prints than any other I've sketched. This car concept drawing's just got that something that makes people grin, and everyone just seems to get it. It's fun, it's irreverent, it's obnoxious... It sums up my earliest inspirations and daydreams in one bright orange, low-slung package, and looks like it just did something wrong... And, frankly, it doesn't give a shit. It's my inner child, street machine-style, hyped-up on orange soda and pizza. I began drawing cars after a career move from cubicles to cubic off-road insanity. I was designing project cars and doing car concept drawings for clients at night and on weekends, and managing them during the day at that new job. My personal artwork was taking on a realistic appearance out of necessity, but the wild style within still wanted to play. One day in late 2006, I let it out in the form of this orange hued bit of my ID, now simply known in the studio...

Famous Car Designers Say How it's Done Have you ever attended a manufacturers’ auto show and wondered what it takes to design a modern automobile? Then, Motorbooks’ new title "How to Design Cars Like a Pro", written by Tony Lewin and Ryan Borroff, is for you. This totally revised 2010 edition of the classic first released in 2003 takes you into the world of auto design. It includes interviews with top designers and top car makes such as Marek Reichman of Aston Martin and Adrian van Hooydonk of BMW. It also includes the design inspirations of such modern vehicles like the Chevrolet Camaro and the Volkswagen Scirocco. Find out what a typical week looks like for a designer by following chief designer at Land Rover, Oliver le Grice, as he goes about his week. How to Design Cars Like a Pro tries to define what makes a good design and the steps needed to get from concept to reality. I feel the best parts of the book are the chapters on "design and great designers" and "right idea, wrong time." Those two chapters are an excellent historical accounting of...

The Hot Rod Industry BMX Challenge (HRIC) is just a few weeks away! Tim and Carrie Strange from  Strange Motion Rod & Custom sent over this info about the 2nd Annual BMX Challenge held at the massive Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, KY, August 5-8th. (More info about the Street Rod Nationals) Here's the BMX Challenge Info: We are really excited about the BMX Challenge this year - we have changed the rules just a little - for the HRIC you must be a participant or vendor at the Street Rod Nationals - the BMX race is once again FREE of charge for you to participate in BUT to mix it up a little and to help give you guys and the spectators a better show we challenge you to "get sponsored". We will be running a Pro/Am mixed in with the Hot Rod Challenge and in order to bring in the "big guns" we have to show them the money! So we challenge you to get a sponsor for your race.  Along with your name being announced during the race your sponsor will get some plugs as well! ...

This is a Mustang for all car enthusiasts, old hot rodders and young tuners alike...its the "Game Changer!" If you like American Muscle, you'll dig the Dynacorn '69 Mustang fastback shell, Art Morrison custom front subframe,  individual throttle body/injected 2011 Mustang GT 5.0L 32Valve engine with 6 speed trans and Pro-Touring style.  If you like Drifting Imports, you'll dig the slammed stance, 50-60 degree steering angle, 7000 redline, aggressive Japanese wheels sized 18x10 front and 18x12 rear with 7" lips and Street Drift style! Meet the '69 Mustang "RTR-X"!  The coolest project car of 2010, due to intro at the 2010 SEMA show in Vegas later this year. This is the answer to my "Pro-Touring + Hellaflush" Dreams!  Remember this post I did last year? The creative mind behind this Street/Drift Mustang is Sir Vaughn Gittin Jr (ok, I added the Sir), Formula Drift points leader and "RTR" Mustang brand owner.  But you'll also notice the "Team Need For Speed" logo in the bottom right.  This is a collabo between Vaughn, Speedhunters.com and the Need For Speed brand.  Andy Blackmore of the Speedhunters.com/Need For Speed family has helped Vaughn put his Inspired Ideas on paper (or...

You just read that title and said, " a Gasser what?" I admit, I ain't right. I have strange tastes compared to some and I guess you could say I have a vivid imagination, too. How else can I imagine how nasty a 1961 Rambler American station wagon would look as a Gasser. I've got the idea in my head, but like alot of you, I can't draw, much less make a rendering like this showing my crazy dream to perfection! That's where artists like Joel Nelson from 1320designs.com comes in. (Click on the image above to see it full size. It's a higher resoultion pic perfect for a desktop wallpaper) Before continuing that story, let me back up. I dig wagons. I don't know for-sure why, maybe it was because my dad drove us around in 1967 Ford Wagon when I was a kid. My brother and I'd drop the back seat down and slide around in back on the metal floor. This was the mid 70's so seat belts weren't the rage they are now. Looking back, we survived alot of things that have today's parent's gasping!...