Wagon Wheel Final

Wagon Wheel Rough
Graphite 8"x8"

The earlier Wagon Wheel post was a quick look at some of the preliminary drawings, thumbnails, and doodles I used to arrive at the final. This has been a fun project where I was given complete artistic freedom. When asked to create this piece , I was not given any real guidelines other than to make something fun and cool. Even though it is to be used for a rock climbing related business,(The Wagon Wheel Co-Opt), I was told that it didn't have to do much at all with climbing.

In some ways this is great to have this sort of freedom to create, and in other ways makes it tough due to all he directions in which it could go. We went through various concepts, such as a Pulp style cover, a simple shot of a camper, and a few others. In the end I came up with this final sketch. One might ask how does this relate to climbing, Hueco Tanks, or the Wagon Wheel ?

In my eyes it goes like this:

There is a climber who is in transit, crash pad upon his back, accompanied by his trusty canine companion. They are stuck in a city, that I hope resembles El Paso, which is near where the Wagon Wheel is located. In the air above is a dream bubble in which contains the thoughts of both the dog and the climber about how great getting to their campground at the Wagon Wheel will be. So included is imagery of their girlfriends awaiting their arrivals, one of their friends floating around with golf clubs, and of course an image of Hueco Tanks North Mountain in the back ground. Also they are both thinking about how much easier life would be if they had a jet powered camper to fly from climbing area to climbing area.

The final painting will be acrylic on panel with some digitally integrated items/text.!

Rickshaw Challenge

As all guys, I of course have a dream vehicle . For some it is a red Porsche, for others it might be an old school Camaro, or maybe a Benz or a sporty Beamer. For whatever reason we are born with inherited attractions to certain things ,whether it be a particular color, a flavor of soda, or a type of music. If you know me , or have had a good look at this blog and my art it should come as no surprise that my dream ride would be a pimped out Tuk Tuk or Rickshaw.

Ever since my first experience whipping around in one of these high powered go carts in South East Asia I have been obsessed with them. Not quite sure what it is about them that makes me so obsessed. Maybe it is the fact that they still embody the old school design relative to vintage vehicles of yesterday. In the modern world of today this style of design has been left behind. Except for in developing parts of the world, where this style still strives. Due to its small size, in large congested cities , old school Tuk Tuk's can be seen out maneuvering the most modern of vehicles. Perhaps my connection with this comes from growing up as the son of a guy who loved to drive old clunkers. When I was just a baby I was carted around in an old Chevy Vega, then an old Ford F 1-50, followed by a 1970's Bronco, a 1970's El camino, and in current times my Pop's still drives a 1970 Chevy Nova.

Vintage Chevy Vega

At any rate there is something I love about these three wheeled vehicles in which has driven me to create numerous pieces of illustration about them. I believe that in Thailand these little machines are referred to as Tuk Tuk's , whether they are powered by a motor or by a human. In India they are known as Rickshaws, and I am unsure of the name they go by in places like Cambodia and elsewhere, but different variations exist in many parts of the world. Tuk Tuks, and Rickshaws , etc. come in many styles and colors, and are commonly decorated to suite the drivers tastes. In this post I have included some paintings that I have done illustrating Thai Tuk Tuk's found in and around the Capitol Bangkok. Also included are numerous photo's in which I took of various Tuk Tuk's throughout Thailand and Cambodia, and an example of the Rickshaw found in India.

Bkk, Tuk Tuk Ride
24"x48"
Acrylic on panel

Tuk Tuk Driver
5"x5"
Acrylic on Panel

Tuk Tuk Sketches
Graphite on paper

Indian Rickshaw

Thai Tuk Tuk Taxi Bus in Ayutthayah

Cambodian Taxi Tuk Tuk

View of Angkor from Tuk Tuk

Bkk Tuk Tuk

Bkk night Tuk Tuk

Bkk Tuk Tuk 2

Bicycle Tuk Tuk , Chiang Mai

Southern Thai Style Tuk Tuk

Aonang

Currently I am trying to assemble a team to participate in something known as the Rickshaw Challenge, check it out at: http://rickshawchallenge.com/

If all goes well we plan to partake in the event this coming July. It seems like a wild, fun way to see India. So far I have a few friends on board and it looks like it is going to happen. Hopefully I am going to create a blog dedicated to this endeavor, as well as have a benefit art show to try and help fund things. I believe that a lot of the money that in which it costs to participate goes to charity in India, something that makes it more appealing to me as well.

Below are a few fun videos, one in which I slapped together quickly from some old footage, and another of someone doing some Rickshaw stoppy stunts!! Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAwenLnBnLs&feature=related

Thai Tuk Tuk Ride 2007

Wagon Wheel Preliminary Sketches

El Paso Sketch

3"x5"

My favorite part of the illustration process is the thumbnail sketch phase. This is the stage where the basic shapes that will make up the composition of the painting as well as the basic overall look of the characters, vehicles, etc., will be worked out. I try to do at least 20 to 50 tiny drawings that do not measure more than a few inches on either side keeping them very loose and free flowing. Next I will edit the sketches and pick a few that I like. I may combine different elements from the various thumbnails using tracing paper or photoshop to make a final composite image. Having thumbnails plus composites/variations of them gives me a lot of different compositions to choose from. I believe that when designing an image one must try all possibilities in terms of composition and design, include everything and edit the material later. Never should your first sketch become the final!

Once I have a composition that is working I will go ahead and work it up in scale and detail. In this post I have included some of the thumbnails recently completed while working on my initial plans for a painting I am doing for the Strongs and the Wagon Wheel Co-Opt in Hueco Tanks, Texas . The piece has gone through a lot of stages and I have done tons of sketches while working on it. Most of the skecthes in this post are minuscule not measuring much more than 1.5 inches on either side. I will post the final composition soon, which has moved pretty far away from these initial concepts, although elements of these will be found in the final.

Wagon Wheel rough 3"x 5"

Thumbnail1, 2"x 3"

Thmbnail2 , 1.5"x 2.5"

Thumbnail 3, 1.5"x 2.5"

Tiny sketch, 1"x 1.5"

Tiny sketch 2, 1"x 1.5"

Tiny sketch of a dog 1"x 1.5"