How to Draw Cars in Four Easy Steps
Learning how to draw cars to re-create the look of a particular model may appear at first to be a step too far for the newcomer to drawing. Not so.
Follow the four simple steps below and you'll soon be drawing any make and model you want. If you're not sure, click on the link on the next line to find out how just using five simple shapes can be used to draw anything.
On the other hand, people may want to learn to draw a car without it being a specific model. Either way, all you need to do is to put some basic shapes together to make it look realistic. Older cars from the twenties and thirties tended to be a more box-like shape than their modern counterparts.
However, the bits like headlamps and mudguards that used
to be bolted onto the box made them a little more
complex to finish off. Look in the links at the end for the
article on older cars where I'll be using the Model Ford T as
the subject.
However in this tutorial, we'll learn to draw probably the most famous 'film' car ever - James Bond's silver Aston Martin DB5 from the 1964 film 'Goldfinger'.
The film buffs amongst you will know it also made a re-appearance following year in Thunderball.
Don't worry, we're just going to draw the car, not the multitude of gadgets it came with, including machine guns, ejector seats and revolving number plates, etc!
It was bought at auction for around $275,000 in 1986 - think what that would be worth 20 years on ...!
Sadly, after being widely exhibited, the car was stolen from its secure storage in an aircraft hangar in 1997.
In true Bond tradition, the thieves cut through alarms, locks and a barbed wire security fence and without alerting security guards, managed to spirit the DB5 away into the night. To the best of my knowledge it has never been recovered.
How to Draw Cars - Stage 1
As you can see, learning how to draw cars -even sleek ones like this - still starts with some basic oblong shapes.
The top box will become the windscreen and interior and the vertical lines on the right hand side of the sketch are to mark the position of the wheels.
I've done these in black pen so you can see the lines easier. I suggest you use an HB pencil which is dark enough to see but will erase easily.
If you want to print this image to use it to trace the outline, feel free. I suggest you enlarge it slightly on your printer if possible, then scribble pencil on the reverse (a bit like carbon paper) and lightly trace it onto your drawing paper. Remember, you're going to erase many of these construction lines as you progress.
By the way, if you're a beginner, tracing an image isn't 'cheating' as some might say. If it helps you at first to understand that much quicker and more thoroughly how to draw cars - or anything else for that matter - then go for it!
How to Draw Cars - Stage 2
Now I've started to put in some detail. As you can see, it's still only blocks, with a few triangles - even the wheels are still square! However, it's starting to look like a car already...
How to Draw Cars - Stage 3
This is where you start to believe you really are learning how to draw cars!
Start rounding off the relevant parts of the bodywork. Draw lightly at first. Try drawing faster and lighter than you'd expect.
A slow heavy line will look labored and probably go wrong anyway.
A series of quick light lines will look better and actually give some 'movement' to the picture.
If you do get it wrong, rub out and go over that section again.
As you become more confident you'll notice that your drawing speeds up and the lines you produce will look more professional.
How to Draw Cars - Stage 4
Having got the outline to your personal satisfaction, now you can add the lights, darks and all the details that really make it look like a DB5.
A good way to bring out highlights in this drawing is to lightly shade all the bodywork with your pencil.
Now take your rubber - a putty rubber which you can mould to a point is ideal - and lift out highlights from the grey bodywork.
You can use this technique to give the car its subtle curves. Decide which side your sunlight is coming from and maintain that consistency when you emphasise the highlights.
Now add your darkest darks in the wheel arches, under the car and the interior, etc.
And there you have it. The original 'Bond' car developed quite quickly and easily from a few square blocks. 'Hope you enjoyed it!
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