Painting old trucks is like painting the figure

Old trucks, at least pre 50’s era, are the best subjects.You have to engage the shapes and their relationship to one another in a very high-draftsmanship state of mind or your painting, remarkably quickly, starts looking like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.  Where you can have a lot of fun is in the color shifts and the depiction of the curvy forms. They also frequently reside alongside piles of junk and old sheds and what-not that can add to the fun of the composition.

With “The Parts Truck” painting above, one of the common comments was, “It looks so detailed.” Which means that I pulled it off, because I try to persuade the viewer’s eye into thinking that it’s detailed with edges, value and color changes placed in very specific spots. However, if you click on the image to see the closeup, you’ll see that the detail is in your own visual experience or vocabulary of having seen similar things in your lifetime and filling in the gaps of my depiction. 

I find it very intriguing when looking at master works such as John Singer Sargent’s in which I am personally engaged in the finishing of the painting. Where the master has described a scene loosely and has meant for the viewer to see past merely the “support group” of the piece to the important part, or “point” of the painting. It’s as if the artist is following up a brief description of a place with, “You know what I mean?” and yes, John, we do know what you mean. And THANK YOU for not going on and on about it. There is craftsmanship and thought behind an economy of brushstrokes.  

In this manner, painting a truck is not unlike painting a human model.  There is a necessity for high-draftsmanship, while there is much room for color  and edge variation. Also, in describing the curvy forms, I will use very similar color and temperature shifts within the “local color” of the vehicle. One must be mindful also of the surface quality of the truck itself, whether the truck is rusty and beaten or well kept, rebuilt and shiny.

When I’m out on a reconnaissance for new subject matter, I keep my eyes peeled for older and preferably dilapidated items like trucks, barns, tractors, sheds, old mines, etc. Things with character make good subjects for paintings and the weathered look naturally brings the feeling of wisdom.