Wells

Had some free time at the weekend so I went to Wells to sketch a bit. A bit rusty and got bogged down with fussy details. Should have used a bigger pen for the first ones (it dries out if I don't use it regularly). The very last pencil sketch is an attempt to loosen up a bit - I should have done more of those. I'll have another go sometime...

1924 Sunbeam - painted

Here it is, splashing across Pendine Sands. I could probably make more of a feature of the water - I'll save that for Babs...

1924 Sunbeam

Did a sketch last night of Malcolm Campbell's V12 Sunbeam. This one set the record at 146.16mph at Pendine Sands in 1924. He further modified the car to achieve over 150.76mph in 1925...

Ford 999

Haven't had a chance to try a colour one yet but I thought I'd post these pencil sketches of Ford's 999 racer from 1902/4. There were actually two. The earlier incarnation was driven by Barney Oldfield - a cyclist - and with it he won and set the course record at Grosse Pointe. It was later crashed and rebuilt - and in 1904 Henry Ford himself set a land speed record of 91.37 mph on a frozen lake. The car was very basic - just a huge 18.8 litre four cylinder engine bolted onto a chassis with no rear suspension and a pivoting metal bar to steer with...

Golden Arrow

Struggled a bit with this one - it's easier to paint the old rickety ones. This is Henry Segrave's 'Golden Arrow' from 1929...

FIAT S76

Quite pleased with this one. Perhaps one of the craziest cars of all time. 28 litre four cylinder engine. Built around 1912 in order to set speed records. Apparently it achieved 132mph - but didn't manage the return run so the result was disallowed. Only two of these were built, the history is very vague leading to all sorts of exaggerated and false stories. It was also called 'The Beast of Turin' and that was what I was trying to capture with the painting - a ferocious animal pouncing...

Renault 40cv

Here's today's. Not entirely happy with it - I couldn't quite replicate the nice brush I had on my computer at work and ended up fiddling too much. Perhaps I'll try it again. This car is from 1926 and was used to set speed records at Monthlery. It's got great proportions, the front is very interesting too...

Fiat Mefistofele

A quick and loose sketch of one of my favourite cars. I'm going to start a series of these I think - perhaps I'll even manage one a day when I get up to speed...