Advent 24

Advent 24, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

The final sketch in this year's advent series. See a short time-lapse sketch of it here. Happy Christmas!
http://youtu.be/irKwuLhkoEw

Advent 23

Advent 23, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

The penultimate advent sketch. I was watching a great you tube clip of early rocket powered vehicle tests yesterday - couldn't resist drawing one.
Buy the original for £24 here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/173667319/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 22

Advent 22, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Here's today's sketch - not many to go now!
Buy the original for £24 here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/173607053/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 21

Advent 21, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Here's today's sketch - I enjoyed doing the last catastrophic one so much that I decided to do another. Rest assured, the driver was fine!

Advent 20

Advent 20, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Here's today's advent sketch. It shows Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat riding his electric-powered Jeantaud - setting the very first land speed record. He reached 39mph on December 18th 1898.

Advent 19

Advent 19, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Here's today's sketch - inspired by Campbell's Bluebird streaking across Bonneville.
Buy the original for £24 here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/173412547/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

STP Autosport Show Art

STP Autosport Show Art, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

I was recently commissioned by STP to mark their 60th Anniversary in 2014, celebrating six decades of pioneering, motorsport success. These banners will form the stand at Autosport International in January - and will each be 2 metres high! It'll be a real treat to see my illustrations on this sort of scale - much bigger than I've ever done before. The seventh illustration (of Bloodhound) is to go on a limited edition t-shirt which will be sold at the show.

STP Autosport Show Art

STP Autosport Show Art, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

STP Autosport Show Art

STP Autosport Show Art, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

STP Autosport Show Art

STP Autosport Show Art, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

STP Autosport Show Art

STP Autosport Show Art, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Ronnie Peterson

STP Autosport Show Art

STP Autosport Show Art, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

STP Autosport Show Art

STP Autosport Show Art, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

I was recently commissioned by STP to mark their 60th Anniversary in 2014, celebrating six decades of pioneering, motorsport success. These banners will form the stand at Autosport International in January - and will each be 2 metres high! It'll be a real treat to see my illustrations on this sort of scale - much bigger than I've ever done before. The seventh illustration (of Bloodhound) is to go on a limited edition t-shirt which will be sold at the show.

Advent 18

Advent 18, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Here's today' sketch. Buy the original for £24 here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/173313480/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 17

Advent 17, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's picture is what I imagine a flying ace would drive.
Available to buy for £24 here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/173226669/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 16

Advent 16, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Here's todays sketch - inspired by the long-tailed Indy cars of the past.
Buy the original for £24 here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/173128093/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 15

Advent 15, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's advent sketch. I gave it to the person in the car :)

Advent 14

Advent 14, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's sketch. Available here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/172923484/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 13

Advent 13, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's advent sketch - a big v-twin powered hill-climb special…
Available to buy here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/172840845/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 12

Advent 12, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's advent sketch.

Advent 11

Advent 11, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's advent sketch - a bellytanker streaking across Bonneville.

Advent 10

Advent 10, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's advent sketch. Available to buy here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/172498304/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 09

Advent 09, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's Advent sketch. Continuing the French theme here's a Torpedo styled number. Available for purchase here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/172345011/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 08

Advent 08, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's advent sketch. A new one every day until Christmas. Buy the original here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/172208798/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 07

Advent 07, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

The 'Wasp'. Seventh in the advent series.

Buy it here… https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/172114763/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 06

Advent 06, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's advent sketch…

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/172002329/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 05

Advent 05, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Today's catastrophic advent sketch. Available for purchase, £24, here…

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/171864372/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 04

Advent 04, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

December 4th - a big chain-driven beastie!

Advent 03

Avent 03, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Third in the Auto Art Advent series. Trying to think of some new angles to draw the cars at - this one's about 40º Buy the original for just £24 here…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/171614435/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?ref=shop_home_active

Advent 02

Advent 02, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Advent sketch #2 Inspired by that great day at Pendine this year…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/171463905/advent-vintage-hot-rod-sketch-pencil-and

Advent 01

Advent 01, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Happy December! Here's the first Advent car sketch. There will be a new one every day until Christmas. Trying to be a bit looser with them this time round. Oh, and you can buy them too! £24 inc. postage anywhere in the this world…
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/171330437/advent-vintage-car-sketch-pencil-and?

Scammell Pioneer - pencil

Scammell Pioneer - pencil, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

This is a Scammell Pioneer. The few remaining patches of green paint suggest it was built during the war and used for tank towing or heavy recovery. Quite a rare thing apparently - but sadly probably beyond saving.

Scammell Pioneer - ink

Scammell Pioneer - ink, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Cathy spotted this wonderful old truck near us. Once I'd seen it I knew I'd have to return to sketch it - which I did this morning. I invited fellow artist Martin Squires along too as I know he likes his commercial and farm machinery.

1913/18 Piccard-Pictet 'Pic Pic'

1913/18 Piccard-Pictet 'Pic Pic', a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Such a beautiful car - not just the proportions but also the attention to detail - and of course the wonderful aero-engine too. Previously I've only managed a very quick sketch so it was nice to have a bit of time for something a bit more finished (as finished as my work gets anyway)

White Steamer - 'Whistling Billy'

White Steamer - 'Whistling Billy', a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Whistling Billy is an amazing steam-powered racing car dating from 1905. A large patch of blistered paint suggested that it might recently have been 'On Fire Billy'! I wanted to have another go at this unique car (my previous attempt wasn't up to much)

Ford - Bobtail T

Ford - Bobtail T, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

I love the simplicity of these Model T racers - must be a lot of fun to drive - although with the unusual controls it probably takes a fair bit of concentration too!

1904 Oldsmobile Curved-Dash

1904 Oldsmobile Curved-Dash, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

The wonderful curved-dash Oldsmobile which Joy Rainey drove coast-to-coast across America this year. She was raising money for Cancer Research - find out more - and better still make a donation... joy-across-america.com

Humber 9/20

Humber 9/20, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Visited a small car gathering at an open day of a local car restoration company - Brabazon Motors. Lots of exotic machinery but the simplicity of this Humber attracted me.

Original Sketches for Sale

Just added loads of original sketches of all sizes, prices and subjects (cars, bikes, planes...) for sale on the Etsy store...

Model T pickup

pickup, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Perhaps my favourite car of the day. This model T pickup just 'sat right'. It's a very loose sketch as I was walking alongside as he shuffled forward in the queue for the start.

VHRA Pendine Hot Rod

pendine 58, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

This hot rod had was just full of interesting details and textures - it really ought to be painted in colour.

Golden Ford

golden ford, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Neil Tuckett's 1911 'Golden Ford'. I'd seen this before at Goodwood and it was great to see it race - and to get a chance to do a quick sketch

Styluses for iPad Sketching - Part 2

Since my last blog article which related my experiences with various iPad drawing implements I’ve been sent several new items to test. Two have the standard rubber tip - but are at opposite ends of the price scale - and two are pressure-sensitive - something I’ve lusted after for a long time.

Here they are, on the left is the Dagi stylus which was my favourite after the last review. Then there’s the Jukestyle, Cross Tech3, Pogo Connect and Hex3 Jaja.

First up, the Jukestyle. At $10 there aren’t many cheaper. The rubber tip is the same as most others and glides nicely over the screen. It can be pulled apart to reveal a biro - and joining the two pieces together makes the otherwise very short stylus a better length - great if like me, you like to hold your pencil quite far from the tip. The ink refill is a short, screw-in type which I’ve not seen before but I dare say a bit of Googling will find a replacement. The slim pen is nice to hold and a decent buy for anyone looking for a cheap and compact solution.

Rather more up market is the Cross Tech3. I’m not sure the pen lives up to the quality of the smart box it comes in - or the price tag (£30-£60). It’s just not very beautiful in my eyes. It is however, nice to have a stylus shaped like a normal pen and also, jolly useful. With the standard rubber stylus tip on one end, twisting the cap reveals a 0.5mm propelling pencil, a black biro and a red biro too. Not only that but the rubber tip can be unscrewed to reveal an eraser. It’s quite weighty and I found the highly polished surface a bit hard to hold on to while sketching - I tend to prefer lighter drawing and writing tools. To sum up, it’s probably better suited to a smart business person rather than a scruffy sketcher like me (who is particularly fussy about his drawing tools!)

On to the pressure-sensitive styluses. I’ve been using Wacom tablets with this feature on desktop machines for years but this is the first I’ve tried on an iPad. Pressure-sensitivity allows you to use pen pressure to vary your line thickness and opacity just as you can with real pens and pencils.

The £55 Pogo Connect is well made, with a brushed aluminium finish which gives good grip without being too heavy. It transmits the pressure information to the tablet using Bluetooth - and for that reason there’s a AAA battery inside it. Theres also a single button with an embedded light.

The Pogo Connect is perhaps one of the best supported of this sort of stylus and was suitable for my favourite drawing apps (currently Procreate and Adobe Ideas) and many more. It has the same rubber tip as those previously but the clever thing here is that it’s held in place magnetically - so should it ever wear through, you can buy replacements. The button can be set to provide a shortcut to the most common tools, like undo, and in most apps the coloured light would change colour to the colour you were using. It’s clearly a well thought out, quality product and I really wanted to like it but I didn’t find it pleasant to draw with for two reasons. Firstly, it took quite a lot of pressure to get the full range of stroke thicknesses and as you pressed more firmly the rubber tip would glide less well. (UPDATE: It seems the latest app update may have cured this - it certainly feels much better now and is nice to draw with. The update hasn't cured the next bit though...) Secondly, there’s a slight bug, which is that if you start to draw on the screen very lightly, using just the weight of the pen, it won’t leave a mark. If however you press a little harder first and then lift off to the very light pressure - it does work! It may be something they can fix but for now it’s the sort of thing that puts me off using it. If I touch a stylus to the screen I want it to make a mark!

The final stylus is the Hex3 Jaja ($90). Unlike the other pens in this review, the tip has a small disk similar in style to the plastic one on the Dagi - but made of teflon. I much prefer these over the rubber tips as they don’t obscure your line and glide better - but do make a small tapping noise on the glass.

Constructed with a mixture of gun metal coloured brushed aluminium, orange plastic and with a rubber grip it looks very high-tech. It’s also the longest stylus I’ve tried - a good thing in my books. Like the Pogo it uses a AAA battery - but not for Bluetooth - apparently it uses inaudible high-pitched sound to transmit the pressure info to the tablet. I can’t tell you if it’s annoying to animals as my cat is deaf. UPDATE: My eleven year old son can hear it from the next room!!!

I really enjoyed drawing with it. The tip glides very well even with quite firm pressure. There are two buttons on the side which can be set to perform useful in-app functions. I haven’t used it long enough to see how long the battery lasts but it’s a pleasure to use - by far the best I’ve tried. The only thing that’s missing for me at the moment is compatibility with Adobe Ideas.

The ability to draw using different line thicknesses without having to go to a menu speeds up the sketching process enormously. Also, the varied strokes that a stylus like this make are usually far more interesting than a drawing where every line has the same thickness. Below are a couple of quick sketches done from life using the Hex3 Jaja and the Procreate app. I’ll let you know how it goes in the long run...

UPDATE: Battery didn't last as long as expected - perhaps 3 or 4 hours of continuous use. I'll try to keep track of how long the next one lasts and perhaps invest in a set of rechargeables. Also, occasionally you'll get a blip where it briefly draws at maximum pressure, perhaps caused by a noise created by the pen on the glass? - but it doesn't happen often enough to put me off using it.