Dr Sketchy's Life Drawing, Bristol

Just discovered Bristol finally has Dr Sketchy's Life Drawing events. It's a great mix of burlesque entertainment and drawing - usually in a bar so there's beer too. I first heard about these a few years back and thought they sounded a lot of fun - now I know they are. My first time life drawing in 2 years or so - I was pretty rusty but I like the last sketch. Looking forward to the next one.

First up was the Diva...

The next model was Dis Charge - strikingly tall and with great make up. We were treated to a song part way through too!

The final model of the session was Daphne Dangerpants. She had a great costume which I'd love to have had more time to sketch.

Daphne minus the costume…

Really pleased with this last drawing - I like the lost edges on the arm in the shade and the tattoo.

Autumn Classic, Prescott

A few sketches from the Autumn Classic at Prescott. There's always a great atmosphere when the hotrodders visit, the wall of death is great too and the whole thing gets mixed in with some steamers, cooper 500's, hillclimb specials and vintage Bugattis. I was lucky enough to get a ride in a fantastic 1932 model B - and also a blast around the countryside in a GP Bugatti - fantastic! Hope you like the work. Lots of photos in the flickr album. This beautiful car belongs to Neil Fretwell - organiser of the VHRA... This wonderful flathead was the first thing that caught my eye that I wanted to sketch. Turns out it belonged to Graham - who bought loads of last year's Advent sketches. He very generously gave me a ride up the hill in the parade. (If you'd like to see the rest of the car it's the powder blue one in the flickr gallery)... This was a stunning car (red flake paint, gold wheels) - and was driven with great speed up the hill. I think the chap who built it also built the other engine I sketched.

New Prints!

Available on the Etsy store now are limited edition A3 prints of both the C-Type Jaguar and Mercedes W154. It's taken a bit of experimenting to get the giclee prints to capture the subtleties of watercolours but I think I've got it now and I'm very pleased with them...

Silver Arrows at Goodwood Revival

A dream assignment - visit the Goodwood Revival as a guest of Mercedes Benz UK in order to sketch the reunion of 10 Silver Arrows racing cars.

The weekend was incredible, wonderful party atmosphere, great racing and the Silver Arrows display was stunning. It was a real honour to witness first hand the sound and smell of these cars which my Grandfather saw and photographed as a young man in Germany. Thanks to all the mechanics who put up with me sitting in their garage, Mercedes and Audi for bringing these amazing machines and not least Angus and Rob who invited me and spoilt us rotten!

The garages were pretty busy (and noisy!) so i mainly did quick sketches with a Prismacolor pencil. There are a couple of watercolours at the end though. Hope you like them...

Dieppe Grand Prix Sketches

The new issue of The Automobile is now out and it features a diary of my trip and a few sketches and photos - they've done a great job of laying it out. Here's the sketches i did - quick pen ones was all I had time for. First is a 1908 Daimler, a wonderful car to ride in - towering above everyone else - looking over fences - a real Mr Toad car...

 Here's the hotel at Caudebec...

 The 1913 Monarch GP and the 1905 200hp Darracq - both big V8 beasties put together by Mark Walker...

 The same cars again - this time at Caudebec...

 The 1903 Panhard Levassor, a stunning looking machine with a huge 4 cylinder engine...

 And the obligatory thumbnails! 1913 Monarch GP, 1912 De Dion Bouton, 1905 200hp Darracq, Sizarre Naudin, 1908 Daimler, 1911 Sunbeam, 1912 Sunbeam and 1903 Panhard Levassor

La Vie En Bleu, Prescott

A wonderful weekend at the French-themed festival. There's always a great party atmosphere with musicians, can can dancers and very funny performers dressed as chefs, policemen and onion sellers. Got to see some old favourites and also some cars that I'd hoped to see for a long time. Didn't get an awful lot of sketching done - too many distractions. I'll add some photos soon.


I love this huge-engined monster. 4 cylinders and 17.5 litres...

Another favourite of mine. Very low slung. I love the way the big V8 and exhausts stick out the sides...

This is a beautifully engineered car - very crisp looking in its bare metal with a stunning supercharged engine...

I've wanted to see this for a long time. It's one of my favourite cars and I really enjoyed sketching it. Originally it had a 16degree V-Twin - it's now fitted with a single cylinder engine of the same vintage. Frustratingly the original motor is rusting away in a garden but the owner won't sell it...

Wonderful aero-engined beast - capable of over 130mph - if you're brave enough! Starting to get bored of the black Prismacolor pencil so I tried sketching with a blue pencil for a change...

VSCC Festival of Slowth

My first time to this wonderful event for cyclecars. An amazing selection of vehicles - such varied designs. It was great to finally see the Grafton, a beautifully made car with what I think of as perfect proportions. Other highlights were the Bedelia and Tamplins and getting to see the maiden run of the fabulous looking Chater Lea. The day was topped off with an hilarious spin in the electric Red Bug (complete with umbrella). Thanks everyone for making me feel so welcome - have a look at the Flickr gallery to see photos of some of the other oddities I didn't manage to sketch...

Bugatti T35 - without bodywork

Bugatti T35 no body 2s, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Bugatti T35 - without bodywork

Bugatti T35 no body 1s, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Got an invitation to see a Bugatti T35 without it's bodywork - definitely not something to miss. It was fascinating to see how it was put together - and the many marks it had picked up over the years. I've been trying to loosen up with my drawing again - using a prismacolor and cheap A3 layout paper. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Auto Art Advent 2011 print

Auto Art Advent 2011 print, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Finally got round to making a nice A2 print of all the cars I drew last December. If you'd like one they're available on my Etsy store... http://www.etsy.com/listing/98913140/auto-art-advent-2011

GN Vitesse

GN Vitesse, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Managed to get a few hours drawing in last week - I'm a bit rusty. I tried using Bristol board which is lovely to draw on - but not the best at taking the paint.

The car is the terrific GN Vitesse - a cyclecar chassis coupled with an enormous 8.2 litre V8 Curtiss Aero engine. In the background is the Anzani GN trials car.

Rocket Test Rig

Rocket Test Rig, a photo by Stefan Marjoram on Flickr.

Here's a quick sketch of what's in the workshop at the moment. It's the test-rig that will be connected to the biggest rocket ever fired in Britain. The huge tank will be filled with HTP and pumped into the rocket by the Cosworth formula 1 engine.

I did the sketch in pen, then photographed it and added the colour with the iPad. Works pretty well as a process - saves booting up the old desktop and scanner - I'll be doing it again.