1951 Chevy- Part 4- Completed Painting

Nov 21, 2018

The last three blogs have dealt with how I met the owner of this 1981 Chevy, received a commission to paint it for him, how I came up with a design and the block in of the car.

Now the background had to be done convincingly such that the car would appear to be parked at the Rockies.

These are the series of pictures showing the gradual transformation.

Here I have blocked in the sky and the clouds, to create harmony in the painting, notice the clouds have some of the car colour.

Painting The Sky and the Clouds

The distant tree line and the ledge besides the road are painted next.

The Far tree Line & The Ledge At The Edge Of The Road

Now comes the snow covered mountains and the glacial water.

The Mountains And The Water Get Painted Next.

At this stage, the block in is done and now is time to add details to bring out the stone ledge at the edge of the road, refining and adding some of the chrome fixtures on the car, making the windows transparent so that we see the mountains through them. Shadows are also added to the ground under the car.

Refining the ledge, the car windows and chrome fixtures. Deepening the shadow underneath the car.

And finally the trim around the windshield, some refinements to the car colour, reflected colour on the roof of the car and the body of the car unifies the painting. The signature completes it. What is left is glazing the painting with an isolation coat, letting it dry for 48 hours and then applying two coats of UV protectant varnish, letting each coat dry for 24 hours.

The Painting is Now Ready To Be Signed And Varnished.

The last step was to get it framed. As I had used gallery canvas, a frame was not necessary, but the collector wanted it dressed up so we decided on a elegant, minimalist frame.

These two images show the side by side comparison of how the car on the city driveway was transported all the way to the Rocky Mountains on a warm cloudy day. Hope you all enjoyed this long journey. Even though It took me a long time to complete this project, painting this car was a sheer joy. Hope you had as much fun following.

Side By Side Comparison Of The Photograph & ThePainting

When I went to deliver the painting, the collector was astounded with the results and asked me to paint another of his vintage car in his collection. He wanted to hang them side by side. But more about that in my next post.

Mohamed Hirji