“how to draw cars now” was first featured in December 2011 when designer arvind ramkrishna launched it on kickstarter to support early production.
the project successfully reached its funding goal in January, and the first dvd sets are currently in production, almost ready for delivery.
Reading: How to draw cars now review
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in the meantime, you can read more below in our exclusive review of the preview copy of the dvd game.
Our Review
The first thing that strikes us is the amount of material included: two DVDs, with almost five hours of video content, four ebooks and an insert booklet.
All of this learning content focuses specifically on drawing cars and represents a complete class/workshop on the subject, complete with training exercises, reference material, and hands-on demonstrations.
In addition to this holistic approach, another unique feature of “how to draw cars now” is its specific focus on a traditional, analog drawing approach, using pens, pencils, and markers, which it still is today. Recognized by design schools as the best method to learn to draw.
content summary
dvd 1
the first dvd is the “heart” of the package and includes several chapters:
Introduction to drawing materials.- presentation of some basic drawing exercises
- introduction to value sketching and crosshatching techniques with two sample car drawings
- presentation of thumbnail sketches as a process for exploring ideas
- basic concepts in reflections
- summary of the proportions of the car. This is the most design focused part of the entire dvd set and explains the basic guidelines for creating well balanced and realistic looking cars
- Full Marker Rendering – A 1-hour time-lapse fully commented video showing the process of creating a detailed rendering using the techniques explained in previous lessons.
- a collection of blog posts from motivated experts, reformatted in an easy-to-read style.
- an introduction to perspective drawing
- an introduction to value sketching
- an introduction to proportions, including printable templates
dvd 2
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The main goal of the second DVD is to help transition from traditional to digital techniques, creating a digital version of the rendering done on the first DVD.
To do that, Arvind starts by providing an overview of the basic features and tools used in Photoshop for digital painting, including brush settings and layer settings; this is particularly useful for total photoshop beginners.
after a valuable rendering exercise and a quick painting of a car made from a reference photo, a 1h20m-long chapter shows the complete workflow for recreate the side rendering of the car seen on the first dvd.
arvind’s approach to digital tools reflects his traditional media techniques and results in images with a very interesting and distinctive analog look.
additional content
The insert booklet contains a thoughtful introduction to the DVD set and a number of reference images for different techniques, drawing exercises and types of reflections.
It also includes a weekly schedule that gives an idea of the different practice times needed for beginners, hobbyists, and aspiring professionals.
all four eBooks are available digitally on the second dvd and include:
ipad edition
conclusions
“how to draw cars now” is a unique product in the car drawing niche: even if there are already several instructional books on drawing cars, it is difficult to find high-quality video content on the specific topic, since most of the material available today deals mainly with digital techniques in photoshop, sketchbook pro or painter.
The DVDs focus on the techniques rather than on the “design” aspect, and are strongly influenced by classic cars and vintage reference images and inspirations.
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“how to draw cars now” is available for pre-order on the official website at a price of $49 for the standard dvd set and $59 for the edition special that includes videos in ipad format (excluding shipping costs).
We think this is a very good price for a complete, quality product that clearly shows the hard work behind it, with several hours of edited content commented by a professional designer.
from an audio/video technical point of view, dvds do not achieve the highest possible quality, partly also due to the limits of the dvd format; however, this does not detract from your instruction.
in terms of alternative products, there are other good commercial dvds that focus on more specific topics, but without the wide reach of this one and/or at a higher price.
As for free alternative stuff, there are plenty of videos online about traditional car drawing, but most of them are time-lapse demos with no commentary or clips made by hobbyist designers, with one of the few exceptions being the experts driven by arvind. youtube channel.
For beginners who’d like to learn to draw cars, this DVD set is a solid starting point with enough content to get started and be busy for a while, with the possibility of delving later into specific subjects – such as drawing fundamentals or digital painting techniques – with complementary training material.
It can also be useful for students considering a career in industrial or transportation design, as they can get an idea of what the actual drafting skills are required in the industry.
Lastly, for design students it can be a useful way to take a closer look at a different approach, learn something new, and brush up on some theoretical concepts and practical techniques.
For more information, visit howtodrawcarsnow.com. We also suggest checking out the videos posted on drivers mavens, which give a good idea of arvind’s approach, technique, and storytelling style.
(image courtesy: arvind ramkrishna)
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