Here are a couple recent designs I’ve done for some upcoming vintage drag racing events here in Texas. These both show the t-shirt version, but I also do some supporting art for these events. Dash plaques, timing tags, flyers, posters, banners, and miscellaneous other layouts are used to support the “brand” I help the event organizers develop.
It’s been a few weeks now, but Aaron-Autics is available for purchase! I just received my copies of the book a few days ago, and I am really pleased with the print and paper quality.
I’ll be very busy with marketing the book and getting some sales. The work’s not over when the book gets printed!
Aaron-Autics can be purchased at Amazon or on Barnes & Noble’s site. I think a few brick & mortar stores and franchised will be carrying it as well.
If you’re in the Triad area of North Carolina, there is a launch party with my mom, the author, in Lexington on February 26, 2011. She also has a few book signings lined up in the coming weeks.
Speaking of the author, be sure to check out her website at www.sharonshoaf.com.
Last fall I was one of several automotive artists that contributed drawings for a coloring book given out at a car show. The organizers of the Manifolds on Main show in Irving, TX published a short run of these coloring books and set up a table and some crayons for the kids to color some pages right there at the show.
As it turns out, there was a lot of grown-up demand for these coloring books as a sort of collector items. Since all the drawings were donated, the primary organizer, Bart Stevens, didn’t want to sell the books. Also, he didn’t want to deprive any kids of having the chance to get one of the books.
Bart contacted all the artists with the proposed solution to print a few extra books and sell them with all the proceeds going to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. All the artists agreed, and all said and done, $2100 was raised for the center.
The other day, Bart had a few classic cars and hot rods show up near the main entrance of the Hospital. He also had another “coloring table” set up for the kids in the lobby. Kids going in for day surgeries and other treatments got to see some cool old cars and color a picture or two, while being given a copy of the coloring book. Of course, Bart presented a check to the hospital to commemorate the event.
Here are a few of the cars that were parked outside the hospital.
(The date on the check says February 3rd, which was the originally scheduled date. With a couple weeks of nasty ice and bad weather, the event kept getting postponed until the 17th — and the weather was absolutely perfect that day!)
The presentation of the check to Children's Medical Center
Click image for larger view.
One of the frustrating things about commercial work is that you have to keep some good stuff under wraps until the client gives the green light. (I don’t say this to complain. Rather, just noting that it’s hard to keep from sharing the excitement of a project you really like.)
So here’s a design I was commissioned to do and completed back in January. Almost nine months since I delivered the final art to the client. Sometimes it goes much longer than that.
But I recently got clearance to put this art out so people can see it. The client was starting a new company around his sunflower seed product. They would sell the seeds packaged into five-gallon plastic buckets, with a large label applied to the outside. The biggest thing they wanted was a depiction of sunflowers as the main image. I fired off a few sketches, and they approved one sketch that was very close to what ended up being the final result for the bucket label.
I tried to keep a very traditional approach to this design, giving it a strong retro vibe. I can never find good script fonts that fit what I have in mind, so here’s another instance where hand-lettering was the only option.
The birds and the flowers were all digital illustrations done completely in Photoshop.
As a side note, I’ve never done much with illustrating birds before this project, but I am amazed how much I enjoyed it on this job.
Here are a couple recent designs I did for some car show event t-shirts. The Big Kahuna event was held in Mustang, Oklahoma back in June, and the Texoma event will be held on August 21 at the Harley-Davidson dealer in Sherman, Texas.
Big Kahuna design was printed in white ink on a black shirt.
The Texoma Harley-Davidson design will be printed in black on a white shirt.
I’ve previously posted an illustration I did for the concept of a 1953 Studebaker being built as a race car to make a run at some land speed records.
Charles Venable's '53 Stude Land Speed Racer
Charles Venable brought the car to my dad’s shop, Rod Crafters, Inc., in Welcome, North Carolina to do the build. The car is coming together very nicely, and it won’t be long before it will head to the race courses. It’s always cool to see illustrations come to life as real-world things, and this one has remained very true to the original concept.
And major props to my dad, Larry Shoaf, for laying out the scallops on the car. That’s not as easy to do as a lot of people think!
(Click the thumbnail to view Venable’s Photobucket album on the build of the car.)
Racers Reunion logo. Click for larger view.
I was recently asked to develop a logo for Racers Reunion, a gathering of vintage race cars happening as part of the annual Manifolds on Main Car Show. The city of Irving, Texas puts on this annual event each September, organized primarily by Bart Stevens.
Bart asked me to create a logo reminiscent of the decals put on early race cars. I put together a few digital pencil sketches, and he combined some elements from two of them and asked me to add the trophy.
From there, it was just a matter of execution. I hand-lettered the Racers Reunion type, and built the car in vector paths based off my own drawing.
I always enjoy working with Bart, and I thank him for giving me the opportunity to work with him again this year. He’s constantly working to make each Manifolds on Main show better than the year before. There are some really cool things planned for this year as well, so if you’re in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on September 25, be sure to check out the show.
AaronAutics Mockup Cover
Here is something I’ve been working on a lot lately, and now it’s to a stage I can show it.
My mom, Sharon Shoaf, has written several children’s stories, but recently decided to self-publish this one titled, AaronAutics: Aaron, the Helping Hand Airplane. She asked me to illustrate the book, and of course I jumped at the chance.
The main character, Aaron, is an airplane (a T-6 Texan, specifically). In the story, he goes around helping others (other aircraft and humans) in big and small ways.
My 9-year-old son is very much into airplanes, so I created this mockup book to have Mom present it to him on our recent trip to visit my folks in North Carolina.
This is “close” to the final cover of AaronAutics, but there are still some tweaks I plan to make. I’ll be sharing more about this book in the coming weeks, but for now, enjoy a few images of the mockup book.
We are also planning a separate blog specifically for the book, so I’ll be announcing that here and on Twitter and LinkedIn once that’s up.
Oh, and I have to say that this has been hands-down the most fun art project I’ve ever been involved in. I’d really like to thank Mom for giving me this opportunity.
AaronAutics Mockup Spread
AaronAutics Mockup
Lots going on lately, just not anything I can show publicly… yet. I’m working on some pretty big stuff, though, and I can’t wait to show it!
Meantime, here are some older automotive projects I’ve not featured on this blog. Click on these for a larger view.
Anglia 400 Concept
Race Car Illustration for promotional products
Charles Venable's '53 Stude Land Speed Racer
This Cobra-themed 32 Roadster is currently being built by Hatfield Restorations.
More work from my day job at Numo. This illustration was done for an email ad that went out on Earth Day. The featured product is made from recycled plastic bottles, so we used this concept to illustrate the issue of all these bottles ending up in landfills.
"Eco-Bulldozer" Illustration - click image for large view.
I had a tighter timeframe for this one, so it’s a little looser/sketchier than some of my work.
The ad that included the illustration. Click image for large view.
