Draw A Realistic Car In 7 Steps With 1 Bonus Tip In 2021

Draw A Realistic Car

Since living in Tallinn, Estonia, I see many (very) nice cars passing by Draw A Realistic Car. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Tesla, and more! Last time I spotted an incredible Dodge Viper. I thought now was the time to take a picture of it and draw it later. So here we are after, I pulled the supercar, and I offer you a quick little tutorial to learn, you too, to draw a realistic car in 7 simple steps. I’ll give you a little extra tip at the end of the article (it’s about a pretty cool background, but I won’t tell you more). I used black chalk and charcoal powder for this exercise.

Sketch the car in the proper proportions.

It may seem obvious to some, but I prefer to remind you: I always start a realistic drawing with a “rough” sketch to get the right proportions of my model.

I have also dedicated an entire video to this subject. I’ll explain the chaotic sketch method – or the magic sketch – to draw with perfect proportions thanks to scribbling, yes, yes. You can watch it right here: Draw a well-proportioned portrait with a CHAOTIC drawing.

You can also use this article “The Simple Perspective to Draw A Realistic Car ” for help. Take the time to do this first step carefully. It will give you a solid foundation on which to design your supercar.

Mark the dark areas

Once I have my pencil sketch, the filling can begin. For this second step, I focus on the dark areas. I take my black stone and start to mark all the shadows I see in the photo.

• Contour lines, wheel arches, headlights, grille, etc. I report all the most contrasted parts of the image.
• Once the dark areas have been marketing with black chalk, I go over all the lines with a stump. This process fixes the graphite on the paper so that it does not erase when I apply the layers of charcoal.
• It is my favorite technique for drawing a real car. I had used the same to draw a leather jacket, realistic too.
• I put the link to the article if you want to read it also: How to Draw a Leather Garment? Complete tutorial.
• I now leave my black stone aside and go to charcoal.
• Use charcoal sticks for the car body.

For this step, I am using several sticks of compressed charcoal in different tones.

I start with the clearest. Using a scalpel, I scrape my charcoal stick above a leaf (which I will only be using for this) to make powder. Then I spread it with my brush.

I do this on the whole car. And I gradually go from the lightest charcoal stick to the darkest.

I had already explained this technique to you in detail in my article: Landscape drawing a Realistic Horse Head: The Final Steps. It makes it possible to obtain a beautiful contrast and intense shades of gray while keeping a blurry and blurred effect for a beautiful rendering of the material.

Work on the contrast of the image

I keep doing this until I get the contrast I want for Draw A Realistic Car. I insist on the practical side because the rendering of the material plays a lot in the final result.

Here, the mixture of black chalk and charcoal brings this strength to the drawing. The reflections come after.

So I continue to ramp up with my charcoal more and more black. I also do not hesitate to iron some outlines with black chalk if they need a minor touch-up.

Harmonize the whole and create a gradient

Once I’m satisfied, I can harmonize it all using my brush. It allows me to attenuate the whole drawing and create a gradient.

In particular, this avoids having lines that are too sharp or too sharp. The base of the body is ready. I can take the next step, a crucial action in drawing a realistic and believable car: the light.

Enhance the light areas of the vehicle

Highlights make all the difference in a sketch. They bring realism, depth, volume, sparkle, etc.

Here, I focus on:

• the two bands of the cover;
• reflections in the headlights and on the doors;
• or the shine of the rims.

My favorite tool, in this case, is the Tombow eraser. With it, I start to highlight all the weak areas of the sketch before moving on.

The final touches to draw a realistic car

Then I use my “warm gray” pencil from Faber Castell. Ideal for more subtle nuances in the sketch.

Then I finish my last touch-ups on the car with white chalk. Its layout is more straightforward. It brings a beautiful bright light.

Bonus tip: add a double exposure background

At this point, you already know all the steps to Draw A Realistic Car. You have all the cards in your hand.

But I still wanted to (re) share with you a very nice tip to create an original background to your sketch. An experience in double exposure, which will give you this result:

For this, you need a computer and free software. It’s relatively straightforward. I explain the procedure in detail in this article: Drawing technique with Mixed Techniques: a tutorial.