Venable's Stude

Just before Christmas, I finished up this concept illustration for a client I had worked with in the past. Charles Venable is a customer of my Dad's hot rod/custom shop, and he's an avid land speed racer.

Venable and my Dad are building this 1953 Studebaker to run at a few East Coast courses, and there are plans to take it to Bonneville this summer and attempt at breaking a record.

(For those who aren't familiar with land speed racing, this is all about miles per hour. The "course" is a long, flat straight ranging any where from one mile on up, with another length of track to slow back down. One car on the course at a time; see how fast you can go. If you saw the movie, World's Fastest Indian, you have seen what LSR is.)

The purpose of this illustration was to work out the scheme for the scallops on the front section of the car. The car itself will be painted satin black, with gloss red scallops. (They say this pint job is good for an extra two or three miles per hour!)

This project was done entirely - from initial sketch to finished art - in Photoshop CS4.

Venable has a Photobucket album showing photos of the actual build. Click here to see the progress (and some photos and video of his '34 Ford Vicky that he currently races).