Desert Mingle

The setting is the famed Bonneville Salt Flats, after a post-apocalyptic event, or the collapse of civilization. The vehicle is a makeshift truck made from old bus and mining truck parts. It is powered by a massive twelve cylinder diesel engine with custom intakes. The chopper in the foreground is built from old chopper parts with some new outlandish ideas thrown onto it. The people are desert bandits who eye their timid enemies approach...

This is a full digital render titled "Desert Mingle". It is a milestone for me because this is the first fully completed artwork I've done entirely on computer. I have finished other digital sketches in this manner, but they were just quick scribbles. I usually start with a pencil sketch and then scan it into Adobe Photoshop and carry on, but I decided to practice my hand at sketching on Photoshop right from the very start.

The sketch was done fully in Adobe Photoshop using standard brushes. On rare occasions, I did use some fancy brushes, such as some cloud brushes that were available for download on Adobe's website. This drawing was done at random, to test my hand at these type of concept renders where the ideas are usually outlandish and bizarre, or lacking in seriousness. It was quite fun, and great practice.

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As for my blog in general, I have been getting busy with some custom chopper design work for a friend down in San Jose. One of the motorcycles is nearing completion, and I hope to upload some things concerning it on my blog when I get permission.

And, the truck design project is coming along slowly due to the motorcycle work, but it is still going strong, and I have many more ideas to test and show in the coming weeks...

Just one sketch...

The holiday season hasn't been too good for my family and I, so things have been slow. And, I was busy working on the "Timely Companions" artwork, which was delayed a full week because of my poor truck breaking down (which required me to carpool to work with the family). I only have the below sketch to show for now. I did finish four renders for the GMC Fenrir, but I want to hold on showing those until I have more done.

This is the most basic representation of what I wish to do with my Chevrolet Silverado K35 concept's redesign. It is much bolder and tougher, and that larger grille allows for better airflow and bigger radiator area. The gap between the grille and bumper is a different take, and I have a few ideas on refining that area further. The bumper may or may not be so bulky in the final design. I am wanting something slimmer, which means a bigger and taller grille. But, that can work well, too. This truck does pack a 6.9 liter Duramax diesel engine that puts out around 450 horsepower and above 900 lb-ft. of torque, so a larger cooling duct may be necessary. The body is more sculpted and rounded at the edges in some areas. I wanted to have a good mix of sharp and rounded creases throughout to emphasis muscular strength. Just for comparison, below is an image of the original K35 design I had decided on last summer...

This render is supposed to be a final render, so it is fully detailed. But, it should still be obvious that the newer design is much better for a heavy-duty pickup truck! I am thinking of a more curvier and hot rod like design for the wheels, whereas the original design was too simple and squared. The biggest issue I am having with the new design is the bumper cutout for the lower lights, tow hooks, and the transmission intercooler opening. What I have drawn so far works, but I feel it is too unimaginative. The rear end is also going to change, so that it can fit with the front end design style. The rear end on the older design will be used for the Colorado SS concept instead.

Timely Companions

This is a drawing done for a client, my brother's girlfriend. Her grandfather had operated a trucking company using the two trucks. The white truck is a Peterbilt 352 cabover, and the blue truck is a GMC DF-Series, possibly a DL7000, or DLR7000 if it had the air-ride suspension. This drawing was done on Strathmore Artagain colored paper using Prismacolor pencils.

Meow-Pow!!!

This is just a fun scribble. I wanted to test out some brush presets, and experiment with some basic shadow ideas for future renders.

Chevrolet Desperado ZR2 - Initial Ideas

The GMC Mjolnir's exterior design is ready for some finalizing. In the meantime, I focused on my idea for a compact Chevrolet truck. It is known as the "Desperado" with the ZR2 moniker. The concept design's theme is aggressive off-roading capabilities with inspiration from trophy trucks. Ideations for this truck began about a year ago, but there were difficulties with some of the exterior design elements...

This is the first sketch I had completed of the Desperado, which was also known as the "Champion Silverado" and then the "Colorado". I settled on the name Desperado since the Colorado will be used by the larger model above this one, and the "ado" at the end of the word desperado fits perfectly with Chevrolet's truck naming. This sketch was drawn on letter size paper with Prismacolor Verithin Indigo Blue pencils.

These are additional sketches brainstorming body panel ideas. The trouble was with the limited area that I had to work with for the front end. I also wanted to see if I could create a new Chevrolet theme for this truck that does not use the chunky stacked headlight design that is common on Chevrolet trucks. This collage was drawn on Strathmore Artagain paper with Prismacolor pencils and markers.

Here is the first digital render, and the design of this truck is heavily based off of the indigo blue sketch, though there are some major changes. This was also a quick sketch to practice some advanced coloring, compared to the Mjolnir renders. Also, I did not like the rather simple feel of this design. It also lacked the muscular look I wanted... This render and the following two renders were first sketched on letter paper and then colored in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

This render is a bit better, and I experimented with some Corvette-inspired beltline shaping. The lower valiance does not really fit with this style of truck, though. It seems more fitting on a luxury truck...

This is the final render, though it sure won't be the last for this truck! I went a little overboard and added more detail to this one. This design is a bit better than the previous one, but I feel that hte bulging beltline curves need some massaging. They seem very awkward with their flow over the entire vehicle. I was aiming for a very strong rear panel shaping that alludes to classic muscle car bodies. I am planning on making the final concept design a nice shade of dark blue with some yellow-orange pinstripes.

I am still having issues with the front end design. It will all boil down to how I shape the front fenders. With the way I sketched the trucks in the digital renders, I have a somewhat limited area to work with, and any design that I could use would be very derivative (think Chevrolet Volt front end). I may go for a 5th-generation Camaro front end, or even reshape the whole front body to allow for more workable space. The rear will not be too much trouble. I am thinking of deleting the tailgate and adding some type of bed accessory to load and unload spare tires or even regular cargo... 

Pickup Truck Design Project - Names

Alright, I felt that my blog posts keep jumbling up the truck names I am using for my project, making things quite confusing. So, I thought I would create a quick list here to show what the names are and which truck they are for.

Chevrolet ~

Silverado K35 - Full-size 1-ton pickup truck
Colorado SS - Mid to full-sized pickup truck
Desperado ZR2 - Compact pickup truck

GMC ~

Mjolnir - Full-size 3/4-ton highly mobile pickup truck
Grand Denali - Mid to full-sized pickup truck
Fenrir - Compact pickup truck
Topkick (temp.) - Cab-over-engine commercial truck

The names are pretty much final, but in any event that I change any of them, I'll post again, with the updated list.

GMC Mjolnir - A Look Out Back

The following renders show the rear end designs for my Mjolnir concept. My primary aim was to try something new and allow for a useful setup for off-road purposes. I also wanted to create something unique for the GMC brand, which has never had anything that stood out with their tailgate designs. In reality, it does not matter, but I wanted to go that extra step, partly because I doubt General Motors will do the same to add some additional levels flair to their often conservative designs.

This sketch shows the initial idea: a wide wedge with small horizontal taillights (compared to the usual vertical designs used on today's trucks), and an armored bumper that has rear tow hook connections, a built-in winch, and corner steps like the current General Motors full-size trucks. The tailgate is a traditional setup, but it offers some additional utility on the inside. I will expand on that design further in future sketches. The body panel shaping is also much more aggressive than on any other traditional truck. The panel shaping and the flow of the creases are loosely connected with the front end theme, but also I made those lines and shape taper up and backward, giving a bit of a visual connection with the whole idea of departure angles.

 This is the same design as show in the first render, but I made the wedge color-keyed. This look works very well, but I feel the blacked out design can add more substance and flow with the front end, which has a blacked out grille section; in short, I mean a sense of balance.

 Just as a quick experiment, I tried a vertical taillight design, which works just as well, but I wished to go back to the horizontal nature of the original design, though I felt even that one could use some work... 

 I tweaked the original design by taking away some angles and making the shaping much simpler. I also simplified the flow of the creases across the tailgate as well, though the differences are very small. Also, I tapered the rear bumper for absolute maximum departure angle that could be possible from this particular vehicle. I imagine that the exact departure angle for this truck could sit between that of a 2014 GMC Sierra 2500HD and a 2009 Hummer H2.

This render shows an idea of how much the fenders jut outwards. I am not going to carry over that chrome trim in the taillights onto the final design. I wish to avoid anything flashy with this truck at all costs. This truck also, albeit loosely, shows the sheer amount of grand clearance that can be possible from a portal axle setup.

This render shows the front and rear design from a different angle to show how much the front grille or the rear bumper juts out. The front is rather rounded out, but the front tires will still be very close to the bumper corners, unlike the current GMC Sierra pickups. The rear bumper juts out a bit less than the standard full-size truck. Also, this bumper shows a bit more in the way of shaping and detail.

At the moment, I feel that the basic body design is complete, and now it is time for the interior and details until the final renders. The interior will be focusing on utility and functionality, but also a nice lifestyle feel with some outdoor-style luxury trimmings. The details that I wish to focus on are the lighting, grille pieces, decals, door handles, mirrors, and everything in-between. After that, the more detailed renders will follow!

It is possible that I may go back to my K35 concept to refine it a little further before finishing up the Mjolnir. Having used a much more efficient method of design experimenting with the Mjolnir, I wish to have a second go with the K35. That old design could use a bigger front end and a larger cabin...