Vector Artwork

A homage to Aubrey Beardsley.

Illustration, Vector

I was looking at the BMW Isetta that I did earlier, and it struck me that I had paid too much attention to the colours when what I liked about that car was the form. So I decided to take all the colours away and only use black and white with no shading. Just to see if the form alone would still make a compelling image.

Line illustration of a BMW Isetta. In the style of Aubrey Beardsley. Solid black on white with no intermediate greys. Darker areas are solid black.
Aubrey Beardsley – he don’t do no shading!
John the Baptist and Salome by Aubrey Beardsley

And it did. Because I ended up with an image that evoked Aubrey Beardsley’s very graphical illustrations. However, a german car (even one as cute as the Isetta) is still very ‘form follows function’ and not the slightest bit decadent, romantic or organic, so I looked for something that would suit his approach more.

The Hagstrom Viking, with its sweeping curves and organic form, was a subject more in keeping with Beardsley’s distinctive and luscious style. I adapted it as I did the BMW Isetta illustration.

Aubrey Beardsley's Viking. A Hagstrom Viking semi accoustic guitar vector drawing in stark Black and white with no midtone gray
Aubrey Beardsley’s Viking.

If Aubrey Beardsley did guitars.

Thank you, Mr Beardsley, for not being at home to Mr Grey.

You can see some of Aubrey Beardsley’s work here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_Beardsley

Ford Capri

Illustration, Vector

I drove my Capri to ‘vector school’.

And I learned that adobe Illustrator still has some advantages that affinity designer lacks. 3-D and perspective would have made drawing this easier. However, Affinity Designer doesn’t screw you with an extortionate and exploitative subscription fee.

You can still get the same results with Affinity Designer without the shortcuts and tools that Illustrator has. I used Affinity Designer for this image.

What a beautiful thing a Ford Capri is.

Another vector guitar

Illustration

1964 Hagström Futurama Coronado Bass VI 

6 string Bass. 1964 Hagström Futurama Coronado Bass VI. Vector illustration. Red painted from the outer edge fading to exposed wood on inside beneath the black scratch plate.
6 string Bass. 1964 Hagström Futurama Coronado Bass VI. Vector illustration.

I just posted this guitar on the Facebook page ‘Hagstrom Vintage Guitars, made in Sweden – where else!’ It was a pleasure doing it.

Someone asked about whether I did commissions. I am open to this but so much depends on the source images; they have to be sharp, and all detail has to be well lit. I aim for exaggerated reality and not impressionistic results. There is an aesthetic, but essentially they are very amped up and glorified technical drawings. Which means I’m not particularly eager to improvise when blur and glare obscure detail. It may take several shots to finish them, which was the case with this Futurama 6 string bass.

The Viking image in a previous post worked well because I own it and was familiar with every bit of detail, and that was great fun.

Vector Art for Hagstrom Viking

Design, Illustration, Vector

I’ve discovered a better way of using vectors. Look at this image.

A semi acoustic electric guitar with a sunburst finish from yellow in the centre to red then black at the edge.

It’s all vector. Rendered into jpg.

But look at the difference this new technique makes. It’s a reliable method that keeps vectors all smooth with no kinks. The image on the left was how I did the work but it took ages, just tweak, after tweak after tweak.

Fewer nodes make smoother curves.

It all depends on placing the node at the kiss point of a peak or a valley of the curves and keeping the toggles 0° horizontal and only extending them horizontally.

The same method works with width for inward and outward curves but extend the toggles vertically at 90°

This discovery has been an absolute boon for me.