Start by lightly sketching the shapes of the truck and gourds with a pencil. You don’t have to copy exactly what I do, it’s up to you if you want to take this in a different direction. Use your sketch as a guide for where you’ll place the watercolors.
Drawing Pink Vintage Trucks – 1 Step at a time
My design process is driven by a passion to share positivity. Drawing pink vintage trucks is just one way to share those positive sentiments.
I want you to enjoy looking at the designs I create, every single time you see them.
I grew up in a small midwestern town in the US and those values have been foundational to my work as an artist.
So the whole retro vibe with pickup trucks? I get that.
But let’s have fun with this. Let’s create a pink vintage pickup truck. With daisies and joy.
Let’s be Blessed and Happy.
Start With a Solid Vintage Truck Sketch
I purposefully darkened this sketch a bit so you can see it better. After I sketch like this I always erase most of my marks before going over the faint lines with colored watercolor pencils. Once water hits the paper, there is no more erasing!
Add The First Color to the Vintage Truck Sketch
I want you to see how my design process works. I always find it encouraging to take note that as I get started on an art project, I cannot always “see” the finished artwork. In other words, the finished piece is still contained in the undone artwork. At this stage, I must visualize the finished truck with my imagination.
Does your artistic process wane at this point, too? Keep going!
Indeed, often at this point my sketches and preliminary colorization can be more frustrating than satisfying. I share this because you, too, may be working on your art skills and find that the artistic process can be frustrating.
I encourage you to not give up! For me, art has 2 parts; the finished project which I want to be a source of joy and encouragement in someone’s life, and the 2nd part, the process itself that fuels growth and deep joy in the artist.
Seeing the vintage truck’s sketch full of color for the first time reveals the possibilities. In this simple piece of art, I’m not trying to recreate a realistic truck. No, the idea is more fluid than that.
Fun – even whimsy – combined with the rock solid strength of this old pickup truck, create something a little bit modern, a little bit retro, and a whole lot of farmhouse decor.
At this point in the design process, I carefully brush water over the watercolor pencils, let dry, and then repeat. There may be several layers of adding shading and details with a water brush-out for each.
When everything’s completely dry, adding ink details makes the pink truck pop. If you’re working on a project of your own, don’t be afraid to experiment with details. The ink on this fun watercolor pencil project makes the truck come alive.
Step 1
The principles of drawing in this lesson are exactly the same as in other our drawing lessons about cars. So let’s first sketch out the basic outline of the body, which consists of a cabin and box.
Step 2
Let’s add some basic details on our pickup truck. In the front part we sketch out the round headlights, a radiator grille and bumper. Next, we outline the wheels and the rear-view mirror.
Step 3
Now let’s move on to the details. Carefully draw out the headlights and radiator grille between the headlights.
Step 3: Paint your cargo
Lucky for us, gourds come in an array of shades! Who’s ready to flex their color theory muscles? For the far left pumpkin, mix your yellow and blue to create your green. My green may not look like yours and that’s fine, if anything, it’s even better!
For our round pumpkin friend, take your red and mix it with a bit of yellow. For the last gourd, start with yellow and mix a bit of red.
For the stalks and crate, mix your red, blue, and yellow to make a brown. Remember to keep your colors fairly light by mixing more water than paint. Let everything dry!
Step 4: Add shadows
Creating some definition on our truck and gourds will give our illustration some depth. And pow! Using the same colors but with less water and more paint, add areas of dark around the piece.
For instance, on the round pumpkin guy, paint another layer of orange in spots to help separate the ribs. Add a darker gray to the window edges and wherever you want to create a separation of shapes!
Step 5: Final details
Time to bring it all together with some final darks and details! Feel free to switch to your smaller brush if you’d like, it may be easier to use for small details. Don’t be afraid to add another layer of color if your layers dried lighter than expected. A cool detail I like to paint is the road/ground to anchor the truck! Paint with the same mix as the tires.
Use your creativity and add any other details you’d like! Some ideas would be lettering, people, haystacks, etc! I added some of my fave green buddies!
You did it! Whenever we can come together and engage with our creativity, awesome things happen. Adapt the colors to fit any season, mood, or occasion! Paint it in one go or take it slow and enjoy the process. There are so many ways to create!
Thank you for painting with me and making some time for creativity. Share your wonderful illustrations on Instagram and don’t forget to tag me (@inksnthings), I would love to see what this wonderful community comes up with.
Hi everyone, Jamie Kim here! I think I’ve made it clear that I love cacti and all plants alike. I guess you can also see that I’m a lover of watercolor and basically all art, I’m not shy about it! Other things I love are anything Murakami, embroidery, gouache, pumpkin butter (because who doesn’t?), and did I mention cacti and succulents? I’m truly at my happiest with a brush or pencil in hand. When not holding a pen or sketchbook, I can be heard playing the guitar, uke, and piano! Let’s connect!
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