Been busy… Writing AND Drawing

This place has been quiet, but I haven’t. I’ve been working on a couple of novels I have under contract (about 60% done on the first and will then start the second). I’ll let you know how that goes in a future post. In the meantime, I finished a drawing, which I’m delighted to share here. It’s one of GM’s dream cars from the 1950s.

As always, this was a great way to relax after a long day of day job followed by a grueling writing session!

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest book is a high concept science fiction novel entitled–perhaps controversially–Fat Man. He hopes readers enjoy the book as much as he loved writing it… but mainly, he hopes it makes them think. You can check it out here.

The Batmobile Comes to Le Mans!

I did another drawing, although, to be honest, time has cut into my drawing time recently. But every once in a while I manage to get a drawing out the door. The latest was the BMW 3.0 CSL that ran at Le Mans in 1977. Have a look.

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest book is a high concept science fiction novel entitled–perhaps controversially–Fat Man. He hopes readers enjoy the book as much as he loved writing it… but mainly, he hopes it makes them think. You can check it out here.

The Spirit of the Rules

I drew another picture! Of a modern car this time. And though, for obvious reasons, the Ferrari 499 is the star of the new generation of Hypercars (and the one I root for), there’s one I admire particularly: the Peugeot 9X8. Why? Because it’s the car that took the rules and did something different with them. And it looks utterly cool.

you can check out my gallery of drawings here.

And Something Different: A Motorcycle!

So, you all know by now that I draw cars occasionally to unwind. So far, so good. But, inspired by a visit to the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, UK (I was there for an SF convention, but I wasn’t going to miss that museum!), I did something different this time. Have a look:

The Brough Superior is considered one of England’s great bikes, and this is the beginning of the famous line. A wonderful piece of purposeful machinery, and an all-time classic.

Drawing this one was… interesting. That engine detail was a bear to get right, and every little cable had its own areas of shadow and light. I don’t know how artists who do this for a living–and spend a lot more time in front of their drawing boards than I do–don’t all go blind!

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest book is a collection of science fiction and fantasy crime stories entitled Thin Air. He hopes readers enjoy the stories as much as he loved writing them. You can check it out here.

The Mighty RS500

I drew something… Ford’s Group A weapon, the Sierra RS500 was a wonderful attempt at giving a sedan whose aerodynamics-first styling was controversial in its day and age a sporting image. The fact that they were successful in doing so is a testament to just how awesome the fire-breathing racers were. This is a restored example: the car Guy Edwards drove in 1989.

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest book is a collection of science fiction and fantasy crime stories entitled Thin Air. He hopes readers enjoy the stories as much as he loved writing them. You can check it out here.

Dream Cars Were Dreamy in the 1950s

The 1950s were a glorious era. An age of optimism and hope that was so good, we still forget that there was also a dark side (fear of nuclear annihilation being the worst part of it). But mostly, it was a great time to be alive in the Western world. The war was over, the economy was booming in the US and recovering from the war in Europe and generally things were awesome.

It was on this backdrop that General Motors came up with Motorama, an exhibition of tech for the future. And the Oldsmobile Golden Rocket was one of the stars in 1956. One can only imagine today what it must have felt like when the caravan stopped in a small town in middle America with these delicious visions of the Future.

My own take is a colored pencil drawing of the car as it was in 1956. In this light, it looked more pink than golden, but I suppose the rose-tinted glasses cover everything.

You can check out other artwork on my DeviantArt page.

A Night-Time Le Mans Fantasy

So, life can’t all be about writing, reading and watching old movies, can it? Sometimes, when the rest of the world allows such things, (generally half an hour around seven-ish, before dinner), I keep plugging away at my drawings., which are mostly done so I can look at them and sometimes to give the good ones away to friends Here’s the latest, a drawing of the Dodge Charger that went to Le Mans racing at night (this is a bit of a fantasy, as the car broke before nightfall, but I enjoyed doing it).

If you’re interested in seeing more of my drawings, I have a page on DeviantArt where I drop these. Here’s the link.

Bonnier’s Lola

Jo Bonnier was one of the greats and, as the driving force behind the Swiss-cheese Lola T-280, this GP winner was also responsible for one of the most surreally interesting liveries ever to grace a race car.  Most people will be hard-pressed to realice that the grayish lumps on this wonderfully yellow racer are cheeses.  But they are, and they rock.

This is a colored pencil drawing of the car as it appeared in Zeltweg in 1972.

One note on colored pencil which fascinates me is just how different the drawings look in person versus in a photograph. In real life, the lagers of color are clearly visible while in the photo, the dominant color looks like a flat area. It’s an interesting effect that seems to be unique to pencil, although other mediums might have the same issue.

Additionally, I’ve recently opened a gallery on DeviantArt, mainly as a way to be able to showcase all these drawings in one place. You can check it out here.

Gustavo Bondoni has recently completed the Emily Plair Trilogy with the final novel, Amalgam. Find out what happens to each of the characters in the satisfying conclusion, which you can purchase here.