Dwayne Vance

Dwayne Vance: About the Artist
I graduated from Art Center College of Design with a BS degree in transportation design. I began my design career with Troy Lee Designs in Corona, California, as a designer of high-end motocross protective gear. I then became a senior designer for Mattel, Hot Wheels division. While at Hot Wheels, I designed and developed several cars and led teams for entire toy lines. I eventually returned to Troy Lee Designs. There, I continued to design cutting-edge motocross gear including the SE2 helmet and other protective equipment. I now have my own company, Future Elements — High Energy Art and Design. I also have my own line of prints based on hot rod and muscle car art.

Studio
Software: Painter, Photoshop, Illustrator, ArtRage, Alchemy
Hardware: Intel Core i7, Wacom Cintiq 21UX

Contact
Dwayne Vance
Future Elements
California, USA
dwayne@futureelements.net
http://www.futureelements.net
http://www.mastersofchickenscratch.com

Artist's Statement
I love motion and speed. When you represent those well, they pull the viewer into your piece because they evoke an emotion.

Influences
I really feel that I got into design and art because of Star Wars. As a young kid, I was inspired to create things that didn’t exist; I could create a whole new world that had never been explored. Still to this day, I love to draw robots and spaceships. I love manmade vehicles and the mechanics behind them. I am enamored with World War II just because of the fact the vehicles were so raw back then — but they functioned, and humans figured out how to make them work well. Science fiction and historical vehicles inspire me, and I like to bring them together, just like Star Wars was done. Some of my other influences are graffiti, anime, cartoons, graphic design, and nature.

[Figure 15.1] Rough draft from reference photos.

Techniques
Step-by-Step Tutorial: Hot Rod Vignette
I am going to be showing how I create a monotone sketch of one of my hot rod designs. It looks great as a quick presentation sketch and can be created quickly. I use a method called vignetting. It is a technique that creates a focal point toward the front and fades it out in the back. What I do to achieve this effect is render the front area and leave it as a sketch toward the back. This gives it more of a hand-drawn look and a focal point that takes one’s eye from the front to back.

         1.          I start with some reference photos from car shows I have been to. In the photo in Figure 15.1, I am referencing a 1932 Ford, so I want to draw a ’32 Ford — three-window version. I start by sketching the wheels to get my proportions, and then I rough out the beginnings of my sketch.

[Figure 15.2] Focus on correct proportions.

         2.          Figure 15.2 shows the rough sketch with all my proportions right. I use it as an underlay to make a nice clean sketch.