Cars come in all shapes and sizes, from sleekly streamlined to boxy and big. If you have a fondness for drawing and a passion for cars, it’s only natural that you want to apply your drawing skills to the car. The problem for many, however, is trying to make the car you want to draw look real when you draw it on paper. Even the most talented artist can have a hard time drawing cars. You’ve probably figured out how difficult it can be if he’s ever tried to reproduce a car on paper.

There are professionals who are paid to design and draw cars for the automotive industry, and they have spent years developing specific techniques to produce beautiful illustrations. So does that mean you’ll never be able to master the art of drawing cars in a professional style? Not if you’re willing to get better at it. In fact, you can easily learn how to draw cars like a pro if you understand some of the secret techniques the pros use to create realistic cars.

Prepare your artist toolbox

First of all, you need to stop trying to use a simple pencil for the entire drawing. Creating a car can require several different types of pencils and drawing tools. Go to the art supply store and start picking out some quality drawing pencils that can produce various types of lines and shading. You can use regular pencils, mechanical pencils, or both. Choose several so that you can experiment with each one. Eventually, you will have your favorites.

visualize the car

Choose a photo of a car that you would really like to draw and keep it near your drawing board. Study the various shapes and angles of each part of the car. Professional car illustrations are always in 3D and stand out on the page. You want to familiarize yourself with visualizing all aspects of car design.

break it down

Instead of trying to draw the entire car in one go, choose certain sections to focus on. It’s always easier to take one piece of a great piece of work and then work to make that part look good. Then, you move on to another piece of the puzzle. For example, start with the wheels. Wheels can be fun to draw and can help you lay the foundation for the whole vehicle.

learn perspective

Putting your drawing in perspective is one of the key secrets to creating realistic cars instead of simple line drawings. Angles and perspectives add spark to the illustration.

Contrast and Shadows

Another thing you’ll want to work on is shading and using light and dark contrasts to create more realism. For example, when you see a professional drawing of a car that has that shiny look, the artist used various levels of shading to create this effect.

bring the color

Color really brings your car drawings to life. Experiment with different colors once you’ve mastered basic drawing techniques to create amazing car illustrations.