There are a few different substrates that I’ve been working with:  

• A stretched white canvas that I prep with Golden Micaceous Iron Oxide Acrylic.
• A stretched black canvas.
• UArt 400 Gritt Cream sanded paper that I prep with Golden Micaceous Iron Oxide Acrylic.
• UArt 400 Gritt Black sanded paper.

I liked all of the substrates above, but here are some of my thoughts on differences

• The canvas can hold a lot of pastel but not as much as UArt. The canvas provides some unique texture for hap hazard rust patterns.
• If you use a black canvas or black UArt you could skip the Micaceous oxide step. It would be less metallic which could work if you have a lot of landscape with the vehicle.
• This was the first time I used Terra Cotta primer, I will use it in the future.
• No matter the substrate, I always do a metallic underpainting for the vehicle.

Underpainting:

• Regardless of the substrate I use or how I prep the substrate, I use Metallic watercolors or Metallic Acrylic paint to create the vehicle’s underpainting.

Application:

• Various pastels, Terry Ludwig, Sennelier, and Girault.  A mix of soft and gritty pastels works well.
• I use a variety of colors based on the vehicle’s original paint color and background, as well as a selection of neutrals which works well to create the rust. If the vehicle has chrome, then I use a variety of blues and blue/greys.
• At times I use pastel pencils to help move pastel around for the small details.  In this painting, I used pencils to create the chains.  
• I have also shaved pastel to create the specs of rust, as seen in this wrecker.

Holmes 440 Wrecker Painting

For this painting, I started with two thin layers of Micaceous Iron Oxide acrylic paint on UArt 400 grit sanded paper. This provided a textured foundation, and I marked the roofline and boom to guide the placement of a thin layer of Art Spectrum Pastel Primer in Terra Cotta. The warm Terra Cotta color will create a nice contrast beneath the green hues of the woods, setting up the composition beautifully.

Once the primer was in place, I sketched the truck and began applying thin layers of Acrylic Metallic Paint as an underpainting. This is the most detailed underpainting I’ve done to date, and I had a lot of fun with it, allowing myself to get lost in the process.

As with any painting, my goal is to work toward covering the entire canvas with a layer of pastel,
gradually refining details with each new application of color. I focus on contrast, intensity, shapes,
mark-making, and values to bring the painting to life.

At this stage, I concentrated on the back bumper, truck bed, tail lights, and the metal frame holding
the strap in place. Next, I’ll turn my attention to the background, ensuring the balance of lights, darks,
and highlights on the truck remains cohesive. I also don’t want the details of the background to fight
with the truck, they need to be soft, simple, and out of focus.

This truck has a lot of small, intricate parts—some I’m not even sure how to identify—but I’m focusing
on capturing the shapes and values I see. I’ve already started adding details like the chains and
hooks on the boom, the metal bars beneath the tow strap, and rust patches on the bumper.

Working on these tiny details has been a challenge—how to suggest the chains and diamond plate
without drawing every single link and diamond. It’s about making these areas believable without
overworking them. I did several trials on scrap paper to test out techniques. As I kept reminding
myself, the key is that they’re just shapes and values that work together to create the form.
For the chains, I used pastel pencils, focusing on just a few suggested links rather than trying to
render every single one. As for the rust, I achieved the effect by lightly dragging pastel across the
surface, leaving small, irregular marks in various directions. To tone down the brightness, I gently
applied neutral olive green pastel over the vibrant patches of color, which helped achieve a more
realistic rust texture.

Here is the finished piece.