Hand painted in Rebelle 5 Pro on a Surface Pro 8 (i7, 16gb RAM) with Slim Pen 2.

What better to follow the beautiful antique Thunderbird than a ‘retro’ one?

This is the special edition of the 2004 Thunderbird, titled ‘Pacific Coast Roadster’. It’s a single owner car that has been lovingly maintained and is still gorgeous!

Painting it was a different experience. Less chrome, more smooth lines. The paper texture added an almost pearlescent sheen to the finished piece that I find intriguing.

The chrome swoop around the windshield was the trickiest bit, trying to capture the mirror finish without the ripple of the chrome curving around took some doing, but I’m very pleased with the results!

Progress Pictures

I didn’t think to take progress pictures of the older Thunderbird as I was painting it, but I’ve since started doing so.

First I’ll make the line drawing of the car and select the main colors to work with.

Then I’ll blend the colors to make different values and paint the base layers.

After the base layers are painted, I’ll start adding in details, working in different areas as the mood strikes me.

Here’s that pesky chrome swoop around the windshield.