After the pencil outline of the car I gave it a light wash of red ochre (Which is not in my colour pallet) and burnt umber.

I thought right from the start that my trademark is animals so I added a goanna under the front wheel arch.

Next I started committing too much darker paint values. I also found I was getting a much more realistic look if I painted everything in a downward stroke.

This was to simulating rain running down the car following it shape and creating the rust.

More fine details in the grills but I was getting worried if I could make the chrome look convincing, so I put it in the too hard basket and left it till last.

I started added a little bit of old paint on the car and more convincing rust marks on the back seat area of the car.

Most of the car complete, I started working on the foreground and adding a little bit of rubbish. Now I didn’t want to distract from the car too much so I eliminated the background but maybe a light grey or green wash would have been good.

I also added a cactus and a burnt tree stump to add a little balance in the photo and create a visual triangle with the other rusty car part on the ground.

Time to work on the goanna and add some stones into the foreground.

I do this by splattering some brown paint on the paper with my stippling brush and see what shapes it forms.

With a brush lightly filled with paint I start joining the dots and this starts to create stones. I then add some shadows and some highlights.

Next I add the goanna under the car arch, this was photographed under my own car while at Agnes Waters. At first I only saw the tail as I was opening the car boot and thought I was about to get bitten by a snake.

Now with a long thin brush I start adding grass strands and if you look closely you will see flattered grass where the goanna has supposedly walked over.

I should have made these the same length only bent over, next time I’ll take a photo of where I walk and see the difference, as small details make a convincing painting.

This is the final shot that I made into a post card which differs slightly from the finished artwork.

This image was taken just before I posted it off, the changes are more rust on the bumper bar, darker shadows inside the car and under the wheel arch.

Truth be told I was taking a photo of the butterfly to show the scale and its the only photo I have of the finished artwork. (lesson learned, if you make changes don’t forget to photograph the final artwork).