Cube Surf Concept Rendering

After the last post, I got to work, and completed one of the concept sketches…

Surf Cube concept rendering

Naturally, I began sketching ideas for these Cube’s as soon as I laid eyes on them, and the above idea kept knocking on my brain… It just HAD to be drawn first!

The “Surfite” of one Ed Roth has always ranked as a top ten custom car in my book, not only because it’s so damn original, but it’s also surf-oriented, and as you know, I love me some surf ANYTHING. And man… the little Cube not only calls out for a “lifestyle vehicle” treatment, but as a surf wagon??! Oh YES! Taking cues from Mr. Roth’s lilliputian land rover, I plugged in classic hot rod and So-Cal VW styling cues, and attempted to honor the master “hisself” (as he’d say) with a modern take on the little Surfite.

Roth's Surfite

Pop-out side glass? Check. Asymmetrical tail light treatment? Check. Aggressive stance? Checkity-check. Custom trim and mild re-work all over? Double checkity-check. Take a very unusual car and make it even more personal/unique? Check, check, checkity-check check! It’s useful, like the swing-out rear glass and flip-up side windows, to the small step built into the rear fascia, and, well… it just looks COOL.

I dig it, and hope you do, too… And if so, holler at me, and I’ll continue finishing what I’ve started in the sketch book, and show off an entire series, perhaps.

Why not see some more, or grab a shirt or print over on my site at www.problemchildkustoms.com ? You’ll be glad you did… and so will I!

Rubik’s got nothin’ on this Cube…

…and I want one.

A row of ten new Nissan Cubes.

Seriously.

This past Saturday, our good friend Pike had organized a pre-release cruise featuring 10 (yes, ten) of the new Nissan Cube’s, and it was a blast. We hit a couple of area dealerships, then hit the road to the Pavillions in Scottsdale (great Saturday cruise spot for those of you planning to hit Goodguys Southwest Nationals in November), where the impressive lineup of geometric people movers grabbed a ton of attention on the freeways. Suffice to say, the lineup was a smash at the cruise, and Pike even brought along a GT-R (more on Godzilla later… words fail me yet) and an Infinity G37 convertible just to round out the playing field.

My first reaction when seeing a Cube a couple of years back (don’t forget, these have been around overseas since ‘98) was “not too sure about that”. Don’t get me wrong, I was impressed as all get-out that anyone could pack that much room into such a small-looking package, but the look was odd to me.

Fast-forward ten years, and my how things have changed. My first moment sitting in the Cube was a wild time… Headroom galore, great sight lines, and just enough legroom for even my lanky appendages. The dash is minimalist, but laid out in a tremendously intuitive way, and all controls are easily understandable and useful. Too cool.

The ride was incredibly comfortable, stable, responsive and above all, QUIET. It was that last fact that kept me stunned. The Cube is damn quiet on both highway and city pavement, and just felt “right” somehow. Aside from the constant stares from other drivers, I have to say, I’m giving this little machine SERIOUS thought (more on THAT, too later!).

Nissan Cubes ready to cruise last Saturday.

Design-wise, I have to say it has me hooked. If you know me, then you know my love for asymmetrical design, and that rear window treatment NAILS it. A wrap-around side glass on the passenger side meets a thick pillar on the left, and it (again) just feels “right”. Couple this with tall slab-like side panels, rounded corners all over, and a very trick windshield shape (oh, you’ll be seeing this on a few designs of mine to come), and we’re getting someplace. But oh that tail light… It was an instant love-fest for me. I have about thirty cars I want to use that in, and it’s not coincidental that I like it so much when it shares a similarity to a certain Thunderbird production run. It just says “custom car” all over (hell, even the headliner is sculpted already!)… and I dig the Cube for that immensely.

Naturally, I began sketching ideas for these Cube’s as soon as I laid eyes on them, and I’ll give a few hints to where it’s all going for me, prior to laying out some drawings for you.

As an Alexander Brothers fan, I’ve always enjoyed a certain “quirky/futuristic” aesthetic when it comes to a kustom, and that taste is finding it’s way into the artwork in a huge way. Think “Deora meets the modern day”, and you’re getting warm.

Custom inspiration by the Alexander Brothers

Throw in some healthy Ed Roth influence, and by golly, we’re getting there.

Mega cycle is mega cool!

Top it with some Winfield and Cushenbury asymmetrical appeal, and man, it just gets wilder by the second! It’s been literally years since any new car has trapped my attention like this, and I’m stoked about it… Hope you are, too. and that you’ll stay tuned as I play with a bunch of new designs and styles on this cool ride from Nissan…

You know, maybe that Rubik guy was on to something after all…

More, as always on my site at www.problemchildkustoms.com

Stencilling in a moment or two…

Lately, it’s been rough finding a few hours here or there to do anything, much less create some art on the side… but somehow, some way… I managed to sneak in a minute or two per day, and nail down some visions that had been trapped in my head right where they belong: On paper and canvas!

The finished stencil art piece.

The piece to the left here began some time ago as a digital work, and if you’ve been following along since 2004 or so, you’ll recognize the basics here… I had wanted to throw in the ‘40 on the first Disturbingly Kool tee, but opted at the very last second to incorporate the Valley Custom-style creeper… This time around, well… it needed to be the ‘40, and I broke out the Mylar, frisket and tape, and began the process of creating stencils and masks, oh my!

I poked around the studio and garage for a few days as well, rounding up texturally interesting items, and a piece of expanded metal called to me, as well as some bubble wrap… and pretty soon, I had the background texture flying! Mixing paints, inks, and then mixing different mediums into those paints, I began to just go on “auto-pilot”, letting the layers build themselves. I’m stoked about the result, and hope you dig it, too!

Next up was the painstaking task of cutting the stencils and masks, and figuring out a good system for layering them all, as I wanted to get this as detailed as possible, and have as much depth as I could, but still retain that flat, stencil look that brought this whole project on in the first place…

Detail of stencil art.

If you check out the detail shot here, you’ll see what I was after, as well as a slight shift in the stencils, a product of a very late night, but one of those “happy accidents” Bob Ross used to speak of. I learned a LOT about creating work in this manner, and will DEFINITELY do more… it’s a blast, and really is a ton of fun to put down the stylus and mouse, and just attack materials with an X-Acto knife, some brushes, an the trusty Iwata twins… There’s just that almost Zen moment when David Lee Roth’s voice is drowned-out by the hum of the compressor, and the paints manage to somehow eek out of the air brush, loaded with extenders and matte and gloss medium. It’s almost crazy to think that it had been so long since I created anything without the aid of computers, and shocking how different of a tan you get between a momitor’s glow, and the lighting out in the shop!

I hope you dig this piece, as it’s one of my favorites! (so much so, in fact, that I had it scanned, and am offering a limited-edition print of this monster over on my site at www.problemchildkustoms.com) If you get time, please check it out, and if the mood strikes, pick up a print so that I can buy some more supplies!

Thanks again for checking it out..