Hi all - I've been absent for some time and have left some drawing in limbo - sorry!

I've been working on a new skill set and it's got me distracted from my cartoon cars. Over the last year, I've learned a ton on how to really detail model cars (1/24 scale) and paint them to near real quality. Hopefully I'll get better and achieve the results I see in my mind's eye.
But all this really started with trying to get better at color illustrations on Corel Painter - I needed to learn more about the reflections on cars and the colors minor nuances and changes in different light.
Most of us use reference material, but drawing from life is the best. Except that I lack a garage full of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Corvettes, Mustangs, Vipers, etc...
So my models are finally coming up to near the grade that I hoped to achieve.
In this pursuit, I have built a 30 inch by 24 inch spray booth in my office that vents out thru my crawl space so I can spray paint in any weather.
Trial and error and repetition are the norm for me now.
Photo etched parts are the next step for me - highly realistic details that are nearly microscopic. But small details make the big picture.
All that time sanding, cleaning up mold lines, fitting parts together and researching cars for additional details should step up my drawing - I hope!

At present, I've built a Toyota 4x4 pickup, two Impala police cruisers (for new guys on the force here in Anchorage), a Lamborghini Countach LP400 (1974 version) and a Corvette Z06. Next up is a 1968 - 72 Ferrari Dino 246 and a 1975 Jeep CJ-5 with a modified suspension (Rubicon style traction/ locating arms and coil springs with 31" mud tires). Also, a 1965 Shelby Mustang 350 GT...

The ambition is to do a competent job on a Ferrari 288 GTO, F40, 599 GTB, 250 GTO, Lamborghini LP500 and 5000s, Muira, Murcielago and Gallardo as well as some Subaru Impreza's, Jeep Wranglers and and a Toyota FJ40.
On my wish list are Porsche 944, 928, 911 Turbo (1985 - 88), Chevy Camaro (1967 - 69 & 2007), Corvette Stingray (1963 - 71), Dodge Challenger (2008) and if they ever make it: Toyota Tacoma or Tundra.

My wife and I bought a 2009 Jeep Wranger Rubicon - the one that has all the goodies: locking differentials, disconnect sway bar, 32 inch BFG mud tires... We LOVE it!
I lost a long, long time friend and pet - my Baby girl. Better to have loved passionately and lost than to have never love at all.
We have a new doggy, Emma - 1/2 Rottweiler, 1/2 German Shepherd. We love her and she is fitting in nicely - very smart and is eager to please us. We just sit and wonder how we got blessed with such good pets. The kitty (Trouble) is getting fat - we don't live in the country anymore, so she stays inside too much. The goldfish got a little friend, a La-clost-a-mus or some such sucker - my wife knows how to say it, I just get tongue tied and call it a lost-my-pus. Or whatever pops into my feeble brain.

The obvious thing is: I need to give a big thanks to my loving wife who puts up with my car obsession and has let me use up a whole room in our home for my hobby of building and drawing!