Meet Aran La!

Sam from ROADSTER! meets Aran La,  a 9 year old with an incredible talent for art… and is lucky enough to receive a quick masterclass.

SAM: Your drawings are really good! When did you start drawing?

ARAN: I’ve been into cars since I was about four or five years old. Do you like drawing?

SAM: I like drawing comics. 

ARAN: That’s a really good place to start off with. It will help you get into drawing. I started off by drawing comic style pictures and very small vehicles like small planes and bicycles, then I got better at this and thought I would draw them bigger and in more detail.

SAM: How did you get into cars? I got into cars because of the [Pixar] Cars films.

ARAN: Oh I like [Pixar] Planes! Do you like Transformers?

SAM: I haven’t seen all of them.

ARAN: Have you seen the new Transformers movie?

SAM: No not yet.

ARAN: I’ve seen it. It’s really good! 

SAM: How did you learn to draw like you do?

ARAN: My Dad taught me to start with. I now go around other places and see people’s art work. They inspire me. I look for ideas and experiment with them.

SAM: Do you have a favourite pencil to draw with?

ARAN: I really like HB pencils. I have a mechanical pencil where you can change the different grades.

SAM: How do you practise?

ARAN: I find time to draw nearly every day. I have a lot of books that I go through day by day, drawing cars and studying them and redrawing them to perfect my car drawings.

SAM: Do you have a favourite car?

ARAN: I like supercars or hyper cars. My favourite is the McLaren F1.

SAM: Cool! Have you seen Bumblebee?

ARAN: Yes. I really like it. My favourite part is at the beginning when Cybertron City is destroyed. I like the Decepticon plane chase with Starscream… 

[The boys then carried on chatting and drawing for almost an hour!]

Aran’s Top Drawing Tips!

1. Use a model…

Have a model of what you are drawing in front of you. 

2. Use Guidelines…

They will help to get an idea of the car’s height, width, depth, and position on the paper. 

3. Draw a box! 

Think of it like the packaging to a toy car! Once the box is drawn divide it into segments for the bonnet, the cabin and the rear of the car.

4. Drawing in the car body...

Starting at the front, draw in a feint bonnet and windscreen. Then the front bumper. 

5. Work out where the ground is…

Give the car some road to roll on! It will help with details. Start with the big things such as wings, sills and windows.

6. A wheely important step…

Wheels can be hard! Think of them  a drawing within a drawing, so draw guidelines and a box for each. 

7. Fine tune the details…

Details like number plates, headlights and door handles will help the car become recognisable.

8. Make the sun shine…

Decide where the sun is shining and draw a feint ray of sunlight onto the car. If something is light then something behind it will be darker.