Toyota Tacoma Watercolor
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Can’t draw? I’m here to help!
learn how to use internet images and your own photos to learn how to SEE, then paint your own Toyota Tacoma truck
this method will also work for any other vehicle
Drawing Made Easy
I wanted to create a fun painting for my husband’s birthday. He recently bought a Toyota Tacoma truck, and LOVES it. I thought it would be fun to create a watercolor featuring his truck AND his 65th birthday.
The problem? It would require drawing a truck. I love to paint, but I shy away from drawing. Many artists say you cannot paint unless you can draw. Though an ability to draw would be a bonus, I have painted for many years, and still struggle with drawing.
For creating this cute little trailer watercolor, I studied internet photos of the Scamp trailer.
My father, a talented watercolor artist, once told me that you cannot paint or draw until you learn to see. The trick is to recognize what parts of an object must be included to capture the image - so the viewer recognizes the object. Not every detail is necessary, but some details are critical for recognition of the object. The key is to learn which details are important.
Proportion and perspective are also very important - this means that at least some drawing skill is necessary. We can “cheat” by using photos and internet images and tracing.
I took on this project as an exercise in forcing myself to really look at his truck - to learn to see it.
I used a line drawing from the internet, plus my own photos, to create the drawing. I still forgot a few important details. I will point them out at the end of this lesson.
Original Line Drawing Credit: 17 Drawing Studio (YouTube).
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Watercolor Painting Size
Choose your size.
I created a 5” x 7” piece that went into a 5” x 7” frame. I could have matted it to an 8” x 10” frame. Change the size to suit your needs.
SUPPLY LIST
WATERCOLOR SUPPLIES: paper, brushes, paints, other basics
Valentine Watercolor: scroll down that page for my complete list of basic supplies you will need for all paintings. I discuss painting brands, types of paper, brushes, etc.
Graphite Pencil For sketching your design before painting, I recommend a good graphite pencil. Sketch lightly. I have also used watercolor pencils, but I actually prefer a graphite pencil.
Kneadable Art Eraser Very important! With this type of eraser, you dab at the pencil marks, rather than rub. This way, you do not damage the paper. The graphite pencil easily lifts from the paper. The brand I use is Faber-Castelle but there are other good brands as well.
Specific Paints I Used For This Project
You do NOT need to use these paints. I am providing this list as example.
Truck
The actual truck is a dark charcoal color. Even if it was black, I would not use black paint. I rarely use black paint because actual black is not seen much in nature. Instead, I used a mix of Payne’s Gray (Daniel Smith) and Imperial Violet (Kuretake). I used a bit of black for the wheels. I also tossed in some Moon Glow by Daniel Smith (almost a black)
Windows
I used some mixes already on my plate for some areas, such as window reflection. A bit of blue and green mix makes a good window reflection color because it depicts sky and foliage. It needs to be quite light (more water). The actual truck has darkly tinted windows, but I felt they would stand out too much in a painting, so I made them lighter.
Ground
I used Yellow Ochre (Kuretake or Master’s Touch), plus some browns (Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber - Kuretake or Master’s Touch), Payne’s Gray (Daniel Smith)
Sky
Prussian Blue and Indigo (Kuretake)
Background Foliage
Sap Green (Daniel Smith - in my opinion too yellow so use carefully), Olive Green (Kuretake), Perylene Green (Daniel Smith - beautiful for trees but VERY dark so use carefully)
To be quite honest, I had some other colors tossed in as well, but I cannot name them. I tend to grab whatever is on my plate if I feel it fits.
Check prices on Amazon for the brands I use, or visit your local art supply store. I bought my Master’s Touch set from Michael’s. I use it now and then along with my professional paints.
Winsor and Newton Professional Watercolor Professional grade that I use quite often.
Daniel Smith Professional Watercolor Another Professional grade that I use quite often.
Dr Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White I use this at times to add snow or other white details over watercolor.
Line Drawing
Line Drawing from 17 Drawing Studio I found a great line drawing from this YouTube channel. We are not affiliated with them in any way. I am recommending them because their YouTube videos are very helpful. Their drawing was for a 2016 Toyota Tacoma.
To capture their drawing, I did a screen shot of the drawing and printed that in the size I needed. Do not draw on your watercolor paper yet.
Instructions
1. Create Your Drawing
If you feel confident in drawing your truck freehand, you can skip this part.
If you need “help” in drawing, this part is for you.
I recommend that you start with the drawing on the YouTube Video - Line Drawing from 17 Drawing Studio .
Then, take photos of your own truck. Note the differences. Change your drawing as necessary.
I traced their drawing a few times for practice. Once I was happy with that, I traced it onto my watercolor paper, using a graphite pencil. I compared my drawing to photos of my husband’s truck and noted any differences. Look carefully! Take many photos and check for details.
The watercolor painting I made was only a 5” x 7”, so I could not include lots of detail, but what I did include needed to be correct. I wanted to the truck to be accurate. Just a few critical details will make an object recognizable.
I didn’t have to make many changes, but my husband’s truck was more recent than the truck used for their line drawing, so I did make some adjustments to the design.
NOTE: My photo of the actual truck is bit wonky because I blurred out some of the background.
A couple differences I noted: the actual truck’s front end was a bit different, the hubcaps were different, and the actual truck has steps (running board). That will be replaced in the future with a full running board, so I omitted them from the painting. Also, the gas cap is not in the original drawing - I added it to my drawing.
There is another difference. Can you spot it? I didn’t catch it until my painted was finished and framed. I had to remove it from the frame and add it. You will see that later in the project.
2. Prepare For Painting
Tape your watercolor paper to your acrylic board, covering the outer 1/4” with tape. Tape all four sides.
Spritz your paints with water. Lay out your brushes, rag or paper towel, and water cup.
3. Lay Down First Layer
You are now ready to lay down your first layer of paint.
Watercolor paint fades as it dries, so many layers are needed. Layering adds vibrancy and depth to your painting.
For this painting, I used wet on dry. That means that I did not wet the paper before applying paint. I dipped my brush into water, dabbed it on a paper towel, then dipped into the moist paint and applied it to the dry paper.
If you prefer wet on wet, you would paint a bit of water onto the areas you wish to paint. Paint follows water, so be sure to stay inside the lines with the water; when you add paint, it will not flow outside the lines.
Try both methods on a separate, practice piece of watercolor paper to see what you like best.
NOTE ABOUT COVERAGE
Notice that I did not cover every bit of the truck. I left some white here and there. Some might be covered later. Layering and leaving uncovered areas adds texture and depth.
At this point, I just wanted to get down a base coat for the truck.
NOTE ABOUT COLOR
The actual truck is charcoal in color, as I mentioned. It can also take on a greenish tone or a bluish tone, depending on the sky color or surrounding environment. Payne’s Gray has a bit of blue in it, so that worked in this painting as part of the truck color. I warmed it up a bit by adding the violet hues. The Moon Glow (Daniel Smith) is an almost-black color so worked quite well mixed with Payne’s Gray. I didn’t directly mix them, but used them in different areas of the truck body. Play with color. Create swatches and decide what you like best. It does NOT have to be exactly like your actual truck - it is a representation of the actual truck.
LET YOUR PIECE TOTALLY DRY.
It is very important to allow the piece to totally dry between layers. If you are impatient, you can use a hair dryer to speed the process. While the truck is drying, go on to step 4.
4. Draw Balloons (optional)
This piece was for a 65th birthday party, so I added the balloons. You can add valentine balloons, a Christmas tree, or leave this out entirely.
5. Add Sky & Foliage
Lightly paint in the sky. Leave white areas for clouds. This was done as wet on dry as well. It could have been done as wet on wet.
For the foliage, I used wet on wet. This helped the paint flow. I wanted the foliage to be fairly abstract. It is the background, and is only the first layer. Too much detail in the background would detract from the subject of the painting, which is the truck.
Let dry.
6. Build Up Foliage - Start Ground
At this point, I started to build up my foliage by adding an olive green plus some yellow ochre. I added the first layer of the ground.
Let it dry again.
7. Paint Wheels, Add Layers
I added a bit of black to my Payne’s Gray mix to create a very dark color for the wheels. I also used the Dark green (Perylene Green by Daniel Smith) for the final layer of foliage.
I also added another couple layers to the truck. I used a pale red for the tail light, and a bit of Yellow Ochre for the coloring on side of the headlight.
8. Finish The Truck
For the next few layers, I added more shading to the truck body, painted the wheel wells, painted the mirror, added the gas cap, painted the trim above the wheels, and painted the hubcaps. I did not use any white paint: I painted the dark areas of the hubcaps. The “white” in the hubcaps is the paper, or just a very light wash.
I also painted the mirror and added another layer to the tail and head lights.
For the door handles, I left them unpainted (white) and added a touch of paint above and below them. That bit of paint looks like shadows above and below the handles.
9. Finishing The Painting - or so I thought
I painted the balloons using wet on wet. Then added a few layers. I originally painted them using gold, copper, and silver (middle). The silver balloon did not show up well, so I changed it to red.
I painted the balloon ties using a very small detail brush. You could also use a micron pen.
At this point, I thought the painting was finished. I added my initials and framed it. It was not finished though. Can you spot what is missing? An important detail that would make this stand out as a Toyota Tacoma truck?
Lettering!
I had forgotten to add the text. Tacoma was needed on the door, and some detail was needed on the rear side of the truck. I removed my painting from the frame and added the lettering. For this, I needed an opaque white paint.
Dr Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White I use this at times to add snow or other white details over watercolor.
Door Lettering
I used my tiny detail brush to add the word “Tacoma”.
Rear Side Lettering
For the tiny text that said “off road”, I made a few marks. It was too small to actually write it out (my painting was only 5” x 7”).
Finished!
I was very happy with the results, as was my husband.
This was a very good exercise for getting me out of my “fear of drawing” box. Practice SEEING by observation. Get out into nature to study wildlife. Practice by drawing an object and then spotting differences in your drawing and the object.
As stated earlier, not every detail is necessary. The lettering is part an important detail that identifies the truck, so it was very necessary.
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