Retro Poster
Art

Retro
Poster
Art

My love letters to
classic cars

Retro automotive art made for myself.

No special occasion for these posters, just pure inspiration. Sometimes the Christmas designs inspire something further, and sometimes I just get the urge to sketch an amazing car. There is no clear story, no consistent technique, just explorations of things I love.

Poster Mockup – Pininfarina 90 Cisitalia

Falling in love all over again.

In 2020, Pinifnarina—the company that inspired me to study car design—celebrated its 90th anniversary. In celebration, I created two posters of significant cars in the company's history. The Cisitalia 202 was a landmark in sportscar design and the car that put Pininfarina on the map.

Breakdown of an illustration

The sketch process for the 2011 card (and several other years) involves a combination of Autodesk's Sketchbook app for the car and Adobe Illustrator for the background landscape. Getting the car right is always a priority for me, with hours of research into a specific model carried out before I even touch my pen to the digital tablet. I tend to start with fine line sketches, whcih are then built up layer-by-layer to add color, depth, and movement. For some cards I also use period poster references to attempt to recreate the feel of the original techniques as closely as possible.

Inspiring cars from inspired brands

Most of my Christmas card designs start from an encounter with a certain car, a moment where I fall in love with it from one reason or another. These posters showcase the cars more than the environment for exactly that reason. I highlight the amazing cars and brands that built them, much like the advertising posters of the past did. None of my poster designs are sponsored by or directly endorsed by the brands you see, they are simply my homage to automotive heritage.

Corse Alfa Romeo

Referencing racing posters from the 1920s, this illustration features an 1925 Alfa Romeo P2 and the brand's classic "quadrifoglio" four-leaf clover logo

By the sea

Inspired by the Italian Adriatic coast and the amazing roads and scenery of the area, this poster celebrates both the amazing 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B "Le Mans", as well as the golden age of motoring.

Poster Mockup Square – Automobili Alfa Romeo

Abruzzo

A variation on the theme, this illustration also features the beautiful town of Tortoreto, Italy as the backdrop for the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B "Le Mans" race car.

Pininfarina 90 Cisitalia

The Cisitalia 202 is considered the first car to use integrated fenders in its design, a remarkably bold (and difficult to build) design that established Pinin Farina (later renamed as a single word) as one fo the world's foremost coachbuilders and design houses.

Pininfarina 90 Modulo

Again breaking ground, the 1970 Pininfarina Ferrari Modulo was a concept car that showed that the company was capable of more than just the sexy curves that put it on the map. The Paolo Martin-designed car remains an absolutely remarkable accomplishment and stands out in the brands' history.

Some of my other projects