The Artifact Graphics company car kept getting dirty.
Our company vehicle.
So I bought a car cover for it.
But this created another problem. Covering the car meant covering our self-advertising. The solution was to create a new advertisement on the car cover.
The completed company car cover, by Michelle Annette Leveille
I chose to make the cover look like a chimpanzee skull for two reasons.
(1.) Our company logo is a chimp skull
Artifact Graphics logo
(2.) It is ridiculously eye-catching.
Here is how I went about it, in case you want to do something similar.
I painted the image on there using economy-sized acrylic paints mixed with textile medium. This is the same way that crafters paint on t-shirts. The result is a flexible piece of artwork that you can run through the wash. But the project requires several dry days, non-use of your car, and some expense. So read the instructions below to plan in advance.
Acrylic paints and textile medium.
1. Buy a car cover.
If it's an older model vehicle, you'll have to order it.
A close-up of the cover I chose. The color is similar to bone color, so I won't need to use as much paint for the skull image.
The cheapest ones are made of jersey cotton. In my experience, that material gets misshapen and discolored easily, and it is difficult to paint upon because it is just too flimsy. So this time I purchased a more costly car cover. It was advertised as breathable, water resistant, and lightweight, without a plastic liner. The advertiser also claimed that it was custom-fitted to my make and model vehicle, but it was about two feet too long. Here you can see how saggy it was.
This photo shows how poorly the cover fit the car.
The most expensive ones advertise multiple layers of protection, such as an inner liner. They tend to be custom fitted with mirror and antenna pockets. Those seemed like unnecessary expenses. Besides, the addition of pockets for the mirrors and antenna would add elements to the design that would complicate the trompe l'oeil effect. Here you can see how the slight bulge of the mirror added to the three-dimensional effect of the zygomatic arch, (cheek bone):
View showing the 3D effect of the side mirror.
I ordered a cover which was in the middle range, knowing that when I painted it, I would need to put a layer of protection between the car and the cover to prevent the paint from bleeding through to the surface of the vehicle.
2. Wash the car cover.
Textile medium won't work on surfaces which are waterproofed or have sizing or softeners. You need to wash them out of your cover first. Take the cover to a laundromat with a large plastic garden bag. Unfurl the cover and load it into a front-loading machine for large loads.
Use the largest machine, with the smallest agitators (paddles) inside.
Wash it with "free and clear" detergent on a delicate setting. Then wash it again without any detergent, just water. While it is washing, go get your car washed. Do not get wax. Then drive back to the laundromat, put your car cover in the big plastic bag, and drive home. Park the car and wait for the engine heat to dissipate from the hood. Now you can lie the wet car cover over the car to dry.
3. Do your image research.
Since I knew I wanted my cover to look like a chimpanzee skull, I looked online for images of such. Companies which market reproduction skulls have the best and most consistent images. Here are three places to look:
I also considered renting a skull. Since my office is in Los Angeles, there are plenty of movie prop houses and educational resources which will rent a skull. However, I was most pleased with the responsiveness and personal service of Taylor Made Fossils Studios www.taylormadefossils.com in Saint Louis. They offered to ship a skull at a low price.
4. Draw your rough sketch based on your reference materials.
Photograph your covered car from different angles and then lay out your rough sketch on the photos. You can do this on printouts or in a photo editing program.
A rough sketch drawn over a photograph.
5. Lightly draw your outline on the car cover with chalk pastels.
Do NOT use OIL pastels, which are more permanent.
These are very old chalk pastels. Some of the colors are toxic.
Lay a waterproof sheet, such as a painter's tarp, over all surfaces of your vehicle. Then cover it with your dry car cover.
A painter's drop-cloth made of plastic lies between the cover and the car to protect it during painting.
Use the color which is lightest and closest to the car cover.
This color is too dark.
Start by drawing a line down the middle of your car. Use landmarks such as license plates, the hood ornament, the antenna and the trunk handle to figure out where the exact middle is.
The arrows point to the line I drew down the middle of the cover.
Then draw your sketch on one side of the car only. This way, if you need to make revisions, you will only need to do it on one side of the car.
Outlines sketched with chalk
Only half of the car is drawn. It required a few revisions, as seen by the different colored chalk.
Finally, use the chalk to lightly sketch in the design on the other side. Use the center line and landmarks such as body panel seams to make the layout symmetrical.
Completed chalk outline on cover.
Leave the car cover and plastic liner on the car for the next step.
6. Use a narrow brush to apply paint over the outline.
Going over the chalk outline with paint.
In order for the textile medium and paint mixture to work you will need to apply them onto your cover and then heat set them with an iron. You don't want the chalk to be there when you iron it, or else the chalk will become permanent too. So mix the textile medium and paint, apply the paint over the chalk lines you want to use, and then wash off the chalk lines that were mistakes.
I mainly used a shade of paint that was similar to the car cover, just in case.
Titanium white plus a dab of raw sienna mixed to match the car cover.
Follow the instructions on the textile medium to mix in the right amount with the paint. The textile media I used advised using 2 parts paint to 1 part medium.
2 parts paint to 1 part medium.
Outlining with black paint
The teeth were outlined with white.
I took the whole cover into my studio when it started raining.
The teeth are being painted here.
I painted the text red.
Adding red letters with a finer brush
I used paint that matched the car cover to outline all the other contours.
A lightly brushed red outline to indicate where the company name will be placed.
7. Wash the chalk off.
Wait for the paint to dry on the surface as well as on the other side of the cover where it bled through and contacted the plastic liner.
Then use soft washcloths dipped in slightly soapy water to lightly scrub any chalk lines off areas where they will show. Avoid scrubbing too hard or going over the painted lines. Use a bar of pure soap without dyes or essential oils to rub off hard-to clear areas.
Allow the cover to dry again.
8. Paint in the fills, shading, and details.
Continue mixing the paints with the the textile medium in the recommended ratio. Work from top to bottom. If you are right-handed, work from left to right to avoid smearing damp paint. Start by painting the darkest darks and the lightest lights.
The rear of the cover is half-way covered in black paint.
Colors dry darker than they appear to be when they are fresh and wet. I needed many coats of white paint to compensate for the fact that it naturally absorbed into the cloth and darkened.
The completed teeth are predominantly white.
Next apply single colors - colors that come straight from the tube and do not need blending with other colors. I used burnt umber to scrub in the shading.
I used burnt umber paint for most of the shadows.
Then apply cool shading and warm lowlights. I used a different brand of burnt umber mixed with titanium white for the cool shades and burnt sienna for the lowlights.
A mixture of highlights and shadows.
Lastly, fine-tune the details using a smaller brush and other paint colors as you see fit.
Adding a black drop-shadow to the text so it will stand out more.
Allow the paint to dry once again.
9. Heat-set the painted areas.
Remove the cover from the car and turn it inside out. Lie an old towel over your ironing area. Spread the car cover, with the painted side down, over that. Then cover the site with another old towel. Follow the textile medium instructions to iron the car cover and heat-set the paint.
Ironing the cover, painted-side down, between two old towels.
Note that this step is rather dangerous. You will at the very least ruin your towels. Don't burn the cover or your house. That's your warning.
10. Dry
Allow the painted and heat-set cover to dry at least a week longer before use.
