Toriyama's machines and vehicles (and a farewell to the master)

Hello again people, today I come to show a study that I have been wanting to do for a few months now (seriously, since february I have been wanting to do this, if you dont believe check out my calendar down there)

Unfortunately, we recently lost the incredible artist Akira Toriyama, and if you, like me, are from anywhere in Latin America, you know how his works like Dragon Ball were of EXTREME importance in our upbringing, you just have to see the videos of the people making parades, singing the songs of the anime in the street, making giant banners in football stadiums and several other things that happened here

Anyway, we lost a great person, but his legacy continues, Dragon Ball was probably the first anime I watched, I still remember the tape I had that I always rewound the same episodes while I wasn't watching it on TV before I had to go to school, Toriyama's art had a lot of impact on my life, from comics  like Dr Slump to games like Crhono Trigger and Dragon Quest

Recently I was watching the incredible Sand Land, (seriously, go watch it because this 3D/2D is too beautiful, congratulations to the studio!) and man, I noticed that I had never stopped to really study Tori's style, , and worse, I never stopped to really pay attention to the incredible machines and cars he drew, I always loved this more "mundane" aspect of his worlds, like architecture and machinery, but as much as I loved it, it was always seen as something in the background, so I thought, why not take this aspect that I like so much about this author and that is rarely observed to study?

Well, I thought, but I'm only doing it now months later -_-", first because I wanted to finish watching Sand Land to do this, because is a cartoon that has too many cool machines, and second because I really forgot to do this and the incredible drawing that the @gaiden.exe is doing with several characters from the master together at the epoch encouraged me too much to study this subject that was scaring me because I didn't think I could do something up to the task (and I really can't, let's be honest hahah)

But let's go, because a study, in the end, is just a study, and if I make a lot of mistakes here it's part of the process ┏ʕ ·㉨·ʔ┛✎▤

As always the first step I take to do something like this is the REFERENCES, and what beautiful references right? First I went after references from Toriyama and then I went after references from real cars, many Japanese models, which I find very cool for being very small and other car models considered here where I live as "old man's car", the famous Del Rey, Passat, Brasilia and so on

It's cool that there are already two things to notice:

1. All the machines are basically in the same direction, and I'll say I think it's because it's the way the cars were photographed to be able to see them in their entirety, just take a look at the reference photos of the cars themselves
   

2. Toriyama always placed his characters in the cars, I don't know if it was a request from the editor or something of his own, but seeing it this way we can see that it adds a lot to have some character interacting with that machine in a functional way than just a drawing the machine alone, it gives a certain air of as if it were an advertisement or a family photo, you can work a lot on the narrative with that

And one addendum I would like to make here is, I tried very hard to avoid AI images, I use Pinterest a lot to go after references, and lately there are a lot of AI images there, and for machines specifically I think it is very bad to use them as references, because many times the machinery does not make sense, some that I saw would not even be able to turn the wheel of the car or motorcycle, but aesthetically they were beautiful, but I don't want just beauty here so I tried a lot to just go after old references, Toriyama's machines are beautiful but at the same time they seem extremely functional for having that certain foot in reality (not for nothing they managed to make Bulma's motorcycle in real life, right?)

Another addendum is, these vehicles, and many of Toriyama's older drawings, work a lot with the so-called SD style, or super deformed, where you take those real proportions and play with them to the limit of recognizable to become something much more compact and small, and I think that's what gives the whole specific air of these drawings, because you take something mega realistic, and even threatening like a war machine and basically make it cute, this same concept was used a lot in games like Metal Slug and if I remember correctly even a Gundam anime, so our base here will be, to learn the real proportions, and compress them without losing the original functionality, so let's get to work!

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Understanding proportions

So let’s get back to the SUPER DEFORMED (sounds like a Super Nintendo game, doesn't it?). The concept here is quite simple: take an object and squeeze it like you're making juice, but ensure that the crucial elements remain recognizable and expressive, in this case, these elements would be wheels, steering wheels, handlebars, and oddly enough, it seems to work quite well to keep the more complex machinery in their most realistic sizes

Reference and fundamentals

This is where references and learning the fundamentals come into play, If you lack the base of fundamentals and are unfamiliar with drawing realistic cars, take a step back and practice that first, okay? I'm not an expert myself, but I've already put in my fair share of drawing based on real-life photos, so I won't be revisiting that for this quick study, okay? (Although I should really brush up on my fundamentals...)

My sketches are usually quite messy, and I tend to draw over things I've already drawn behind... not to mention that I got a bit sidetracked there on the left, going off on the subject

But seriously, references will be crucial here, we need to understand how machines work, and it's blatantly obvious when you see a machine or vehicle in a drawing that likely had both a real-world reference and a completely fantastical one. Go ahead and look for yourself; I guarantee it makes a difference

By the way, Toriyama is a master of technical drawing, particularly hatching, take a look at this

Placing a character

This is something I've always wanted to practice more, and I should focus on it more: NARRATIVE. As simple as Toriyama's art may seem, there's always a story behind it. Can you imagine what those characters are up to? Are they embarking on an adventure or just returning from shopping? Based on Character 2's expression, it seems like Character 1 doesn't know how to drive. My God, who gave that child a machine gun?! And there are countless other narratives that convey a lot without actually showing anything in the end

Well... that's all for now, lol. I definitely learned something here that I'll apply to my future drawings, something that I've always seen but never truly understood. This is the magic of learning; it seems like things start to make more sense once you test, write, or draw them

Taking advantage of this, I made a fanart of Sandland! I'll post it down below. I also made a vertical version to use as a wallpaper on my phone, and if you want to, feel free to take it heheh

It was quite fun to create this drawing based on the anime's ending because I loved the concept of everything being based on two colors. So, I tried to make this a nighttime scene, a bit bittersweet since that's the feeling watching the end of this anime gave me, a bittersweet taste, as it would be the last time I would see something "new" from a storyteller I've known since childhood, and even though I never met him, he played a huge role in the person I am. Isn't it strange the power that art has? It's timeless and limitless. In the end, I think that's the best part of it, being able to share with others these strange worlds we create, which in the end are just pieces of ourselves that we choose to show the world. So, with that same bittersweet feeling, I thank Master Toriyama for sharing these incredible worlds with us

And as always, stay hydrated, study, and keep creating out there

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