PCTalent Images

[WildcatOne]

This post gets into some detailed stuff...I thought it was important to show because it wasn't until early this morning that I realized the truth behind a 46-year-old trick (or it could have been a plain old mistake), so I figured it to be worthy of mention as I am sure there are others who have been as unaware as I was that this picture is wrong! It became a brain-teaser but I somehow figured it out.

I've been working on a graphics project for a couple of weeks, getting some stuff ready for publication on the net, carefully selecting the material and clearing it with the client so that everybody is on the same page by the time it's ready to upload...a picture of a wheelstanding hot rod was requested...I immediately thought of one of my favorite drag racing pictures ever...the May 1964 Car Craft cover with the Frantic 4 dragster wheelstanding off the line in a blast of smoke and fury. I never forgot that great shot and I have gone back over the years just to admire the perfection of the photograph in terms of encapsulating the essence and spirit of the golden years in a split-second. To me, that picture says it all. At first I just copied the picture and put it in a template, but copyright issues were brought up which was a very true possibility...it was suggested that I make an illustration out of it...good call...that gets it out of the courtroom and onto the internet with no hassles in between. I very carefully drew the picture on my computer in FreeHandMX. After a few days of refining, adding detail and depth, I had what I believed was a final graphic, ready to go.

Except something kept bugging me about it...other than the little circular decal on the air foil up front next to the Valvoline decal that I couldn't figure out what it was, there was just something about the picture that was gnawing at me. Something was strange. Something wasn't quite right.

This morning when I woke up, it hit me like a lead pipe. On all of the pictures I'd seen of slingshot dragsters from the 60s, the steering mechanism comes out of the cowl and runs up to the front axle on the LEFT side of the car. This picture had that feature on the RIGHT side...it's backwards! I got online and double-checked everything at the Frantic 4 site and sure enough, the Car Craft cover from May 1964 has that picture "flopped"...reversed...a mirror image of the actual photograph. I've been looking at that picture since the day it was published and I never noticed it until this morning. I drew the whole thing that way, too.

I went back to my original drawing and flipped it over horizontally, then I took the decals I drew and flipped them over to the right side, and repositioned them so they fit properly in place on the corrected illustration. Now it's right...here are the images.

The final graphic with everything in proper placement, the illustration I drew first, and the cover of Car Craft from May, 1964.

Enjoy! WC1

[draglist]

Just an inside note to our own members because when I make the official announcement, I want to do it with fanfare, a rollout to the press, and links to the work he is doing, but the client is ME! I'm proud to announce that John as accepted an assignment as the Senior Graphics Editor for Draglist.com and our family of sites. He will be in charge of setting the graphics direction for draglist and all our web properties, plus promotional items. The work he's done so far is awesome (no surprise) and the next steps are up to me to get the sites up with John's work. Thanks, WC1! bp

[23t]

CONGRATS JOHN!!!!!!!!!

[pro70z28]

Cool Deal

[Rapid Randy Baker]

Wow, that is very cool news!

[WildcatOne]

Thanks all and big thanks to BP...didn't mean to "let the Cat out of the bag". Looking forward to having a lot of fun with this! Cheers, WC1

[Novel-T]

Good news,good poeple

[Mr. Jean]

Congrats John. You've shown your talents and shared them with us, in many forms. I wish you happiness in your journey going forward. Best of luck and thanks again for the things you do.

[Billy Mac]

A definite Great Announcement for all parties involved. Congrats Cat and BP...