The Birch Aquarium annual Volunteer Party has a 50s theme this year. I was asked to design a program cover (above is an initial draft), and thus set about looking up 50s icons. It helps to think of some movies set in that era, like Grease and Back to the Future, and 50s music - Elvis, Beach Boys, for example. Juke boxes, diners, malts & milkshakes, roller skates, hula hoops, bowling and corvettes were items that came up when I quizzed a fellow Birch exhibits person about 50s icons.

It's more fun to draw women than men, as I find women's fashion much more interesting than men's, and this was a great excuse to look up what 50s clothes were about. Poodle skirts, high waisted jeans... high waisted Everything actually, buttoned shirts, with cutesy collars, saddle shoes, perky hair dos.

I pictured a symmetrical composition, and centered it around a front facing corvette. I googled 50s corvette images, but surprisingly couldn't come up with front facing corvettes. I actually dislike drawing cars, they're one of my weakest subjects, likely because I never draw them. Even harder to draw one without a direct reference. So with great reluctance I found a 3/4 view corvette and imagined what a front view would look like.