CC61 056-057 AutoArt.indd - Pepitone Creative Services

Auto Art
cars and manufacturers that don’t exist anymore. Those things started it all for me.”
An early career selling typography for
a leading type house, working with top
designers, and schooling in art, graphic
design and electronic publishing cumulated to allow Joe to take on his current
position in 1989. Through his work at
Archie Comics, he became proficient in
Adobe Illustrator, the computer-based
drawing and design program that would
form the basis for his private work, as well
as the logo, editorial and fine art illustrations that he creates for Pepitone Creative
Services. Interestingly, though, he didn’t
turn his creative skills towards automotive
subjects until the owner of an auto body
and restoration shop near Archie Comics’
By Mark J. McCourt
Mamaroneck, New York, office, asked if he
could draw a car.
Twenty years of working on
“As an artist, you never say no,” Joe
comic books and graphic novels is
said. “The car, a 1957 Corvette, was in the
bound to color the way a person interprets shop for repair, and it’s the pride and joy
the world. For Archie Comics’ art director
of its owner, Nick Rizzo. Nick wanted the
and the proprietor of Pepitone Creative
car to be illustrated, and although I’d never
Services, Joe Pepitone—or as he’s known
done a car, I gave it a shot. I fell in love
to his friends and to the art world, Joe Pep with it, and that’s how I started creating
(written “JoepeP”)—this has influenced
automotive portraits.”
his illustrations with bold, bright colors,
Using his website as an online portfocareful yet whimsical detailing and, in his
lio, Joe works exclusively on commission,
beloved automotive portraits, an overand he relishes the research aspect of each
riding knowledge of and passion for his
job. “I just love going to car shows and
four-wheeled subjects.
taking pictures, and I’ve scanned tons of
While he works today under the pen
reference photographs and illustrations
name he created to circumvent confusion
from old American car brochures and
springing from an identically named major manuals. When a person contacts me for
league ballplayer, Beacon Falls, Connecti- an illustration, I’ll give them an estimate,
cut, resident JoepeP was a car enthusiast
and we’ll start working together. If they’re
from his earliest days. “When I was a good located too far for me to personally take
kid, my parents would let me stay up to
detailed photos of their car, I will ask them
watch The Untouchables. My grandfather
to do so for me.
understood that I wanted to see the ‘old
“I’ll spend a lot of time ensuring that
time’ cars. I don’t know what it was about the customer feels secure, and find out
them, but I thought they were the neatest
what their favorite view of the car is and
things. I also had a book that I loved called what special equipment it has so that I can
Those Wonderful Old Automobiles, filled
make the illustration very personalized.
with original advertisements for Brass Era
“Becoming too involved with the proj-
Buick by the Sea Shore
“As I was designing this, I was debating
whether to include the entire car or
just part of it. Something made me
gravitate toward the middle and back
end of the car: I think it’s beautiful, the
way the lines fall. I wanted to make it
look like people have just arrived and
that they’re not unpacked yet, and the
kids are dumping the toys all around
already. That house was never at the
shore—in fact, it was down the street
from where I grew up.”
1957 Corvette
“This car was in the
shop getting a minor
paint repair when I got
the commission. All
of its owner’s cars are
convertibles, so I was
surprised to hear that
he wanted me to show
the car with the hardtop
on in the illustration. I
spent a lot of time on the
badges, emblems and the
details in the headlamps
and hubcaps.”
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H e m m i n gs.com
1928 Cadillac
“This car was borrowed from the
Merritt Parkway anniversary poster.
The reason why I love it is that these
cars are filled with special designs.
Some may look at it and say, ‘That’s
just a headlamp and a fender,’ but they
work in such balance. I love to get very
detailed, including the fluting in the
glass. That’s my forte; I want someone
to look at my work and think that
they’re looking at a photograph.”
| OCTOBER 2009
Merritt
Parkway 70th
Anniversary
The Pontiac Chief
“I once had a 1952 Pontiac, and I
thought I could restore it: I learned
differently, as you can’t fix a car with
Dad’s wood tools. I was always drawn
to the hood ornament. I loved the
amber of the Pontiac chief; years before
this one, the emblems were all chrome,
and I felt that people who bought
those cars were cheated out of a hood
ornament that lit up. I wanted this one
to be a tribute to the designers: ‘Hey,
you did a great job.’”
ects is my Achilles heel, because I sweat
the details, all the way down to the texture
of a grille or the logos on the hubcaps.
I’ve found that the tire manufacturers who
advertise in Hemmings are a wonderful reference, because if I’ve taken a photograph
and can’t see exactly how a tire tread looks,
I’ll go to Coker Tire and look at the pattern.
I feel that if someone is paying hard-earned
money for the piece, I want to get it as close
to correct as possible, to create the ‘wow’
factor—you give it to them, and they say,
‘Wow.’ Then they add, ‘I’ve got a ’59 Impala
I want you to do,’ ” he explains.
“I work with two computer monitors,
one which displays the photo of the car and
the other on which I’m drawing the car in
Illustrator. Working in this program, I use
the mouse: click and drag, click and drag. I
find that this gives me more stability. I will
plan out each section of the vehicle, and
study the car; I usually like to start with the
wheels. I work in layers, with the wheels
being the base, the fenders being the second, and so on.
“There are times when I put backgrounds behind the cars, and others when
I don’t, as the main focus is to bring out the
beauty of the car itself. I spend time working on the reflections, as they’re what make
the fender or the chrome.
“When an illustration is finished, I
‘flatten’ the layers to make one image. I
have the prints made on archival paper
“Last summer, the
Conservancy director
asked if I’d do
another poster, so we
discussed what cars to
put in there. I thought
we could place some
old technology on
a new highway, so I
used a 1928 Cadillac,
which you could have
found on the Merritt
Parkway back in 1938.
The fun part was
looking for people
to illustrate in period
clothing, and showing
the James Farms Road
Bridge; I put a Packard
in the background. I
gave the Conservancy
the master files
so that they could
create posters for
fundraising sales on
their website.”
Gateway To New England
“I read an article in The New York Times about
a Connecticut group called the Merritt Parkway
Conservancy. The Conservancy works with the state
of Connecticut to make sure the parkway continues
to look the same as it did when it opened in 1938. I
love to give back to my community, so in 2004, I decided to design them a poster to keep my skills up.
The image is a combination of two bridges, and the
1938 Chevy belongs to my neighbor. I also designed
a logo for them, and sent printed copies off to the
director. I got a letter back, and they were dumbfounded that someone had done this. I figured that
they have a national treasure in it; the Merritt Parkway is the world’s longest museum. I didn’t have to
do it, but it was the love of the art, the love of the
car and the love of the parkway.”
that will last 80 to 90 years, and if the
customer wants an illustration framed, I
will have that done for them using UVresistant glass.”
Although Joe spends an average of 25
hours creating a car that stands by itself,
and many more hours to illustrate a car
with a complex background, such as his
Merritt Parkway Conservancy pieces, he’s
easygoing about the process. “It’s a labor
of love. I have a passion for these cars, and
Illustrator is second nature to me now. I’ve
created a monster,” Joe happily told us. “If
someone asks me to draw something in ink
for them, I say, ‘Do I have to?’ ”
Contact:
Joe “JoepeP” Pepitone
203-558-2921
www.pepitonecreativeservices.com
OCTOBER 2009
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