Drawn to Speed - The Automotive Art of John Lander. A book review by Marcel Haan.
Cars can trigger so many emotions. John Lander captured some of these in his drawings which are now bundled in a nice booklet. Lander grew up around cars, his father had a Dodge dealership and when Lander turned 16 he got his first car, a used 1948 MG-TC. He has been driving a selection of beautiful cars ever since. When he retired as a designer, he had the time to get back to his passion of drawing cars.
What makes this book so enjoyable is the fact that each drawing comes with a nice story by the artist. Ranging from technical details of the car to the history of it's race results or a snapshot of the time and culture.
Lander often uses a kind of scrapbook style and combines the main drawing with smaller images, almost photo like, logo’s and notes. He has grouped his drawings by topics ranging from racing cars, to Squire, French cars and a series of black and white illustrations.
In one of the last chapters he offers us an insight into the creative process by sharing sketches and work done in preparation of the final drawing. The combination of stories and drawings make this book an enjoyable read. And it makes a perfect gift for any car enthusiast.
Publisher McFarland & Company, Inc Publishers
ISBN 978-0-7864-9785-0