How to Draw a VW Van
Learning how to make a VW bus drawing is easy and fun. We’ll show you step by step how to draw, outline, and color your drawings with markers.
Art and drawing are skills anyone can learn over time with consistent practice. These are not gifts that some people were just born with. So if you want to learn how to draw anything, you can. You just need to practice.
We like to keep things as relaxing and enjoyable as possible. It’s important to enjoy the process and not get too hung up on the outcome. This will make your creative time more fun and you’ll want to spend more time doing it.
Let’s gather up some supplies and get ready to have fun learning how to draw a Volkswagen van.
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Art Supplies
- Thin black marker
- Paper or cardstock
- Markers
- Pencil
- Click Eraser, Pink Pearl Eraser
- White Gelly Roll pen
About the Vans
The Volkswagen van, also called a Volkswagen bus, was very popular in the 1960s as a form of transportation for hippies. Production ran from 1950-1967 model year, with the first vehicle being produce in Germany on March 8, 1950.
There were a few different variations of the VW bus throughout the years.
There were many other names used for these vehicles, but we won’t get into those here. But whether you call it a van, or a bus, I’m sure you’ve seen them in movies and paintings over the years.
It is said the Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead made the VW bus famous when they toured the country in one. They’re bus was covered in peace signs and flowers.
The VW logo is easily recognized among many people, young and old. This makes them a perfect subject to capture in our artwork.
Volkswagen Van Sketch Practice
If you feel like you need to warm up, try doing this quick sketch exercise. It’s quick and easy. And a great way to loosen up your muscles.
Here’s how it’s done…
- Get some paper and something to sketch with (pencil, pen, marker, etc.)
- Pull up some reference photos of Volkswagen vans
- Set a timer for three or five minutes
Then do as many sketches as you can before you run out of time.
You could also do as many quick sketches as will fit on your paper. Either method is fine as long as you keep your sketches loose and quick.
This is a great way to work through any ideas you might have for your drawings. You could also try making a series of thumbnail sketches if you want to brainstorm some more advanced drawing ideas.
VW Bus Drawing Step by Step
Step 1: Basic Shapes
Normally I like starting any drawing with some basic shapes. However, this VW bus drawing pretty simple to begin with.
And since I’m drawing mine on artist trading cards, I want them to be positioned correctly.
For these reasons, I started with the bumper. Then I added the tires. And then the main shape of the van.
Make sure your tires are the same size and shape. And that they are equal distances from the ends of the bumper.
Step 2: Add Bigger Details
Now we want to start adding in some details to our Volkswagen van drawing. I like starting with the bigger stuff first. That way we have less area to work on and it helps get things laid out.
Start by lightly drawing a vertical line going down the center of the van. This is your reference to keep things symmetrical.
Then draw a horizontal line where the bottom of the windshield will go.
And then draw in the windows. Try to make them as symmetrical as possible, but don’t get too hung up on making them perfect. You don’t want to feel stressed when making your artwork.
Step 3: Add Small Details
Now we need to add in all the little details. Start by drawing the shape for where the color is different on the van.
Start from the center of the shape and curve it up to where it’s almost to the window and then connect it to the side of the body.
Do the same thing for the other side. Again, keep your drawing as symmetrical as possible. But without causing yourself stress.
Next, add in a couple of headlights and any other lights you want to include.
Draw a couple of mirrors on the side of the Volkswagen van. And a license plate if you want to include one.
Finish up your drawing by adding the Volkswagen emblem to the front of the van.
Then clean up any areas that need some more attention.
VW Bus Outline
Making your VW bus outline is really easy. Simply trace over the pencil lines with a black pen or marker. Be careful to only go over the lines you want to keep for your VW van drawing.
You can clean up your pencil lines prior to making your outline if you need to have more clarity on where your outline will be.
You can make your lines thick, thin, or a combination of line weights. Using a brush pen for your Volkswagen van outline is an easy way to get some nice variation.
Or try using a color other than black. Experiment and have some fun with your drawings.
How you choose to create your VW bus outline will depend largely on your own artistic style.
How to Draw a Volkswagen Van with Markers
Learning how to make a VW bus drawing with markers is really easy. But there are a few things you should keep in mind.
First, if you want to be able to blend your colors together you need to use alcohol based markers. Bic, Sharpie, and Copic for example. As well as many others.
Second, you need to work while the colors are still wet or they won’t mix together. This isn’t a big deal. Just make sure you work on a section at a time.
Third, you need to use colors that are similar to each other if you want to create a smooth transition of color. If your markers are too different they will leave a harder edge.
There’s not a lot of color on these vans. But we do need to add a little brightness to them, so start by choosing a couple of markers for the main body color.
I like using an aqua color on these. So I picked a medium and darker aqua marker.
Then use a couple of gray markers for any of the chrome areas like the bumper and mirrors.
For the tires, avoid using solid black. Instead choose a dark gray and a black. Or you can even add in some other colors like blue or purple.
The windows and headlights can be filled in using a couple of light gray markers.
And then finish up your Volkswagen van drawing by adding a background or some accent colors.
A white Gelly Roll pen can be used to add highlights.
VW Bus Drawing – Final Thoughts and Next Steps
Now that you know how to make a VW bus drawing, what’s next? If you want to get better at drawing and creating art you’ll need to practice.
Make it part of your daily routine. And be sure to keep things fun. The more you enjoy your creative time, the more you’ll want to do it.
And the more you practice, the better you will get.
You can practice drawing more vans by challenging yourself to do as many as you can in seven days. When doing this, try to find ways to make each drawing different. You can change the details of the VW bus drawing. Or you could experiment with different colors or outlining techniques.
And don’t forget to try different backgrounds to finish your VW bus drawings.
Or, you could add it to some lettering and make a fun piece of graffiti art like I did here.
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