Do you like the CRUST ? No, not pizza - my illustration of the Crust Lightning Bolt build.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/7c4631_1d4c16da3a624b88a47067a15e99e08b/480p/mp4/file.mp4

In recent years, the rise of the gravel and bikepacking movement has been on the rise. You see a lot of bicycle companies coming up with some good bikes and frames. And one of these companies is Crust bikes. They offer these really cool steel frames that harks back to the glory days of classic bikes of old but with a few modern features. And I like that concept. Something about a classic-looking steel frames with lugs but with clearances for mountain bike tires and disc brakes, that appeals to me. Crust Bikes is one of those cool, boutique companies that has a large cult following.

So I was looking at bikes on Instagram, as bike people do, and came across a picture of the said Lightning Bolt pic posted on Kissing Crows Cyclery on their instagram page. The build is packed with so much bling that I had to draw it.

For the process on this piece, I made a linework of out of the picture on Adobe Illustrator, adding details as much as I could. I then searched a vector background and then tweaked and edited it to suit the bike drawing that will be on it. The circular lightning bolt pattern was done manually. I then added texts, choosing an industrial-like font for the artwork. I then placed the outline I made of the bike and make sure the whole composition fits.

Next step is done on Procreate on my iPad. I imported the whole shebang in and then proceeded to work on the bike, adding in more detailed lines and then the base colours, shadows, highlights and textures. I added textures as well to the whole piece including the background and texts. I really dig the True Grit Beat Tones brushes. For this one, I used the halftones brushes for that old school comic aesthetic. I like some grittiness and dirt, so I lay a gritty, dirt layer on the overall artwork.

I think this piece turned out great if I do say so myself. Will I make a print out of this? I don't know. Seeing that there are company logos and names and the likeness of their products on the bike and accessories, I'm not really sure how those intricacies work. It's up to those companies I suppose. For me, I don't worry about those things. I just make art. Until the next one, insyaAllah.