Old Engine Pencil Drawings

Image Gallery An eye for detail: Susan's working knowledge of engines is obvious in her drawings. Illustration by Susan Eddy

Gears interlocking in precision ... perfectly threaded ignitors ... gleaming oil caps: it's the stuff of engines, but also the focus of artwork created by Susan Eddy. 

Susan, who lives in Numa, Iowa, with her husband, James, and infant daughter, has a long involvement with old gas engines and tractors.

"I grew up around it," she said. "First with my dad. We were always running around, looking for old engines or tractors -- well, we still do. And then with my husband ... It's just been a part of my life."

Although she's restored her share of engines (an Emerson-Brantingham awaits finishing touches in the garage), in recent years her passion for vintage equipment has bloomed through her pencil drawings. A natural artist, she's had little formal training.

"I've always been interested in art," she said. "In my senior year in high school, my art teacher really encouraged me."

She works in watercolor, oils and acrylic, "but pencil drawings are what I call my first love," she said.

She's produced a series of drawings entitled "Timing," which focus on engine timing gears. Those drawings have been reproduced on notecards. Another drawing (featured on the cover of this issue) is simply called "Ignitors." It looks as if a bag full of ignitors was spilled out on a table, and the artist went to work. In reality, it was a bit more complicated than that.

"I like to take photographs, too," Susan said. "When I was at the Mt. Pleasant show one year, I saw a guy set up a table that was covered with engine parts. He had a bunch of ignitors on the table, and it just looked interesting to me."

 The intricate detail of the project required a major investment of time.

"I wanted to make sure each ignitor looked the way it was supposed to," she said.

Pregnant with her first child, Susan began to fret about completion of the drawing, anticipating that after the baby was born, she'd have little time to draw.

"When I get started with something, I like to keep at it, try to get it done. It's hard to get back into something once you've stopped," she said. "It was getting awfully close to my due date, but I finally made it."