Rusty Car with Nuclear Weapons

Have to admit I cheated a bit on this one and grabbed an image of a scud missle launcher, ran a multiply on it over my painted background, then adjusted my background a bit to match the image orientation, added some extra shadowing, etc. Maybe once i have more time I'll try painting this vehicle in myself by hand.

Since Richard Tran called me out for more info, I'll show my work

here. :)
I started on this background image focusing on color, going for a post apocolyptic look, and a horizon (which now that I thinka bout it I have done in every piece so far, not sure if that's a bad thing, but I should try some different perspectives). 3-4 min

Once I had something I was pretty happy with I went to google image search and looked for a scud missle launcher, and the first image I found met exactly the orientation I wanted. 1 min

I brought this image into my background and started playing with blending modes, stumbled across this look using a multiply, and basically had the image I was looking for. 1 min

Once I had the image in I played with my background a bit to match the orientation of the ref image, added some darker ground shadowing etc, and called it good. 1 min

I then tried briefly to draw my own scud missle truck, but my wife called and it was time to go, so I called it a day. 2 min

So really this was more of a composite color piece for me rather than a technical digital drawing (which is also really what I want to get better at). I would love to hear some tips from the pro's on how to create things like cars, spaceships, buildings etc. I can't ever seem to find a brush I'm really happy with, I always end up with something too noisy, or too bloby, too much like a fat crayon. I need like a good charcoal pencil, any suggestions? Thanks, and sorry for talking so much, blame Richard.

-SeanB