Name: AND NOW
Author: Scott Smith
ISBN: 9798982152602

The Chicago Car Archive Scott Smith

Thirty-five works from decades of looking, remembering, and drawing Chicago’s vehicles.

See the first 35 Open the book

Detail of CCA-001: Scott Smith’s long blue Chrysler Imperial LeBaron, its antenna rising to touch AND NOW, front and rear both turned toward you.

CCA-001 · Detail · Open the complete drawing

A North of 80 + Weight of Value project · Chicago, 2026

Scott Smith holding a drawing with his handwritten introduction: AND NOW…Scott Smith. — Scotty, in his own words. Film still by Little Cabin Films.

The artist

Meet Scotty.

“I make the white 1990 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Wagon.”
Scott Smith

For more than thirty years, Scott Smith has drawn the vehicles around him. Years of riding buses, crossing neighborhoods, and studying cars have become a body of work entirely his own.

Known as Scotty, he makes and shares drawings with people he feels a connection to. Family, friends, and the community at Anixter Center have been part of that life and practice.

Spend a little time with him

Little Cabin Films

A little time
with Scotty.

At his table, with his drawings, and with the people who know him.

Scott Smith Artist, a film by Little Cabin Films.

Watch the filmScott Smith Artist

Scotty at work, with his sister Donna and Anixter Center.

6:14

The films open on Vimeo in a new tab.

Scott Smith ArtistThe full film · 6:14

The ArtA closer look · 0:34

Anixter CenterThe community · 2:58

Weight of ValueThe purpose · 1:42

Pen, marker, and crayon on paper

The first 35.

Front, side, and rear in a single view. Doors, windows, locks, antennas, vibrations. Each drawing brings together the details that matter to Scotty.

Detail of CCA-025: a red-violet four-door car with Catalina and Pontiac lettering and an Illinois plate at each end, its rear and front both turned toward you, a tall antenna with a crossbar rising in front of the windshield.

CCA-025Red Violet 1966 Pontiac Catalina · Detail

Detail of CCA-011: a yellow taxicab with a black lower body, cab number 85469 on its rear door and at both ends, the owner’s name and phone number on its side, and a roof sign advertising MeTV and Happy Days, its rear and front both turned toward you.

CCA-011Yellow 2003 Ford Crown Victoria · Detail

All 35 drawings

The archive keeps growing.These thirty-five works are the first published collection of a body of drawings developed over decades.

Titles preserve Scott’s vehicle identifications and color names. Years refer to the vehicles; the drawings are undated. All works: 18 × 24 in (45.7 × 61 cm). Archive IDs record cataloging order.

A language of his own

Look a little longer.

At first glance, the vehicles are immediately recognizable. Look closer and a consistent structure emerges. Every detail here opens the drawing it came from.

AND NOW · 35 of 35

Two words, then the car.

At the top of every sheet, AND NOW introduces the vehicle and the details that matter to Scotty: names, models, colors, doors, windows, locks, and antennas. Here are all thirty-five, in the colors he wrote them in.

“And now, the starting lineup for your Chicago Bulls!”

Chicago knows that rhythm. Tommy Edwards originated the Bulls’ call; Ray Clay carried it through six championships. On Scotty’s sheets, the main event is the car.

His lettering has badges, too. The doubled “ss” in “DooRss,” “Windowss,” and “Lockss” gives ordinary words the look of an automotive badge, recalling “SS” and Super Sport. It appears in 32 of the 35 inscriptions.

Palette · 19 color names

Nineteen colors, in his words.

Each name is filled with color from the drawing numbered beside it, and outlined the way he outlines a car. For White, it is the paper you see.

Antenna drawn · 15 of 35

Often the tallest mark on the sheet.

A thin vertical against a long horizontal, rising past the roofline. All fifteen, side by side, at the same scale.

Cultural references · 8 of 35

Chicago rides along.

Some works carry route names, phone numbers, TV shows, or other civic markers. On Scotty’s taxis, the roof signs say what’s on TV.

Front, side, and rear

Both ends at once.

Side, front, and rear come together in the same drawing, revealing details a single viewpoint would conceal. On CCA-020, the same Illinois plate appears front and back.

The rear of the wagon in CCA-020: red tail lights on both sides of a wood-paneled tailgate, and Illinois plate 1518-7658. — **Tail lights**CCA-020, rear

“You could see the headlights and the tail lights in one picture. How does he see it? How does he draw it? How does he draw things from memory? That’s amazing.”
Donna, Scotty’s sister

The front of the same wagon: rectangular headlights, amber lamps, a grille lettered FORD, and the same Illinois plate. — **Headlights**CCA-020, front

Look for more in the archive: the third wheel on four station wagons, and the vibration marks on twenty-seven sheets.

The first published collection

The work.
The words.
The book.

The drawings, the person, the city, and the people around him. The complete web edition is here to spend time with, including every two-page artwork spread.

11 × 8.5 in · Published by North of 80 · Chicago, 2026
ISBN 979-8-9821526-0-2 · Library of Congress Control Number 2026927137

Read from the beginning Download the web edition (PDF, 11.7 MB)

The archive · detail of CCA-007. Page 26 of 74, printed page 20. Detail of CCA-007, the Orange 1977 Lincoln Mark V Bill Blass, across two pages. This page: the rear half, with a light-blue wire wheel and MARK V lettered on the side.

The archive · detail of CCA-007Printed page 20

Open in the reader, with the page text

Turn your phone or tablet sideways for two pages at a time.

The project · 2024–2026

A shared endeavor.

AND NOW began in 2024 with an appreciation for Scott Smith’s art and practice. North of 80 + Weight of Value brought the project together and provided its funding, with Scott and his family welcoming the effort. What followed was a collaboration shaped by the generosity, curiosity, and talents of people who recognized something special in Scott’s work.

At Anixter Center, where Scott has deepened his practice and a remarkable collection of drawings has been preserved, thirty-five works were selected with him from a lifetime of looking, remembering, and drawing Chicago’s vehicles. Little Cabin Films spent time with Scott at home and at his drawing table, capturing the artist at work and the voices of people who know him best. Tree Towns carefully digitized the drawings, while Gianmarco Tudisco brought creative imagination and design to their presentation.

Published in 2026, AND NOW brings these contributions together in a book, four films, and a digital collection. Behind them are Scott’s dedication, the love and advocacy of his family, especially Donna, and the community at Anixter Center that has helped his practice flourish. Together, they have created new ways for people to engage with Scott’s art and practice, giving his distinctive vision a lasting place in the cultural life of Chicago and its communities.

Scott at his drawing table, bent over a sheet with a pen in hand, pictures pinned to the board behind him. — At the drawing table. From the film “Scott Smith Artist,” by Little Cabin Films.

For Scott and his family.

100% of primary-sale proceeds and 100% of creator royalties received from secondary sales are for the benefit of Scott Smith and his family.

North of 80 and Weight of Value receive $0 from primary sales or secondary-sale royalties. Neither is paid or reimbursed for its funding, time, work product, services, production costs, or expenses.

The NFT and the physical artwork.

The NFT owner may elect to collect the corresponding physical artwork for an additional charge, disclosed in advance. That charge benefits Scott and his family. North of 80 and Weight of Value receive $0.

Third-party packing, shipping, insurance, or tax charges are paid separately. The right to collect the physical artwork follows the NFT until it is exercised.

The digital collection.

The thirty-five works also form a collection on Ethereum: one token for each drawing.

Contract0x0de0cdf17d904ffb8ddfeaaf720e0e7e17f30ced

Verify the collection on Ethereum

Press, images, and permissions.

Write to the project about a drawing, or for press, images, and permissions.

Write to the project

weightofvalue@northof80.com

With gratitude.

To Donna, her husband, and all of Scotty’s family: thank you for welcoming this project, for your support and engagement, and for trusting us with Scotty’s work.

Artist: Scott Smith
Art scanning: Tree Towns
Video: Little Cabin Films
Creative: Gianmarco Tudisco
Anixter Center: Samantha Handley
Angela Davis
Megumi Hoshi
Gwen Deiter
Kristin Williams