Digital artist Luis Nieves wowed us last week with a rendering of the iconic Ford GT40 in Gulf livery so realistic we said it would make you dream in pixels.

Honored by the strong response, Nieves agreed to share a step-by-step guide of how he built this impressive car in the digital realm using Maya, After Effects, Photoshop, and a ton of research. — Ed.

I wanted to push myself on how far I could go, so I decided to build a piece capable to make an art statement; I didn't want to feel that it was just another 3D model.

Being an automobile nut, I, like some of you, have had the idea of building a car from the first to the last bolt. I find out that for this task a good set of blueprints is never enough. I spent around a week collecting photographs before the beginning of the modeling process, and I was still collecting references at the end of the texturing and rendering steps.

All digital renderings copyright Luis Nieves.