The Technique
With my current paintings, I am trying to emphasize the iconic lines of some popular vehicles. Choosing impactful colour combinations based on period paint colours to create bold, statement pieces. With the cars coalescing from a complimentary graphic textural background my hope is that the images will better integrate in a wider range of hanging situations. I am most comfortable when painting in a relatively tight realistic style but I have explored different treatments to create this series. The key car view rendering is punchy and in contrast to the freer, abstract background that and I have also played with other views of the car creating ghosts behind the focal image to support the composition.
Today I usually work oil on stretched canvas with some preparatory work performed on photographs with computer manipulation to arrive at a digital “rough” to use as my guide for the piece. Sometimes I will go to the extent of creating digital 3D model from blueprints if I want an exaggerated view that isn’t available photographically.
The backgrounds feature paint spatter effects which are a mixture of random application, happy accident and carefully aimed brushwork with masking to direct the paint to follow the intention for the piece. The paint ranges from thin oils diluted with medium and turpentine to create drips and dribbles. The result adds a dynamism to the piece and evokes the paint restoration many classic cars undergo or the original factory paint application from the paint mixers table – or the humble restorers garage.
