Barn find!

Here's a little oil painting that I did last week as an online painting demonstration.

Imagine the scene, it's 'somewhere in France', and the old barn door opens with a creak. As your eyes become accustomed to the light you begin to make out the old Citroen 2cv car. The sunlight streams in from the open window striking various objects in the room, there are cobwebs...and even a mouse!

Once again the blue and orange theme works well together to provide some interesting rust texture to the car. Also included in this painting are the depiction of textures such as glass, water, hay or straw, rubber, galvanised metal, flaky paint and rust, tin, a wicker basket, brass candlestick and copper!

It was lots of fun to paint.

Patina.

Now here's a strange thing.
For years now I have been amazed at the way many Americans allow so many fine examples their automotive heritage to sit out rotting in fields. I have remarked upon the solid condition of many cars that have been abandoned to the Californian sun, those 'dry state' cars may be rusty, but they sure are worth saving.

Now here's where I'm a little confused. I know that among the VW bus and bug crowd there is a definite rat look vibe going on, and I can live with that because there are certain cars, (VW bugs included) that carry the distressed look off real well. Other products however don't.

Case in point the 1950 Buick fastback shown here. When I first saw it I was happy that this car had been saved, 'finally' I thought, someone has begun to appreciate those old heavy metal monsters enough to rescue them. But there was something about this car that just wasn't right.

I studied it before noticing that the chrome was new, and then I noticed the wheels. So okay the wheels are personal choice, but the chrome-work stands out as too new for the car. Rusty paint needs rusty chrome surely?

It was only after seeing this shot of the interior that I knew that the owner had blown it in my opinion. The car had been beautifully and carefully restored and re-trimmed - with the exception of the paint!

So that's why I have mixed emotions about this car. First of all I'd rather see it as it is now than sitting in a field someplace so that's good. I don't even mind original rust patina on those cars that can carry off the look either, but I think this car deserves better. No doubt the owner has spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours restoring this car, and the standard of work looks to be high, I just wish that on this occasion the car might have been returned to it's former glory, or left original but running.

Modern art in metal.

I've never really cared much for what is usually known as 'Modern art', preferring to admire the skills and quality of work from the representational artists who more accurately depict their subjects. On the few occasions when a modern painting has appealed to me it has been purely down to the arrangement of shapes and colours on canvas that simply have pleased the eye.

I spent some time thinking about this as by recognising that shapes and colour alone are able to please us without the element of drawing or structure, then surely using those shapes and colour combinations, with the extra dimensions of design and texture, would create a work that bridges the gap between representational art and the so called 'Modern art'.

The elements that are often missing in modern paintings, such as composition or light and shade are still present in my 'rust art' because we are dealing with the depiction of solid objects - and yet, the abstract shapes of colour and texture also play a part in the whole.

In the photo above we can see the bold yet faded turquoise of the roof contrasts perfectly against the flat grey/brown background. The rust textured paintwork gives scope for invention, as no two cars will ever rust the same, yet the firm bright-work of stainless steel lends a definite structure to the composition by rigidly locking those areas of abstract colours together.

I think the image above works beautifully, but there can also be changes made in the balance of the composition by removing even more of the detail, and changing the format. Often painting less has more impact, so it's fun to play around with the images until you find the one that 'speaks' to you.

And again!

Another image that hits you like a punch! Pow!

Like the last picture I featured it's the bold simplicity of this image that captivates the eye, before alluring it into exploring the colourful details. The composition here is so finely balanced adding apparent tension to the rusty chain. The deep blue placed next to the reddish orange of the metal seems to set the metal aflame, it looks hot to touch!

Rust art at it's finest, and truly worthy of the title 'beautiful decay'.

Art!

Bam! That one hits you doesn't it? Simple, clear, and effective. Perfect rust art!

Amazing skill.

A couple of posts back I mentioned some really nice highly detailed model cars. Well I'm returning to that theme once more to share a truly fascinating discovery with you. The photo's shown here are diorama's created using those models, aren't they amazing?
They are photographed in such a way as to include elements of 'real' background in the far distance which, when combined with the super-detailed sets, and the cars themselves create images of a time period now long since past.

The creator of these dioramas has done quite a lot of them, and each one is hyper real, there is very convincing detail work added to all his work. to see a slide show of the artists work click on the link ...and prepare to be amazed! SLIDESHOW.

Patina

I'm spending so much time restoring my old Citroen car recently (see my other blog) that I don't get to post on this one too often. Having spent hundreds of hours bringing an old rusty car back to life, it's a little ironic that here I post a similar car in the sort of condition mine started out as!

Is this car patinated, or is it just plain rusty? There are certain types of cars that can carry this look well, the Citroen above, or a beat up VW Beetle (Bug) can look quite cool in this natural, weather worn state of preservation. Unfortunately my car had rusted through in several places of the structure, so it no was longer safe enough to leave it as it was, the result is that I've rebuilt it and it's almost finished. (below)

In just a few more weeks I'll be using her as my daily driver, but then I'll be looking for another rusty and forlorn car to rescue. It's at times like these when I wish that I lived in the U.S. There are so many old cars out there in good solid condition just begging to be brought back to life! I agonise over some of that stuff, and when I see a car like the Buick below I don't see a rusty hulk, I see a gleaming two tone and chrome prize winner. All it takes is a little work, those things should be saved.