Acrylic on MDF board. 90x132cm. Completed 28th September 2009. Time taken – 598 hours.

This is one of the hardest paintings of photorealism I have ever attempted. This work is not modified from the original (Autosport magazine) and includes the headings of the original article. The foreground with the pebbles, the C-type Jaguar car, Tony Rolt’s parka, the building with its old bricks says – photorealist painting technique taken to the extreme! The ‘C is for champion’ image when I first discovered it was too tempting to resist because it would be so difficult to paint – it just had to be tackled. It was an incredible challenge as every square centimetre was complex and the title ‘C is for champion’ was a great metaphor for my boastful accomplishments. The work was begun in January of 2005, and was finished in 2009.

The car is in front of Tony Rolt’s home and the car is owned by Adrian Hamilton. Sadly Tony Rolt passed away recently and he, with Duncan Hamilton, made this particular car one of the most famous Jaguar’s of all time by winning Le Mans in 1953. Tony acheived much in his life, he was a soldier in the second world war, and later went on to have a huge part in British motor racing both as a driver and was among the unsung backroom heroes of British racing development.

I hope this artwork, more than any would come to stand for my theme in art – to strive for perfection. Perfection being, in my eyes, the ability to recreate just that – what my eyes saw. It is hoped that this work will be marveled at in centuries to come. Link to Tony Rolt’s obituary.

Looking back

When I started this painting my primary concern was with the depiction of the ‘surface of things’. It was the challenge of the techniques that was the initial inspiration. That is, and always will be, an important part of my makeup as an artist, but it became more and more about the subject. I had gone online to find about Tony Rolt because I was spending an inordinate amount of time on creating this painting. I spent an incredible number of hours on the drawing and painting. It took 12 hours alone on drawing the parka Tony wears!

I soon came to realise that the subject was going to be as important, (or even more important), as the artists skillful depiction of the car or the vinery etc. to the viewer. The admiration and respect that the writer of the heading and text has for Tony Rolt and his achievments is quite apparent. When I decided to paint this image, I scanned the two a4 pages into my computer and then joined them into one file. I considered using the clonestamp tool to remove the lettering, but in the end thought – ‘no it will be ultra contemporary photorealism’ if I leave it in. There is the fact that it’s source, that is it has been taken directly from a magazine, left to create an implicit link to the magazine. It also becomes about the value we place on images in our society. It is my belief that photography is being judged by the worldwide community at large to be some of the most regarded art of our time and definately surpassing that of contemporary painting. It doesn’t have to be this way, as an independant, contemporary artist I can use any visual source to create visual beauty and talk about a specific subject.

This work is for sale. It is offered at $2000 Aus.  Serious enquiries only by contacting the artist.