Some people are born into car art, and others have car art thrust upon them. While both of those descriptions could arguably apply to Tim Layzell, nobody could argue that he is anything other than delighted to be doing for a living what he has done reputedly since the age of three. Just 27 now, [...]

For any car artist the opportunity to even visit the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is something that is keenly anticipated and much cherished. But what most ambitious car artists truly dream of is the opportunity to one day paint the highly prestigious promotional poster. For the 59th Annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the lucky artist [...]

The great thing about art is that it is one of the few pursuits that you can make a living from which can chime in perfectly with what you would be doing anyway. Of course, to make a living from art you generally need to be talented, so most of us unfortunately need to be [...]

Car art may not be up there with the stuff that is exhibited in the Louvre if you are looking for what most people might define as “classic”. In fact, it is something of a minority movement – or, to be more accurate, a niche movement. This, however, does not prevent some works of car [...]

There can be few artists in the pantheon of car art who have a CV as interesting and varied as Stanley Rose. This painter, specialising in watercolors, has created some of the more interesting pieces in the gallery of the automobile, and has had a life which is just about perfect for art – indeed, [...]

If someone wished to make a film about you, you would probably be at least a little bit flattered, no doubt. If it emerged that this process was going to take sixteen years, you would perhaps become a little bit perturbed. Nonetheless, David Silberberg took exactly that long to make a film documenting the life [...]

One of the things that takes a car artist out of the pack and into the pantheon of fine artists is the ability to very much imprint their style on the paintings they create. The work of John Marsh is an example of this, as he is deeply interested in the creative process whereby he [...]

Houston is, to many people, the home of the Art Car. And it is all the more shattering when a city that has such love for a movement loses one of the people who gave that movement so much. This is the feeling that still exists among many in the Houston Art Car community in [...]

The term “car artist”, when you think about it, is a somewhat limiting expression. Is someone a car artist because they once painted a piece that happened to feature a car? Are they not a car artist because some of their paintings depict something else? The answer to both questions must surely be “no”. It [...]

There are many reasons why a love of cars tallies up with a love of aircraft when considering an artist’s muse. After all, these two things have a lot in common – both are man-made inventions which give us the chance to travel over longer distances than we ever could have before. You will notice [...]

Barry Rowe is one of many car artists who has a very clear preference for depicting the cars of the past over recent ones. This is entirely understandable, too – the classic lines and nostalgic glamor of these cars is why they are so popular with collectors, and every inch a reason for the car [...]

Sometimes people have extremely appropriate names. One such person would, undoubtedly, be Art Ross. OK, so his first name was actually Arthur, but in its shortened version, under which he went for most of his years, it sums up what he did for a living – creating wonderful pictures. He was one of those car [...]

It is quite interesting to pay attention to just how many car artists took their first steps in the world of automotive art as a way of finding work, and indeed spent some years in the design sector of the car industry. Charles Maher is just one of many who was doing very little but [...]

It is quite telling how many car artists of the modern age started their careers as graphic design experts for automobile companies or for advertising purposes. It would be easy to believe that people would be turned off the idea of something by having to do it for a living, but the number of [...]

For a movement so young, the Art Car movement has seen and lost a number of highly creative and influential individuals. One of the numbers who was taken too soon was Tom Jones, a curator of Houston’s Art Car Museum and much more besides. Any time someone passes before their time it is sad. The [...]

Houston recently lost a hugely important and much loved member of its Art Car community on July 14th when Jeff Towns tragically died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Having battled depression for many years, Jeff’s suicide at the age of 42 still came as a shock to many of those who knew [...]

The inner sanctum of the Art Car movement is a pretty hallowed place and in some people’s view you could probably count all its members on the fingers of both hands. If that is the case, then Harrod Blank would be at the top and Ann and James Harithas would also have their place as [...]

There is potential for car art whenever someone with a flair for visual depiction finds themselves with a fascination for automobiles. It really is that simple. Witness the works of Hugo Prado, one of the most highly though of car artists of the present day, who grew up with an uncanny knack of depicting great [...]

A British car artist tends to have a choice of two ways to go. They can portray the old, genteel automobiles that were the order of the day in their home country all those years back when cars were a luxury owned by a small percentage of the population, or they can go with the [...]

When the first three letters of your name spell out the word “car” it is probably fortuitous that you turn out to be one of the most impressive automotive artists of a generation. Danish artist Carsten Christiansen is that person, and his ink drawn depictions of some of the classic sports cars of the last [...]

If you were the lead vocalist for a Jazz band that was in high demand for bookings all around one of the biggest states in the union, you would be justified in considering yourself a high achiever. If in addition to that your voice had won you comparisons with Jessica Rabbit from the popular movie [...]

As popular as car art is within a certain niche, there are still many who don’t pay it very much attention in the wider world. A lot of people don’t even think of it as a niche or genre of its own, just considering cars to be, like anything else, a thing that can be [...]

One of America’s most popular car artists is, in actual fact, one of America’s greatest living artists, period. One of the true stars of the car art world, LeRoy Neiman had made a career depicting a world that anyone could be forgiven for aspiring to – and in doing so has become a national treasure, [...]

If there is one person who is perfectly positioned to write and speak of art cars, then that person would, without even a shadow of a doubt, be Harrod Blank. It is fitting then, that on top of creating his own art cars and making more than one film to show the wonder of the [...]

The fashion in car art these days is to not refer to it as “car art, but rather “automotive art”. It is easy to understand this, as the term gives the medium a great deal more gravitas. Generally, when you hear an artist referred to as an “automotive artist” it means that he or she [...]

Fans of the art car movement were devastated and saddened in April by the horribly premature death of Tom Kennedy. Since then, there have been numerous events held in his memory, and there are more to come over the coming weeks. Tom, who made his debut on the scene with his art car Ripper the [...]

One of the enduring elements of the art car movement must surely be the real humor that embodies a lot of the best works. There is an aspect that the French refer to as “ludique”, meaning a certain light-hearted and easy-going humor that could be considered silly, but refuses to accept that there is anything [...]

As much as we love to look at paintings, drawings and photographic art, it all has something in common – that it is two-dimensional, no matter what the talent of the artist. Whether produced on canvas or on paper, it is impossible for the pictorial representation of a car to ever go beyond those two [...]

The car art being produced these days can, to a large extent, be divided into two categories – realistic and idealistic. In the latter case, we see scenes that have been devised in the artist’s mind, transferred onto canvas with some amount of artistic licence taken. The realists, however, will look to replicate exactly what [...]

The joy of art cars is that they can take art to the people. Creating something of real artistic brilliance is one thing when you can put it in a museum and then worry whether anyone will come and see it, but when you create an artwork on wheels you know that you can take [...]

The title of “Father of Car Art” is one that people will argue over for as long as we have people painting cars – hopefully forever, then. There are many who will put up a persuasive case for Peter Helck. Others will put up an equally strong argument for Walter Gotschke. Although Helck had something [...]

One of the pioneers of the art car movement was lost to us on Sunday (12 April) when Tom Kennedy was drowned at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. The Bay Area artist was 48 and had been body surfing when he was hit by a large wave which carried him out to sea. Although a [...]

As time has gone on and cars have gone through changes both aesthetically and mechanically, the world of cart art has been able as a result to detail changes and reflect the wonder of the automobile in new and different ways. These days we have Formula 1, NASCAR, Concours and a whole galaxy of other [...]

Ask any fan of comic books and graphic novels, and they will tell you that Marvel have a place in the history of the medium that far exceeds any other comic house in terms of profile, even if arguments over quality will rage for ever – the bottom line is that Marvel are the biggest, [...]

Creating great art is something that requires a unique talent. The average person, fascinated by art though they may be, will simply not have the talent to create a work of art, even if they take literally years out of their life to study, practice and hone their abilities. For those of us who fall [...]

A major part of the reason why Grand Prix racing lends itself so well to being depicted in art is the timeless sense of action. Although the artists are depicting races that happen at high speed, the art itself manages to take a snapshot of the moment in time that it is depicting and [...]

Car art is certainly a popular medium in the United States – cars have formed a part of the American dream for so long that the word “Americana”, coined to describe an ethos and a look surrounding the folklore of the American nation, is associated by many people outside and within the States with cars [...]

It is such a simple idea that you kind of have to wonder why it has not been done long before now. In some forms, it has. You look at the back window of a car where dust and muck has accumulated, and someone has used their finger to write “WASH ME” in the grime. [...]

English-born painter Harold Cleworth has had a career that makes those of most artists look decidedly tame. How many artists can count among their customers Jay Leno, Nicolas Cage, John DeLorean and even the Rolling Stones? Safe to say it would be very few – Cleworth may even find himself in a minority of one. [...]

Hawaiian car artist Niles Nakaoka has combined his gift for art with his love of Formula One motor racing to an effect which any onlooker would agree looks stunning. Nakaoka, who still lives in his native Honolulu, has recognised how the vivid color of a Formula One motor race makes for a fantastic watercolor – [...]

Nicola Wood has little in common with the typical car art stalwart – but when it comes down to it she has painted quite a few works that celebrate the automobile, and has made a pretty penny from it. Unlike many of the lasting artists in the world of car art, Wood is from England. [...]

One of the things that mark out art cars from so many other forms of art is the ability to take your art to its audience. Depending on how well your work has been done, you will find that it draws attention of varying kinds. If you have done a good job, then on a [...]

Canada’s Jay Koka is something of a Renaissance man. No, we don’t mean that he’s off designing helicopters and experimenting with prototype cameras when he isn’t painting. But what Jay Koka does manage that not many do, is to slip effortlessly between styles – sometimes in the course of one painting. The resulting contrast is [...]

In many sections of the artistic world, there are names that just ring out at you thanks to their primacy in the field, recognisability of their work, and their willingness to promote their movement. For fans of the art car, Harrod Blank has taken up a fixed position as one of the most important people [...]

It has been well established that not all of us have the artistic talents to create a work that can sit proudly on the mantelpiece or can sell for real money, unfortunate as that is. This is why there are people out there who have gained a reputation as world-class car artists, known for their [...]