Monday 27 February 2017

The art of Andre du Plessis

This week we have another talented artist, this time from Zimbabwe.

Andre du Plessis was born in Salisbury (Harare) in the beautiful country of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). From an early age he enjoyed drawing and painting, and he still has some sketches that he did when he was very very young.

In 1979 he immigrated to the Republic of South Africa with his new bride. Then came the rigors of setting up a home. The kids came, his career as a Draughtsman and Mechanical Designer took a huge share of his time, and as a result he did not pick up a pencil or brush for many many years.

When we asked what happened, he replied; "Then one day, not many years ago, I realised that a day would come when my God will ask me what I did with the talent he entrusted me with. It was a sobering thought that changed my life as far as my art was concerned".

He sharpened his pencils and dusted off the old box of oils and then Andre decided to make time for his talent.

"I started mainly with aviation, military and automotive art and many commissions came my way. I was fortunate enough to be commissioned to do two 'First day covers' for the SAAF Museum. Later I was asked to provide nine paintings and drawings for the book 'Echoes of an African War'. After that the book 'A Pride of Eagles' included my painting 'Paradak'" explains Andre.

Bit of a break in 2011 changed everything. He was given early retirement by his employers.

Now he actually had to do what he loved the most - ART!

"Why do I paint and draw?" asks Andre. "It is quite simple really. Firstly, art is my God given talent, a much appreciated gift, and every artwork I produce is a testimony to this gift. Therefore all the glory and praise goes first and foremost to my God and Saviour Who enables me to create.
Secondly, I am a creative person, I love to create, I am at my happiest when I create. Art is my passion and not many things give me greater pleasure than to stand back from the easel to survey my latest work".

He pursues realism and does feel all that comfortable doing anything other than lifelike portrayals of real things and places. With his military, aviation and automotive work he thoroughly research the subject to present it historically and technically correct.

Andre works with oils, acrylic, aquarelle pencils, graphite pencils, and a bit of watercolour. Nowadays he does more Digital Art than any other form.

It is good to note that he is a member of the South African Guild of Aviation, Military and Maritime Artists (SAGAMMA)

He also teaches art which he gets a lot of satisfaction from. "There is nothing quite like seeing a student produce good art!" commented Andre.

You can find out more information about Andre and his art on his website here.

You can also follow him on his facebook page here.

Meanwhile we have some of his pieces to share with you below. Please respect copyright.

More images here.





Monday 20 February 2017

Ricks Kustom Car Art

This week's artist is Rick Huppertz from the Netherlands with a slightly different style...


Rick was born in the Netherlands and lives close to the borders of Belgium and Germany. He started drawing cars a few years ago after he came across a graffiti he had done in the 1990's.

"I was triggered by my old drawings and realised my passion still existed!" explained Rick.

He started posting his drawings on Facebook and received quite a few encouraging comments on his work and style. It got out of hand when he posted some on his Instagram account... several large pages shared his art work and from that point he started to receive a lot of inquiries.

Rick is yet another one of our featured artists who is self taught as he has never attended art school or any similar form of education.

"I started drawing by using graphite pencils and pastel pencils. After seeing other artists using markers I decided to give it a try as well.

Nowadays I use markers in combination with colour pencils and pastel pencils" Rick commented. "I reckon it won’t be long before I will start using spray cans again on large canvas" he added.

The main reason for drawing cars is that he has always been a car fanatic and visited many custom car shows. He was especially interested in air cooled Volkswagens. Nowadays he draws commissioned Classic American cars, mostly trucks.

When asked about his style Rick explained; "I consider every drawing to be a challenge and learning process in which I am pushing my boundaries every time. That’s why, besides drawing in perspective, I also started drawing cars in a more fish eye style".

He has a steady job, but would love to do autoart as a full time job. May be one day!

So, to find out more about Rick, see his latest work or ask him for a commission get in touch.

You can get in touch with Rick on his instagram; @rickthedutch . Also, why not follow him on Facebook here.

You can also email him here; ricks@kustomcarart.com

Below you can enjoy some of his work. As always, please respect copyright.
More images here.




Monday 13 February 2017

Steve Cartwright, "leaded sleds"


Steve is another one of our featured artists. He was born in 1967 and lives in New Zealand. He trained as a mechanical engineer and has been drawing since he was very young. His work is in pencil.
“I have also been into Hot Rods all my life so naturally the two have combined”. Explains Steve.
This latest series of drawings came about while he was working away from home and family for a few months. Instead of sitting around watching TV in a hotel room he picked up a pencil and drew the flamed 1940 pickup.
He apparently has some parts of this in his garage.
He then drew a friends 1946 ford coupé, then just kept on drawing.
He has sold a few drawings since, Car related as well as non motoring ones.
Steve will gladly take commissions and is willing to draw any car for any one around the world. Just need a good picture and his fee, which is a very reasonable $100 NZ.

You can follow him on Facebook here.“leaded sleds”

Meanwhile you can enjoy some of his drawings below. Please respect Copyright.

More images here.

www.in2motorsports.com 





Monday 6 February 2017

Stéphane Dufour Art




Stéphane Dufour was born in Bellac, France, in 1970.
He spent most of his childhood contemplating fine automobile craftsmanship passing through his father’s workshop. His father repaired and serviced prestigious cars, authentic masterpieces which stimulated Stéphane’s imagination and would deeply influence this young boy’s day to day life.
While attending his first lessons at the Art Decos school of Limoges, he realized he could combine his passions for drawing and beautiful cars. Stéphane was unquestionably inspired by the 50s, 60s and 70s automobiles. Three decades unanimously considered as the pinnacle of car design and conception by all car amateurs.
With a simple pencil or charcoal he started drawing, with great talent, these legendary cars which were on his mind. At the time his preference for “3/4 front” and black and white drawings is evident. After studying three years at the Art Décos school, he established his unique and innovative style, space, light, shape, movement and colour.
Pushing his work on reflections and details to the limit, his paintings now emphasized the light and shadows rapping around exquisite bodywork. Stéphane’s work is eclectic, ranging from Ferrari to Aston Martin and passed Citroen. However his unassailable passion for Porsche shines through with numerous and honourable art works of these unique German supercars. These paintings and drawings of epic Porsches, Le Mans prototypes and exceptional 911s, guarantee him an international acclaim. Moreover the quality of his work was officially recognized by the Porsche company, who have guaranteed him over the past years a certified international licence for artistic reproductions of the Zuffenhausen’s production.
With over 200 canvases, Stéphane Dufour is now adamant in using new technologies to help develop his artwork. After years using only pencils, oil paint or airbrush, Stéphane started sculpting in 2004 and recently using digital technology, thereby enriching his artistic production. He describes his own work as hyper-realistic, but also claims a more abstract style on certain paintings, sculptures and digital artwork principally. All of Stéphane’s work are unique limited editions as well as signed and marked by him.
Stéphane also works on private commissions by individuals or companies, where he is systematically asked to let his imperishable imagination guide his inspiration towards a specific model. An authentic source of joy for anyone who understands that art and automobiles are two intertwining and intimate domains…
You can find more information on Stéphane here. You can also follow him on Facebook here.
Meanwhile, you can enjoy some of his work below. Please respect copyright.

More images here.