Better Late than Never

About a year after I started it, I finally finished this oil painting of a Ferrari 458 that raced in the Dayton 24 several years ago (don’t know exactly which year). While the painting isn’t particularly large (only 12” x 16”), I had some challenges when painting it. I started off with a decent line drawing, which was promising. However, when I painted the top portion of the background, I realized that many of the colors were not correct and the shapes were not aligned properly. It took me some time to determine that I’d just have to repaint the whole background. Once I finished painting the background for the second time, I temporarily lost interest in the painting, not to mention the weather was getting warmer and I wanted to spend more time outside. So, the painting sat in my studio in an unfinished state until I decided to get back to it a few weeks ago. I’m not sure what spurred me to start again (might have been an inspiring Instagram post), but I’m glad I picked up the paint brush again.

For this one, I decided to keep it a little more loose and stick to more of an impressionist style. I even played around with the palette knife around the front part of the car, which is indicated by the slightly higher build-up of paint in that area. While it can be fun to try to create super realistic paintings, I enjoy the challenge of loose painting and feel like the results exhibit a little more character. I’ll likely continue exploring this style for a little while.

Recognition once again goes to Rob Woodham (@robwoodham on Instagram) for the reference picture. Hopefully, it won’t be a year until my next painting :P