Text and art by Wallace Wyss –
In over 100 car paintings made since 2009, I always showed the whole car to capture its “statement” so to speak. Its stance, its raison d’etre defined by the form.
But in the back of my mind, I thought there’s something else, another story to be told, as it were, in the details. This is purely a matter of individual interpretation–what details appear to me may not appeal to anyone else.
So I tried an experiment, I went to the next concours d’elegance and forced myself to shoot just details–not the whole car.
It requires a different mindset than shooting a whole car. You have to pick the light which best plays up this feature that intrigues you. And no fair cutting out a portion of a whole car, you want the feature played up on its own, like say, Marilyn Monroe’s dimples and smile.
I think intake scoops in the flanks intrigue me most because I am confident the designers were looking at jet aircraft first. And then even after they designed a scoop, I am sure it was further refined by wind tunnel testing.
I envision that there’s a special type of customer for automotive art that shows only details – architects and sculptors – but maybe it’s a wider audience.
But I’m not done yet–there’s a Ferrari 275GTB long nose grille cavity that’s got me going (but not the short nose) or the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III front fender but only from the direct front, or even better its rare kin, the Bentley James Young Flying Spur.
If I find others share my passion for detail paintings, I might be too busy to return to depicting a whole car again…
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss will have an art and books booth at Concorso Italiano during Monterey Car Week.
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Love it. Makes for good yr/make/model games too. I’ve attached one, what is this?