Bonnie finished!

Well, subject to a last few tweaks, here it is. I am open to reasonable offers for this (I need the cash to go for my bike test!), if you'd like to buy it please email your offer to me at steve@classicbikeart.co.uk.

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68 Bonnie update 7

Nearly done! Just the back tyre/wheel area & the ground shadow left, should be completed by tomorrow or Tuesday.

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68 Bonnie update 6

Engine & tank mostly done, will be moving onto the seat & backend tomorrow.

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68 Bonnie update 5

Front end nearly complete, just the hub area and a bit of detailing on the spokes left....

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68 Bonnie update 4

Done the water and started on the bike itself, the handlebars & headlamp are now complete, barring a few highlights.

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68 Bonnie update 3

Close to finishing off the background now. As is typical of me I just can't help but keep adding detail! However the results are worth it with the water, as you can see.

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68 Bonnie update 2

Well, not got as much done as I'd hoped in this time, usual problems of life getting in the way and certain parts of the painting process not going to plan. I always seem to have a problem with greens, they look fine on the pallette but once they go on the canvas they end up too dark, too strong or both! I don't have a problem with any other colour, so perhaps its a form of colour blindness, although that wouldn't explain how I recognise them as being too strong on the canvas!

Anyway you'll see what I mean on this pic. The hill at the front is both too dark & too rich in the greens. (the dark bit at the very top is the shadow of the easel...)

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68 Bonnie update 1

Now just about finished with the undercoating, I dillydallied for a couple of days as I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted just mountains or a lakeside town & boats as well. I decided to keep it simple in the end and not have anything else distracting from the bike. The mountains themselves are based on ones myself and my beloved could see from our hotel window while on honeymoon at Lake Maggiore, Italy...

Anyway the real painting work starts now!

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'68 Triumph T120 Bonneville

So here we go with the next work, one of the most iconic British bikes ever. Thanks to Bob of the Triumph Rat forum for the source photo below

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I'll be painting this pretty much as is as far as the bike & lake are concerned, but will be doing something more interesting with the far bank. The canvas board I'm using is in portrait aspect to give me room to add hills & sky.

I've started off in a different way to my usual methods of doing things in that I've decided to do the toning undercoats all  at once, instead of doing a bit of that then doing a bit of detail work. I'm looking for ways of speeding up my paintings, we'll have to wait & see how this works out. I'm about halfway through this first stage. Note: In the pic below I've cropped the top, the canvas is about half as tall again.

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Brough SS80 -Finished!

The front wheel area took longer than I thought, but here (bar a few minor tweaks) it is at last!

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I'm looking for a suitable art exhibition/competition to enter this into, but other than that I've not decided on its fate. I will be selling prints (limited edition of 200) on the online shop though, they should appear soon.

Brough SS80 update 10

This will be the last update before completing this painting... it will probably be the middle of next week when its done. Still some small details at the back of the headlight to finish but its looking good there.

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Brough SS80 update 9

Finally getting closer to the end, though there is the not insignificant matter of that complex front wheel left to go. The rest should be done in a couple of days.

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Brough SS80 update 8

Sorry this update has been a while coming, but apart from a couple of weeks where I had to do other things my broadband was also off for the last week.. you don't half miss it when it isn't there, I can tell you!

Still here we are, engine area nearly complete, frame strut done and front fender half done.

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The blog is now optimised for mobiles

Well hopefully it is! If you are looking at this on your smartphone, please leave a comment to let me know if this looks ok!

Brough SS80 update 7

A double treat this time, two photos to look at. First the full view:

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And now a close-up of the engine area. The bottom of the tank just needs a few highlights cleaned up & smoothed, the front barrel is nearly done. This area was very complicated with some very subtle shading and colour changes.

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Brough SS80 update 6

Finished the rear barrel, most of the front of the tank (still the bottom to do) and started the rear exhaust pipe & rear engine/gearbox.

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Brough SS80 update 5

Sometimes small changes make a difference. Now I've put in the dark area under the tank it really throws it off the canvas, even though the bottom of the tank isn't yet finished!  Started first coats of the rear cylinder barrel too.

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Brough SS80 update 4

First coats on the petrol tank are in, a little shading to darken the kneepads is needed to finish those. I'm quite pleased with how the chrome of the kickstart lever is going.

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Brough SS80 update 3

Much more of the back end is done now and the silencer going in has really bought it to life. I had a brief argument with myself deciding if I was going to put the scuff marks on the chrome in, but in the end decided that as the owners of these machines prize originality and wouldn't replace a part just because it was a bit untidy, that I would be making this a 'warts & all' painting (not that there are many warts on this beauty!). If I can see it on the bike, its going on the canvas!

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Brough SS80 update 2 - a close look.

Time for a closeup. So far the only bit I regard as finished is the number plate & rear light, but even on that the bottom edge of the plate could do with straightening!

The mudguard is nearly there, just a little tidying to do on the tyre/rim by the numberplate, but I still have more work on the rest of the wheel. The saddlebags just need a bit of smoothing, and the clasp is only in its early stages.

The seat shows different stages of painting - to the right, a thin base coat (basically used to set an approximate colour tone and define edges, in the middle a more solid colour, and to the left, the details are starting to go in.

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Brough SS80 update 1

Well seeing as google/blogger have lost my previous attempt at posting the Brough update (*edit: It's magically reappeared now I've posted this!), here it is again but with a slightly more up to date picture. Sorry if you've had two notifications!

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SS80 update 1

Just about done with the background bar a few tweaks, and undercoated the tyres.

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Daytona finished....

Just about done apart from the varnishing. If you would like to buy the painting or a limited edition print, please visit the online shop

Looking forward to cracking on with the Brough now!

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Daytona update 5th may

The front end is oh-so-nearly finished. The right edge of the rider's visor has been lightened to give a more definite edge, lights & indicators finished off (I'm particularly pleased with the running light, looks quite real) the glove has had some knuckle protectors added, the petrol tank shaded and the handlebar/switchgear has been started.

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Daytona update 3rd may

Front wheel finally done, added the knee, indicator, clutch lever, shaded down the fairing above the wheel & started on the lights.

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Daytona update 1st may

Almost completed the front wheel area, still have to tidy & finish the forks & final coat the tyre (it needs darkening & is too blue compared to the rear tyre). I think I've captured the slight radial blur of the disc & wheel quite well, giving the feel of some movement.

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Update time!

I've only done about half as much painting as I wanted to this week. There's always life getting in the way! Anyway here's the current status of both paintings.

With the Brough, once the paint for the sky had dried it looked slightly uneven, so another coat went on. Any blotchyness picked up by the camera are just a couple of bits where the paint has dried a bit glossy - that will even out when the varnish goes on.... I've started and nearly finished the grass. If it looks like I went to the trouble of painting every blade individually, that's because I almost did. It takes time to get it like this!

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The work on the Daytona slowed a bit, but I've nearly finished with the underside, got the Daytona lettering done (still some work on the '675 triple' to tidy up) and started the forks. I had hoped I'd have done both wheels & the rest of the fairing by now, but there just aren't enough hours!

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Daytona update

I have been mostly working the fairing for the last couple of days - it takes a few coats to build enough depth of colour. I'm just about done with the bottom half, apart from the lettering.

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Works in progress

I'm getting a lot of visitors here on this particular post - to see the new stuff, click the banner at the top^^^^^!!!


Still working on the Daytona, and have started a Brough Superior SS80.

The Daytona is now getting on a bit, now I'm back concentrating on painting bikes instead of webwork! The rear wheel is looking quite convincing now. Still some bits on the rider to finish off, and I'm not sure of the upper background, I think its too dark.

Started sketching out the Brough a couple of days ago, Just got the sky done.

Have started work on a Triumph Daytona 675, oil on canvas. Keep up with its progress here...

http://www.classicbikeart.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page&id=2

I'll be updating every few days.

Just started a new website featuring my motorcycle paintings... http://www.classicbikeart.co.uk