As a retired motorcycle restoration technician, antique and rare motorcycles hold a special fascination for me.  A friend of mine in Austin, while performing a partial restoration on this Vincent, let me study it closely.  Observing first hand the construction and layout of the engine and frame gave me the opportunity to fairly accurately compose a realistic view of this classic motorcycle. This drawing is the result of over 150 hours of study & drawing. After lightly laying out the composition on the good paper with a 2H pencil, I then used darker graphite pencils to draw the engine, photograph that, and then darken in the rest of the drawing.  The background, The Lost Well in Austin, Texas, is an urban bar and motorcycle destination frequented by the riders of vintage and classic motorcycles of all brands.  Motorcycle owners often lovingly name their rides and sometime in this motorcycle's life, the name, "Prieto," was stamped into the timing gear cover. 

Title: 1949 Vincent Rapide
Medium: graphite on paper
Dimensions: 15" x 21"
Price: $3500
Year: 2017

The Brough Superior SS 100 motorcycle was built from 1924 to 1939 at Nottingham, England.   The 998cc 50 degree, over head valve V-twin was the “Rolls Royce of Motorcycles,” guaranteed to go 100+ miles per hour off the showroom floor.  This drawing depicts an SS 100 seen in Lucca, Italy at the Piazza Anfiteatro at the end of a Sunday run by the Club Balestrero VMC (Veteran Motor Car Association) in May, 2008.  At the time, I was so focused on the details of this Classic Motorcycle that I failed to actually stand back and look at the whole vehicle.  After seeing a video of Jay Leno and his 39 SS100 I realized that I'd seen a running example and had recorded enough information to create a drawing.   This freehand drawing was created as an exercise in reflections.  From the Italian Piazza background to the stone and  chrome, everything we see is a function of reflected light.

Title: Brough superior SS100
Medium: graphite on paper
Dimensions: 14" x 20"
Price: $3500
Year: 2012

THE FIX                                                                       $450

2017, graphite on paper, 14 x 10.5

Lee County Courthouse, Giddings, Texas.   Architect James Riely Gordon designed and built eighteen courthouses in Texas from the 1880's to 1902 (twelve still stand).  The Lee County Courthouse design is similar to many of Gordon's courthouse layouts:  a Greek cross with the entry ways in the juncture rather than at the ends of the cross.  There is a story. Seems that in 1899 the technology to seal water out of the basement and foundation was not adequate. Consequently, settling issues have occurred causing the arches above the entrances at the junctures of the cross to give way, somewhat. In 2010 Lee County did get a half million dollar grant to attempt "The Fix" but it ain't happened yet. They had to make some sort of scaffold or truss to support the moving keystones.  The temporary fix caught my interest, so instead of drawing the whole building I elected to draw a detail of one entry way....I liked the way the shadows played and gave definition to the stone and brick-work at that afternoon hour. It really is a beautiful courthouse, I hope they can make The Fix and keep it intact.      

Looking into a puddle of water at the Siena Campanile in Italy on a fine bright spring day.  The reflection was so intense and intricate it was like viewing a whole nuther' world set out at my feet.  I've always been fascinated with reflections, realizing that all our eyes see is reflected light.  I was attempting to create an Escher-esque sort of drawing, but when laying in the blue sky the work took on a look and feel of life beyond my own.

Title: Re-flex
Medium: graphite & pastels on paper
Dimensions: 11 x 18
Price: $450
Year: 2018