Going Green

Jim Clark confidently raced his way to winning the 1965 Indianapolis 500 in a green Lotus 38.

There had been a longtime 500 superstition about racing a green car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, assuming that it was dangerously unlucky.

The Lotus team proved that completely wrong at the 1965 edition.

The racing brethren were steadfast in their belief that it was unlucky to race a green car, thus having less confidence that the Lotus Team would be a threat; it was also going against pre-established traditions, which was considered naive and possibly disrespectful.

The establishment had their guard down and was not prepared for how Jim Clark would dominate their race in the Lotus.

To create this art, I used no green; I rendered it entirely on green paper!

Pen&ink, paint markers and markers on 12"x 7.5" (38.5cm x 19cm) green archival paper
© Paul Chenard - Private Collection, prints available

#lotus38 #indy500 #jimclark #greenpaperart #carart 

Le Mans 1972 - French Colours

This is my 1st painting ever, done in 2010!

I needed to see if I could paint, but I can't afford artist's paints, so I used leftover house paint on a piece of leftover premium plywood.

I sincerely believe that we can make art from anything, that the materials used do not define the quality of the artwork.

I've included the colour key to show which parts of our house the colours came from...

The painting shows the winning Matra-Simca MS670 #15 of Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill, followed by the second place MS670 #14 of François Cevert and Howden Ganley. They are followed here by the MS660C #16 of Jean-Pierre Jabouille and David Hobbs.

Matra followed up with wins of the 1973 and 1974 editions of the race ... brilliant cars and drivers!

41.5"x 18.5" (105.4cm x 46.8cm), latex paint on plywood
© Paul Chenard 2010

Original SOLD.
Prints available.

#lemans24 #matra #pescarolo #grahamhill #francoiscevert #davidhobbs #howdenganley #jeanpierrejabouille #1972 #carart

 Porsche 356 SL Gmünd Coupe ~ Le Mans 1951

It was Porsche's first entry at Le Mans, and Edmond Mouche, partnered by Auguste Veuillet, finished twentieth OA, winning the under 1,100cc class in the 1951 edition. Amazing!!

It was a brilliant start to a future history of wins for Porsche at the famous race.

The art was created for the Lusso Watch Company and a limited edition of the art was included with their latest watch design, which is inspired by the lovely coupe.

It was a VERY limited edition of 22 watches, rather exclusive!!

Pencils, pen&ink and markers on 12"x 9" watercolour paper © Paul Chenard

Original art SOLD; prints available

The Rainy 1956 Mille Miglia and Eureka Moments

Italian driver Eugenio Castellotti (1930-1957) races the Scuderia Ferrari 290 MM Scaglietti chassis #0616 to a win of the very rainy 1956 Mille Miglia in Italy, after over eleven and a half hours of driving.

Scuderia Ferrari took the 5 first spots of the race, followed by the Mercedes team with the next 3 ...

Even in the miserable weather, the loyal fans were still there to see their heroes race ...

To create this composition, I referenced a few images of the car and images of the attending spectators till I could combine them to tell the story.

To achieve the sense of heavy rain in this, I did the whole artwork in intense watercolour pencil on watercolour paper, approximately 30 hours of work.

Once finished, I went to the sink and ran it under a tap to wash the intensity of the colour away. As soon as it dried thoroughly, I then redid the colour on only the car, and drew white lines through the background spectators to knock them back even further on the art.

It is a fact that I could have destroyed the art by running it under the tap, but I succeeded.

The only question I asked myself here is “Will anyone die if I don’t succeed?”

The answer is quite obvious but it’s incredible how many people would not ever try it. They put up unseen barriers onto themselves instead of exploring the possibilities.

Interestingly, I seem to always succeed and I sincerely believe that this approach to the task unburdens me from my own negative “what if’s”…

My “what if’s” switch from  “what if it doesn’t work?” to “what if it works?”.

Exploration leads to an awareness of the possibilities that lay right before you.

Unburdening oneself encourages this exploration, which in turn quite often leads to eureka moments.

Who doesn’t like eureka moments?


Art description - Pen & Ink, watercolour pencils and acrylic pens on 18"x 12" watercolour paper – Original art available as are prints.

#millemiglia #ferrari290mm #eugeniocastellotti #scuderiaferrari #carart #watercolourpencils
#eurekamoments

Puttanesca Sauce


My Puttanesca sauce is now made, canned and labeled with live-sketches of Ferraris ... honouring Enzo Ferrari's birthday (a couple of days late) ...

#puttanesca #ferrariart #livesketches #enzoferrari

1965 Ferrari 1512 F1 Chassis 0008

Chassis 0008 was raced in 1965 by both John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini. It's engine was 1.5 litre 12-cylinders, a screaming banshee!

Designed by the young engineer Mauro Forghieri, it continued a tradition of the 12-cylinder engines that Enzo Ferrari loved.

Bandini achieved it’s highest placing, 2nd place in the 1965 Grand Prix de Monaco.

I started live-sketching this at the 2023 Lime Rock Historic Festival, where I got the basic lines down in pencil; this weekend, I finally finished it.

It’s rare to even have this car in existence, with Ferrari tending to chop up their old Formula 1 cars (for example, the gorgeous 156 “Sharknose”).

Pencil, pen&ink, markers and acrylic pens on 12”x 9” watercolour paper.

Original art available, as are prints.

#ferrarif1 #ferrari1512 #formula1 #scuderiaferrari #johnsurtees #lorenzobandini #monacogp #livesketch #mauroforghieri

 1965 Ferrari 1512 F1


Tonight, I decided to work on a live-sketch that I started at the 2023 Lime Rock Historic Festival of a 1965 Ferrari 1512 F1 ... sweet and rather rare Formula 1 car.

#formula1 #ferrari1512 #livesketch

 Andy Warhol Cars Mercedes W125

The frame finally arrived for my Andy Warhol Cars Mercedes W125 print, so it's now taken it's place beside artist friend Stephen Landau's linocut print of the Gulf Porsche 917K ... good company!

In 1986, Andy Warhol was commissioned by Mercedes-Benz to create the series Cars in celebration of their centenary.

Sadly, he passed away (1987) after doing only 8 of the 20 Mercedes-Benz models that he had planned to portray.

#andywarhol #andywarholcars #silkscreenprint #mercedew125 #blockprints #stephenlandau #porsche917k

Bullitt Chase


This is the 1st painting in my series entitled Movie Chases.

I did the text in custom-mixed "Highland Green" lacquer, the same colour as the original 1968 Mustang.

Original art available, as are limited editions.

Liquitex acrylic and automotive lacquer on 30"x 22" Apollon birch panel.
© Paul Chenard 2020

#bullitt #bullittmustang #stevemcqueen #carchase #dodgechargerrt440

Alfa Romeo Crest - 1946-1950

Before WWII, the Alfa Romeo badge was cast in metal with inset coloured enamel.

During the war, the machine that produced the badges was destroyed, so at war’s end, a spartan single-colour (red) version of the badge was created.

After 1950, the original coloured badge was restored.

Acrylic on 10"x 8.5" Masonite, original available.

This 20"x 16" print available
$175 USD plus shipping plus 4% PayPal fee on the grand total.

#alfaromeo #alfaromeocrest #alfaromeobadge #carart #acrylicpainting

 Red Jaguar E-Type series 1 Roadster

Commissioned artwork
Prismacolor pencils, pen&ink and white acrylic pens on 17"x 11" red paper.
© Paul Chenard 2020

I didn't use any red to create this ... it’s the paper!

Limited editions available.
#etype #redpaper #carart

1964 Karmann Ghia with an AVRO Lancaster Mark X

I started this live sketch at the 2024 Wings and Wheels car show at the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum in July 2024 organized by the lovely Dave Saulnier, who is the owner of the Karmann Ghia.

I was of poor health so could not finish it ... it was a hot day.

I was having a slow day at the Wolfville Farmers' Market (very cold day!!), so I resumed work on the art, finishing it in the evening.

It's so nice to finish an artwork, it makes it feel whole and at peace with the world, giving it purpose ...

Pencil, pen&ink, markers on 12"x 9" watercolour paper.

Original art available, as are prints.

#karmannghia #avrolancaster #livesketch #carart #novascotiacarshow #greenwoodmilitaryaviationmuseum

100 Years of Zagato

The famous Italian coachbuilder Zagato celebrates it's 100th anniversary this year.

They have designed some of the worlds most beautiful sports cars for companies such as Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Fiat, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Maserati, Mercedes, Porsche, and many more.


Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato

Some of their more memorable designs are the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, the Lancia Hyena, the Lancia Aprilia Sport Zagato, the Fiat-Abarth 750 GT, Alfa Romeo 1750 GS Zagato, Alfa Romeo 1900 SSZ Double Bubble, and the Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1.

Alfa Romeo 1500 GS Zagato and the Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1

The design house is being honoured at the upcoming Greenwich Concours d’Élégance, an event always worth attending.

I hope to see you there!

1929 Grand Prix de Monaco

The very first Grand Prix de Monaco took place on April 14th, 1929.

It was created as to bring international prestige to the Principality.

Sixteen drivers participated in that inaugural race, including Rudolf Caracciola, René Dreyfus, Philippe Étancelin and William Charles Frederick Grover-Williams.

That first race was won by Grover-Williams racing a Bugatti Type 35B.

Pen&ink, paint markers and markers on 18"x 12.75" (45.5cm x 32.5cm) blue archival paper © Paul Chenard    

I decided to create an artwork showing him in his Bugatti, and had a B&W photo as reference. I did the art on blue paper, as most often Bugatti's were in French racing blue.

After starting the art, I found out that he was racing in British racing green, so I used a yellow marker on the blue paper to get the green.

A happy mistake!