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