Tag Archives: Cafe Racers

Double helping.

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74_French_cafe

It is the weekend and what better way to celebrate a couple of days free from the grind of the working week than to post a double helping from the Soulcraftcandy studio. This first one is called “French Cafe”, for obvious reasons, though it was not my original intent to make a specific gallic reference when applying the colours, which I attempted to limit the number of. Perhaps it’s because I was thinking about our friends Veronique and Chris whom we are visiting in Bordeaux in April, who knows.

 

I don’t seem to be able to stop myself from drawing these old style rocker guys, I’m not sure exactly why. That said I’ve always admired the paired down nature of the bikes and the almost iconic look of the guys who ride them. As well as the structural and visual appeal there is also some emotional appeal too. Some might consider the whole scene a little hackneyed these days but this can not deny the fact that it has endured, and so remains a rich source of inspiration.

75_Burnout

The second image is slightly different. During the idea churning sessions it became clear that certain groups and themes were emerging, large amounts of smoke was one of them. The dynamism of a smoking tyre is a unique thing but in my experience quite difficult to capture, I have pretty much failed on all previous occasions. Now seemed like a good time to try once again to get some proficiency in their rendering. The shading on this one was attempted with an airbrush and only partially succeeds, the rest I’m happy with and I like the idea that the front wheel is somehow prevented from moving by the line of the boundary box. It’s called simply “Burnout”.

 

 

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride.

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Ready for the Gentleman's Ride.

Getting togged up for an autumn sunday ride normally involves donning your favourite jacket, picking out some warmer gloves, pulling on those comfy old boots and changing the helmet visor for one not so darkly tinted. It does not usually involve pressing a clean shirt, selecting an appropriately coloured neck tie, applying polish to shiny black shoes, fiddling with cuff links and putting on a suit. But this is exactly what I found myself doing last Sunday as I prepared myself for the London staging of The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride.

 

Initiated a few months ago by a bunch of guys in Australia in an effort to bring Cafe Racer and modified bike riding people together, the event has spread across the globe encompassing groups in cities across Australia, North America, Europe and beyond. The basic idea, to dress up nice and smart and gather at a pre-arranged location, before setting out across town together for a gentle ride to a destination where we can all park up, have a good chat and enjoy a drink (no-alcoholic of course).

 

As you can see I elected to take the 250, being the most modified of my two bikes. After a quick polish on the Saturday, and resplendent in its new fork gaiters and mini Bates style headlight, it certainly looked the part. The little bike performed perfectly, managing to hold its head high amongst a sea of much larger, more eye catching and certainly more noisy machinery. There must have been about sixty of us in total.

 

It would be impossible to estimate the number of photographs taken on the day by various attendees suffice to say that various albums are now posted on various sites. Anyone interested can find them at the excellent page for The Bike Shed here http://www.facebook.com/BikeShedMotorcycleClub  and at other various locations like the Sideburn Blog here: http://sideburnmag.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/distinguished-gentlemans-ride-photos.html .

 

It was an excellent day and a huge thanks must go to Adam and the guys at the Bike Shed MCC for putting in the effort to organise a brilliant event. Great people on lots of great bikes. Roll on the next one, it can only get bigger.

 

Better, but still work to do.

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Cafe Gold.

Following the chromatic onslaught of yesterdays post, and those neon bushes, I’m rather hoping that everyones retinas have recovered sufficiently to absorb another blast of colour. Sincerest apologies go out to anyone mildly traumatised by the experience.

 

Todays featured image is the second attempt at the same picture and it is hopefully less bold than the first, but just as eye catching in its own way. This time around I made a serious effort to take a good look at the first image and learn from it, to analyse as much as address what problems existed. After all, technique isn’t going to get any better without being able to self criticise and understand not just what’s happening, but also to learn to know what to do about it. Without a tutor or associate looking over your shoulder all the time this is not always as easy as it sounds.

 

This second image took rather longer than the first as paint went down in a much more considered fashion.Firstly the base drawing was tightened up a bit. The rather “dauby” approach of the first is starting to be replaced by a tighter method. When employing wet on wet technique over areas of the picture it is a real skill to be able to control it and achieve the desired level of detail. One has to be confident but not overly so and using a smaller brush helps despite many manuals telling you otherwise. I also elected, and rightly so I think, to limit the creation of all grey areas in only two main colours. Winsor & Newton Payne’s grey, it’s got a lovely blueish hue, for all of the metal parts, and Schmincke Payne’s Grey, much more black in nature, for the tyres, leather and other details. This has  helped give various areas of the picture a more distinct separation than in the first where they are all mixed up. The golden yellow of the bodywork was tricky but worked out OK in the end. It was a deliberate choice to avoid trying to recreate perfect reflections in the tank and panels as I felt this just sucks you into a realm of photorealistic worrying and potentially ends up making the rest of the image look out of place. It’s an honest attempt to achieve a consistent feel across the whole image.

 

The background resulted from trying a few things out on other sheets of paper and a bit of photoshopping. Again it was about finding something simple that complimented the bike but didn’t overshadow it. I like it, it kind of works, and evokes memories of summer afternoon rides out through the countryside on small deserted roads with only the wind for company.

 

The third version is already underway and this will be a bit different again. Whether it ends up being any better is up for grabs. Here’s where it stands today.