Geoff Perry

[Steve Holmes]

This is my first, and so far, only motorcycle painting. This is Kiwi racer Geoff Perry, son of Len Perry, during the early 70's. He was sadly killed in a plane crash aged only 23. This was a commission I did last year for a guy who named his son after him. Hope the pic comes out OK.

[Andrew Kitson]

Great Steve, nice use of the dark shadow to show the 'wheelie'.

[Hugewally]

That's a painting???

Very nice!!!

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. The guy who commissioned it had a lot of trouble sourcing info on him, and I have to say, the small image looks a bit better than the actual painting, as I just couldn't find any info on the detail on the rear of the bike around the back hub, so had to create a kind of shaded effect. I love detail, the more the better, so would have liked to have been able to put more into it.

But the owner is extremely happy. It was actually a gift for his sons 21st. He named his son Perry. It sits mounted on their lounge wall.

[alesi95]

Im seriously impressed by the way you make black and white paintings work. It inspires me to do some retro stuff myself. I've been holding back on older races because colour references are hard to come by, but you make it work.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks for that. Its really something I've worked at, and can't remember the last time I painted in colour. I was really inspired by the beautiful b/w photo's in Motorsport mag, and one in particular of my hero Bruce McLaren sitting bloodied in his car after a long hard GP which really emphasised how dramatic and gritty b/w can look.

The downsides are that you can't have much of a background as it detracts too much from the focal point, and makes the car dissapear.