Zen and the art of motorcycles 2

My partner is restoring a 90's dirt bike and I am finding the process very inspiring.  There are some challenges to capturing the fast moving processes in the garage, but also opportunities to study muddy, intricate mechanical parts.  

Some of my previous explorations in mixed media have come in very handy, allowing me to layer, collage and use opaque media (gouache) to build the image.

Spray painting the bike frame, the fumes were all encompassing.  Waiting for the action to start gave me opportunity to explore the clutter that accumulates around the restoration process in the garage.

I "borrowed" the carburettor and sketched it like I would a building.

Back to the action.  Here I was drawing the motor as it was being cleaned, which meant it had to change positions fairly often.  I decided to carry on with my lines through the movement.  So rather than an exact sketch of the motor, it is an amalgamation of the things I saw as I drew.
Then I experimented with gouache marks to represent the different parts on the smaller sketch.

And this is where the project has led me so far - utilising lots of my mixed media tricks!

The collage elements were drawn from life on scraps of scrapbook paper on one of my many trips to the music store with my partner - another of his hobbies that I find inspiring.  I already had them stuck to the sketchbook page, so I drew the brake parts straight over top.  Selected areas of gouache to pick out details and splattered watercolour for the years of mud and grime!

Shelley (May 2019)

Zen and the art of motorcycles

Sometimes it is nice to borrow the enthusiasm of others for inspiration.
Recently my partner has embarked on a dirt bike restoration (a Yamaha WR450f for those in the know) which has provided excellent opportunity for documentary sketching and studying mechanical details.  It doesn't hurt to be under cover in the garage during the variable autumn weather either....

Here I enjoyed creating a 'collage' of sketches to convey the process of deconstruction and cleaning the motorbike, using different media and colour to create layers of focus.  I can't help myself when it comes to watercolour splatters, but they seemed appropriate in the messy workshop environment.

It is also fun to draw mechanical details that you don't necessarily understand but are familiar to those in the know once the sketch is finished.  Adding the human element with people sketching is a more recent exploration for me.

I also took the opportunity to draw the prior project bike before it was sold (Yamaha TTR250).  I sat on a low chair, getting more of an action angle on the parked bike and playing with splatters and mixing media to add some of the dirt bike energy.

Looking back through my sketchbooks I have found inspiration in the bikes many times in the past...

2019

2019

 2016

I look forward to documenting the restoration as it progresses through the repair, replacement and reconstruction phases too. 

The bike was in pieces before I had a chance to sketch it as a whole, so watch out for the final reveal!

Shelley

(Autumn/May 2019)