MOTORCYCLE REVISTED

Motorcycle

6" x 9" Mixed Media Drawing on Distressed, Dictionary Page

If you've ever been to the Rocky Mountains then you know that it is Mecca for motorcycle enthusiasts.  Since my next art show is in a Rocky Mountain town in Colorado, I decided I had to include an original, motorcycle drawing in my booth.

I am not particularly familiar with motorcycles and I've only ridden one a handful of times in my entire life.  I tell my students all the time to draw/paint what is familiar to them.  There is a reason for that.  Trying to capture the reality or even the essence of something you don't personally know is a challenge.  This piece was a big challenge!  I studied and researched and went back to this drawing forever trying to figure out what each part was and how it fit and what it does and on and on.

I knew I wanted an antique, worn bike.  I knew I wanted to use the same color scheme I've come to love for old metal.  But what I didn't really know was motorcycles.  After a lot of brain strain, here is the final drawing.  It was important to me to capture a front, close-up view with a little more interest than a full, side view.  Thankfully I have a number of friends who permitted me to photograph their old bikes.  So this image is something of a mish-mash of different bikes.