all about motorcycle: November 2008

R3klamador Child Christening

Sorry po, pero more on pictures lang po ito. This happened last November 16. It's some sort of a reunion of PBRC.

The Art of the Engine #2

Ya got'ta click on this to appreciate it.
I may have to paint it one day.

Got Ham?

Not exactly artistry here. Nobody left these on.
What was H-D thinking?

In another life I did Space Art

Here's one I did in 1983-84? when I was an illustrator for Hughes Aircraft Co. I did a ton of satellite concept art, some Space Shuttle mission art, and a bunch of other crap.

Coming soon... another blog featuring all subjects of my artwork.

One of my Favorites

Other artists might relate to the back story of this art.

I did this art several years ago. It's one of those special works where everything just comes together naturally. It started with an idea that had been kicking around my noggin for sometime. Later, during a break of selling prints at a Mooneyes Xmas show, I did a rough sketch of the car on a torn scrap of paper. Then, one day much later, I came across the ragged sketch. Instead of redrawing it, I just cut it out, mounted it, and went at it.

It's not the tightest or refined piece but, it's one of my favorites. It seems that when I take a care free off the cuff approach to a project, it turns out best.

The KnuckleReaper was harder to get right

Later, I did the KnuckleReaper art to complement it and although I'm very happy how it turned out, the planning and painting of it didn't have that same creative flow.

If anybody is interested, I have a few small prints of both works. The MC art copy and the large C. Kallas signature are not on the prints.

Celebrity Biker photos of the Week

Mister Cool? Many think so

To read the above article go to:
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/snwvlly/bikes/steve.htm

Steve McQueen might be the most famous celebrity motorcycle enthusiast of them all but, to a new generation and as time goes by, Jay Leno may take his place. Steve owned all makes and types of bikes but, his preference seem to lean towards big British twins.

Tearing up on the Rickman. Hey Steve, where's your safety equipment?

Nice bike

Testing the McQueen built Rickman-Metisse-Triumph

Definitely not British. Is this Steve and his favorite bike?

Of all his bikes, the above chopped Indian has been reported as his favorite ride because he could ride it incognito. Somewhere I have a photo of him aboard a chopped Indian sport'in long hair and a beard.

Definitely not Steve. The Indian chop today at the National Motorcycle Museum

Years ago, I saw a (light green?), grubby bobbed/chopped McQueen Indian in the West Coast Choppers show room. Was it the claimed favorite or, the bike above? Later, I heard that Jesse planned on restoring it. Boy would that be a mistake.

Two Tandems for Today

You meet the happiest people on a Hog. I've always liked this art.
The Illustrators that did H-D's ads are unsung heros.

Nice cover, great angle. This couple is serious.

SPARTANS!!!

Hey, what'd you expect? I'm of Greek descent.

Hopefully the site's hits are higher than the profile's.

Thanks Folks, Y'all come back now!

Tuesday's Tank

Old Donnie Smith tank.
Simple yet effective, I dig paint like this.

Monday's Art

T-shirt design 2005

Pete Millar, Art Hero

Issue #2 December 1963

Photo from the exhibit, Tales from the Strip

Pete Millar is another BIG! hero of mine. He started Car toons for Peterson Publishing and later his own publication, Drag Cartoons. He was the best in his field.

#15 May 1965 One of Pete's most popular covers

I collected Drag Cartoons as a kid and was very influenced by his work. My interest in Choppers was partly fueled by Ed Roth's ads that appeared in them.

Pete collaborated with Ed on projects and put stories about him in Drag Cartoons. In 1964 he even created a comic devoted solely to Ed. Only four issues were produced, but, afterwards he continued to feature Roth in Drag cartoons.

Issue #1

After finding Pete's website, I sent an email to him explaining how much he had influenced me as a kid and artist. He was kind and flattered. Sometime later I found out he had passed away. I now regret not printing out his email (lost on a downed computer), or making the effort to meet him, as he lived very near by.

This last summer I was jazzed to see some of Pete's original art at the exhibit: Tale s from the Strip at the Pasadena Museum of California Art .

For more on Pete's work, go to:
http://www.laffyerasphalt.com/

I'll post more from the exhibit in the future.

Off Topic Art

Double Duty Plug

Here's some t-shirt art that I did for a friend's bar. It's the coolest Tiki Bar in the South Bay/Long Beach area.

Puka.com is temporarily out of commission so Google them or go to Puka Bar MySpace page.

For Triumph Lovers

This is Art for Gearheads

How about that hard tail or that tank? Wouldn't you love to have some of this stuff?

Okay, I'm a H-D freak so, I have to ask, was Tri-Cor ever a division of Triumph?

Ed Newton, Art Hero

Ed Newton produced most of the best T-shirt, decal and concept art for Roth Studios in the 60's. I took this photo of the original art at the preview for the Brucker auction in May 2006. The detail and line work is unreal. His art is almost too good for t-shirt printing.

I can't tell you how cool it was to see the originals of art, that up to that time, most I'd only seen the size of postage stamps. There were a bunch of others but, because they were roped off, you couldn't get close to many of them. My memory says most sold in the $5k range.

The Master himself, on the left
Photo: Dave Lindsay

That day, I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Ed, talking with him, and hearing him speak of those days.

When I was very young I would look at the ads in hot rod magazines and copy his work thinking Roth did them. A little later I realized Newt did them. I knew back then that this work was in a class of it's own. It is definitely among the most inspiring in my life.

I'll be posting more of Ed 's work.

Celebrity Biker Photo of the Week 2fer

Here's a recent find. Because of the mini skirt and boots, it looks like she's trying to do the Brigitte Bardot thing.

Revised 12/4/08: Turns out this picture is of a wax figure from The Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, CA.

Not a big fan of NS. I always thought she was kind of a butterface.

This is more like it.

There are several versions of the above Bardot photo. There are at least two different shots for posters and another for her single, Harley-Davidson. They were shot on the set of her TV show (France), when she sang the song . If you've never seen it, look it up on Youtube.

Roth Choppers Cornucopia

Roth was, is a hero of mine

Veterans Day

This is one of my black and white prints that I hand colored with paint. I did this art a few years back and sold them as black and white prints. Some of the prints I made say "Fuck" instead of "Mess". If anybody is interested I still have them and this hand colored one.

The Vincent and the Sportster

Ever notice how a Sportster's left side resembles a Vincent?

Seeing Jeff Decker's Vincent on Chopper Dave's blog prompted me to post these photos of Bill Cotton (Century Motorcycles San Pedro, Ca.), and his Vincent.

Is this a cool bobber or what?

It's always mentioned in H-D history how the K model and Sportster were developed in response to British twins (Triumph and BSA), and the shifter was on the right to lure their riders. It's never said but, I think H-D was trying to build the poor man's Vincent.

Sportster 4 Gallon Turtle Tank

I always thought the 4 gallon turtle tank that came out in 1961(?), was influenced by the Vincent's tanks.

Somewhere I have a photo of a K Model overhead mock up/prototype. If I find it, I'll post it.

Chopper Parts Ad Junkies Part II

It's hard to believe what $5.95 would buy back then

Roth used to run a Product of the Month ad in his Choppers Magazine

For Old Chopper Parts Ad Junkies

From Roth's Choppers Magazine July 1969.

Notice that the air scoop picture is from Roth's Candy wagon.

I have always been a huge Randy Smith fan.

Say no to billet....CAST PARTS RULE!

H-D Ad of the Week

What's holding it up?

One of my all time favorite H-D ads. Partly because my first bike was a 71 XLCH that I painted white but, also because of the dragstrip, christmas tree, pose, and the lighting.

My XLCH circa 1977

Celebrity Biker Photo of the Week

This scene does not appear in the film

I rented the new Indiana Jones flick last week. My guess is, they wanted to use a new bike for ease of use and stunts. Heard the motor company set up the bike for the film. They sure did a shitty job making it look old.

Does this look like a 50's Bobber to you?

What's with that gas tank? It would have looked more like a old bike with the stock tank and fenders.

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