Classic Mini Rally Car

Classic Rallying at it's best through the Goodwood Forest Stage

This piece was created using Watercolours and a photo taken by Chris Collier at Goodwood. In the picture you can see a Classic Mini Rally Car. In 1964 a Morris Mini Cooper S won the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally. The Mini went on to dominate Rallying through the sixties and also proved to be a very capable touring car.
The picture measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Colin Turkington

Turkington jumping the curb through the old Esses at Snetterton

This is a watercolour piece of a photo taken by Michael Barrett. In the picture you can see Colin Turkington racing his 2009 championship winning BMW 320si at Snetterton. The picture has also been hand signed by Turkington himself.
Colin Turkington started in the British Touring Car Championship in 2002 in the Team Atomic Kitten MG with a best finish of third at Croft. In 2003 he switched to West Surrey Racing (WSR). The switched paid dividends with Colin scoring his first win at Brands Hatch. He stayed with WSR until 2005 which saw him join VX Racing. This was only a brief stint away with Turkington rejoining WSR the next season. Colin had steadily been improving starting with a championship finish of 14th in 2002 to 6th in 2005. Turkington's greatest achievement came in 2009 when he won the British Touring Car Championship. After this he had brief spells in the World Touring Car Championship and the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. This year Colin is back in the British Touring Cars with WSR in a NGTC spec BMW 125i M Sport and currently runs 4th overall after a double race win at Knockhill.
The picture measures 8 inches by 7 inches.

Mat Jackson

Jackson two-wheeling through Murrays

This is a watercolour painting of Mat Jackson in his S2000 Airwaves Ford Focus. I created this piece from a photo taken by Michael Barrett.
Mat Jackson's first experience of the British Touring Car Championship was in the production class in 2001. He ran with GR Team in a ford focus finishing fourth in class. However after this he struggled for funds but came back to motor racing in 2005 in the SEAT Cupra Championship. He finished second in his first year with an incredible record of 8 race wins, 8 poles and 8 fastest laps. In his second year in SEATs he won the championship. In 2007 Jackson moved into Touring Cars with a family run team in a BMW 320si and in 2008 Jackson finished second in the championship. The next year he move to Racing Silverline and raced in a Chevrolet Lacetti.In 2010 he made the switch to Motorbase and is still currently at the team.
The painting measures 12 inches by 8 inches.

Jason Plato

Plato screaming up Hailwood Hill

This is a watercolour piece of Jason Plato in his Supertouring Renault Laguna. I painted this piece from a photo taken by Tony Harrison at Brands Hatch in 1999. The painting has been hand signed by Jason.
Jason Plato started in karts and then moved into Formula Renault GB in which he raced in 1990, 1991 and 1995. In 1991 Plato won the Formula Renault Eurocup. He then competed in British F3 in 1992. 1996 saw Plato move into the Renault Spider Cup and in 1997 he was given the chance to drive for Williams in the British Touring Car Championship. Plato won the drive ahead of Gianni Morbidelli and Jean-Christophe Boullion. Jason took pole in the first three races. In 2000 he moved to Vauxhall and the move proved dividends in 2001 when he won the British Touring Car Championship. In 2002 he moved to ASCAR, in which he finished third in the championship. The next year saw him help train drivers with SEAT and in 2004 he rejoined the BTCC with SEAT. He stayed with SEAT until they pulled out of the BTCC in 2009. For 2009 he raced in a Chevrolet Lacetti run by RML and in 2010 RML became a manufacturer team. 2010 also saw Plato win the BTCC for the second time. In 2012 Plato moved to Triple 8 and MG and still races with that team this year, 2013. Jason Plato has also raced in the Bathurst 1000. He is also known for his work on Fifth Gear.
The painting measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Árón Smith

Smith flying through Clearways

This is a watercolour picture of Árón Smith created from a photo taken by Ashley Bryant of Bryant Photography. The picture was taken at the first round of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch Indy.
Árón Smith started in Karts but made his first appearance on the Touring Car Package in 2007 with the Renault Clio Cup. He finished 13th in Championship. The next year he improved on this finishing 9th but 2009 saw Árón finish an impressive 4th taking one win at Donnington Park. In 2010 Smith joined the Clio Cup Italia but came back to the UK Championship in 2011 finishing 2nd. Árón also completed one round of the British Touring Car Championship with Triple 8 scoring one point in the process. In 2012 Smith signed for Redstone Racing and notched up his first win in Touring Cars at the last round of the season. He finished 8th in the championship. This year Árón Smith is still with Motorbase, or Airwaves Racing and currently sits 8th in the championship.
The picture measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Matt Neal

Matt Neal exiting Paddock Hill Bend

This watercolour painting was created using a photo taken by Tony Harrison. The photo was taken on the 30th of August 1999 at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit. The painting has been signed by Matt himself.
Matt Neal first started out in the British Touring Cars in 1991 driving a BMW M3 with Pyramid Motorsport. He then joined his father's team, Team Dynamics in 1992 but moved over to Mazda in 1993 only to have his season cut short with a massive crash at Silverstone. After this he rejoined Team Dynamics in 1994 and stayed there until 2001. In this stint he pulled off an amazing feat by winning a race at Donnington Park, 1999, at a time when manufacturers played centre stage. In 2001 he made a brief appearance in BTCC only to move over to the European Touring Car Championship. In 2002 he made a come back with Egg Sport finishing third in the championship and this position was matched in 2003 with Honda Racing. In 2004 he rejoined Team Dynamics, which now had Halfords Sponsorship. This season proved to be less fruitful than the two seasons beforehand finshing 5th overall but in 2005 and 2006 he won the British Touring Car Championship seeing off Yvan Muller in 2005 and Jason Plato in 2006. Matt then finished 4th in 2007 not starting 2 rounds and in 2008 moved to VX Racing for a two year spell. Again after this he rejoined Team Dynamics, or Honda Racing, which proved dividends in 2011 when he again won the British Touring Car Championship for the third time. Matt is still racing with Team Dynamics this season in 2013 and currently heads the championship.
The painting measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

John McGuinness

McGuinnes Riding around Brands Hatch Indy

This is a watercolour painting of a photo taken by Ashley Bryant of Bryant Photography. The photo was taken at the first round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch Indy.
John McGuinness is mainly a Isle of Man TT rider winning 20 TT races in just 17 TTs contested so far in his career.
The painting measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Andrew Jordan

Jordan through Murrays

This is a painting done in watercolours of Andrew Jordan in the Pirtek Honda Civic at Snetterton in 2012. The painting has been signed by Andrew himself.
Andrew Jordan came up from a rallycross background becoming the BTRDA Junior Rallycross Champion in 2004 and then in 2005 he won not only the BTRDA Junior Rallycross series but the BTRDA Rallycross, the Super Series Junior and the Ginetta Winter series aswell. In 2006 he competed in the British Rallycross Supercar Series becoming the youngest driver to compete and win a race in the series and in 2007 he was the runner up in that category. Also in 2006 he competed in some of the races in the SEATCupra Championship and in 2007 entered  in the Renault Clio Championship. In 2008 he made the step up into the British Touring Car Championship with Eurotech racing with his father as his team mate. 2009 saw Jordan move into a works team with VX Racing but in 2010 moved back to a family run team under the name of Pirtek Racing. He won the Independents Championship in 2012 and currently is running second in the 2013 British Touring Car Championship.
The painting measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Gordon Shedden

Gordon Shedden around Druids

This is a watercolour painting created from a photo taken by Michael Barrett. In the painting you can see Gordon Shedden in his Championship winning Honda Yuasa Racing Civic. The photo was taken at the first round of the British Touring Car Championship in 2012 at Brands Hatch Indy. The painting is signed by Gordon Shedden.
Gordon Shedden started his British Touring Car career in 2001 in a Ford Focus in the Production class. Then there was a gap until 2006 where Shedden did not feature in the Touring cars instead racing in the SEAT Cupra Championship in 2003 and 2004 and the Porsche GB Championship in 2005. In 2006 he took his first win at Oulton Park. Shedden raced for Team Halfords from 2006 until 2008 finishing 3rd overall in the championship in 2007. In 2009 Shedden started the first round with Team dynamics but was replaced by James Thompson and Johnny Herbert for the rest of the season. Shedden signed for Clyde Valley Racing before Snetterton and raced a bio-ethanol SEAT Leon for the remainder of the season. In 2010 Shedden signed for Honda Racing and in 2012 he had his greatest season winning the British Touring Car Championship.

The painting measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Jakub Smrz

Jakub Smrz riding the 96 Padgett's Honda

This is a watercolour piece of Jakub Smrz. It was created from a photo taken by Ashley Bryant of Bryant Photography at the first round of the 2013 British Superbike season at Brands Hatch Indy. The painting is signed by Jakub himself.
This year is Smrz's second year in British Superbikes. He started racing bikes in 1997 in the MEZ 125cc Championship. In 2001 he moved into World 250 GP and stayed in this championship for 6 seasons with a best finish overall in the championship of 17th. After World 250 GP Smrz moved into World Superbikes in 2007 and stayed there up until 2012, 2012 being a year where Smrz raced in both World Superbikes and British Superbikes. His best overall finished in the World Superbikes was 10th in 2009. This season in British Superbikes Jakub has had a best finish of 8th at Snetterton 300.
This painting measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

James Westmoreland

Westmoreland on the WFR Honda

This piece is a watercolour painting created from a photo taken by Adam Lines. In the photo you can see James Westmoreland on the Team WFR Honda at Brands Hatch GP in 2012. The painting is also signed by James himself.
Westmoreland is now in his third season of British Superbikes this year riding the Buildbase BMW. His best finish in any British Superbike Race is fourth. Before Superbikes he raced in the British Supersport Championship and the British 125GP Championship, with a few of his records in 125s still remaining unbeaten today.
The piece measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Peter Hickman

Peter Hickman on the Lloyds British GBmoto Honda

This watercolour piece was created from photo taken by Ashley Bryant of Bryant Photography and is signed by Peter Hickman himself. The picture was taken at the first round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch Indy.
This season is Peter Hickman's 7th season in British Superbikes and so far has a best result of 6th at Knockhill.
The picture measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Lee Costello

Lee Costello at Druids

This is a watercolour piece of Lee Costello on the Halsall Racing Kawasaki at Brands Hatch Indy. I created this work from a photo taken by Ashley Bryant of Bryant Photography. The piece is signed by Lee Costello himself.
Lee Costello joined British Superbikes this season after finishing 5th in the National Superstock 1000 Championship. He is making great progress in his first season of British Superbikes with a best finish of 14th at Snetterton 300.
The picture measures 8 inches by 6 inches.

Sailing Yacht

Sailing Yacht

This is an acrylic piece painted from one of my own photos. It is of a sailing yacht at Wells-Next-The-Sea.

Fishing Boat

Fishing Boat

This watercolour piece was painted from a picture taken by myself. It is of a fishing boat at Wells-Next-The-Sea Harbour in the North Norfolk coast. Wells-Next-The-Sea is famous for it's beach huts on stilts and it's quaint town centre.

Brookes Over The Mountain

Josh Brookes flying over the Moutain at Cadwell Park

This picture I created using watercolours and a picture taken by Adam Lines at the eighth round of the British Superbike Championship. Last year Josh Brookes finished second in the championship behind Shane "Shakey" Bryrne.
At this particular round, Brookes finished sixth in the first race and second in the second race. He is racing again this year and is one of the main championship contenders. Brookes has been racing in British Superbikes since 2009 and has finished second in the championship on two occasions, 2010 and 2012.
The picture measures 12 inches by 8 inches.

Outstanding O'Neill

Paul O'Neill's sunshine.co.uk Honda Integra Type-R

This is a watercolour painting of Paul O'Neill's Honda Integra Type-R at the third round of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, at Brands Hatch GP circuit. The picture I worked from was taken by Michael Barrett.
In this season O'Neill finished ninth in the championship which was an incredible achievement in a much older specification touring car beating two now World Touring Car drivers in the form of Alex Macdowall and Tom Boardman. At this particular round O'Neill finished sixth in the first race and fourth in the second, but retired in the third race.
The picture measures 12 inches by 8 inches.

2009 Le Mans Series Champion

2009 Le Mans Series Championship winning Lola-Aston Martin

This painting is of the 007 Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 which was raced by Jan Charouz, Tomás Enge and Stefan Mücke. The picture that this painting was done from was taken by Michael Barrett at the final round of the 2009 Le Mans Series Championship at the 1000km of Silverstone. This car finished third at that round  but won the series overall in the LMP1 class.
I painted this piece using watercolours and it measures 30 cm by 15 cm.

Classic Formula Ford

Hawke DL19 Formula Ford

This painting is done from a photo originally taken in 1978 at the Townsend Thoresen FF1600, this is equivalent to the UK series now, round at Snetterton. In this piece you can see Robert Coates’ Hawke DL19 Formula Ford however sitting in the car is Michael Barrett.

For this piece I used watercolour and gouache to create the finished product.

Thundering Thorpe

Paul Thorpe at Murray's

This watercolour painting was done from a picture originally then by Michael Barrett. It was taken at the 2012 charity day at Snetterton. In this piece you can see Paul Thorpe driving his Ford Fiesta XR2i, which competes in the 750 Motor Club Classic Stock Hatch Championship, through the final corner of the Snetteron Circuit. He is giving a ride to Joshua Barrett in this picture although you can't make him out.

Best Photos of 2012

Best of 2012

Here's a few of my snaps I feel rightly belong in a "Best of 2012" compilation picture.

Newport Youth Club Murals

East Facing Wall

West Facing Wall

In 2011 we started the build of the new Newport Youth Club. I was lucky enough to be allowed to design the interior of one of the music rooms. In this space I chose to design two murals facing at either end of the room. On the west wall I added two cars (a Nissan Silvia and a Mitsubishi Evolution X) facing inwards and then on the east wall I drew a Nissan 350z drifting away. The idea behind this was to make you feel as though you are standing right in this spectacle.
To create these pieces me and a couple of my friends used normal wall paint and then a mixture of bushes, sponges and masking tape to create the final composition.
For this work and all our other work to help build the youth club and maintain it we were awarded a Community Achievement Award from Uttlesford district council.

Monk's Barn

Monk's Barn, Newport

In this painting you can see Monk’s Barn in Newport, Essex. This painting is done from one of own pictures.

I have used pen and wash to create this piece and then gone back in with a fine liner to create more texture. I feel this piece has worked very well as it has great depth. The first very fluid movement of the clouds and roofs is then sharpened up with the addition of the mark making techniques in the wooden frame. Also I believe the structure of the picture has added to the piece as is allows the viewer to get a feel of the atmosphere which the building creates of sheer domination because it is the focus of the whole piece.

Thatched Cottages

Elephant Green

This painting is done from one of my own pictures. It is of a row of thatched cottages located in Newport, Essex.

For this piece I have used ink and bleach. This media allows me to be more creative in my style as I can use mark making techniques to greater effect. I also like the colour left behind when the bleach is applied. This goldeny brown gives the piece a much more rustic feel.

Flying Fords

Dan Cox and Mike Gardner through Nelson

This painting is done from a picture taken by Michael Barrett. It comes from the sixth round of the Historic Sports Car Club at the Snetterton 300 circuit. In the picture you can see Dan Cox in the yellow Ford Cortina taking a very sideways route through Nelson with Mike Gardner chasing him down in the much more powerful Ford Falcon.

The piece was done using acrylic paint.