Fresh Porsche Painting and a Fresh Perspective

As much as I'd like to make posts here a bit more frequently, I feel like I already struggle at times to manage the time I have involved in things I'm working on. That said, I'm happy to finally be sharing SOMETHING. Although I post almost everyday on IG (@pinstripe_chris) and FB (Chris Dunlop/Pinstripe Chris), posting here gives me the space to speak out loud about much more of what's going on and the process of doing things. On social media in general I get right to the point of my post- here I feel like I can open up a bit. So lets dive in to the why of this particular painting: Late Monday night I had been watching some videos on YouTube about other artists and their story (something I love to do and often inspires me)- a particular video resonated with me about how a particular artist was very aware of his 'bad paint days' (where artwork just does not come together) and rather then scrap the pieces he uses them as the story behind his day. One's mood can certainly effect artwork in many many ways- this artist chose to not use the bad days as self criticism, but rather evidence of what he was like that day. I had never thought about that before- I certainly have bad or off days where the artwork just does not meet my standards. Often times I will just smear the paint in worse just to end it, but not always. With that in mind, I had done a quick/rough paint comp of this Carrera RS piece that night with the aim of picking it up the next morning. The next morning my mood didn't match what I had started the night before. Rather then setting the piece aside, I decided to paint over what was already there (which served as a nice base) with a fresh look that I could connect with right then. The clean piece I had started with quickly become messy, energetic, and exciting. Admittedly I also enjoyed some good coffee in this process as well. This ended up being extremely cathartic for me, especially since I had spent the last month or so working on very clean illustrations for shops. It's tough to explain what it's like going from a clean to messy when the typical process is in reverse. I literally had to bury what I was comfortable with in order to create something authentic. When inspiration strikes, I grab anything and start drawing/painting on it. In the case of this piece I didnt have any canvas available so I grabbed a very used aluminum paint palette and worked straight over it. The result is a lot of spontaneous texture which I find interesting that the panel itself has its own story before it had artwork on it. There's a part of me that's apprehensive about sharing a more genuine/authentic side to what I really like to do- in this case, making a mess. I wonder if people who enjoy my clean artwork will be confused by my messier artwork. In a time when many creatives are focused on realism & detail, I would prefer to see the world thru a unique lens. I like the power of brush strokes and textures that life isn't likely to create. Does it seem like a step backwards? Maybe to some, but to me it's more me then I've been in a long time.

-Chris Dunlop / Pinstripe Chris