Working on a book by a chap called Jim. This is one of the many characters in the book and my approximation of motorbike at speed. My drawings/cartoons are always approximations. This tends to elicit comments from people like motorbike purists. I was once asked to draw a bloke’s favourite bike, approximation would not do, it was a nightmare for me. I gave up in the end and we never spoke again, sadly he assumed that as I could do approximations I might be able to do exact. No, not exactly, in fact not at all.

Some illustrators can draw vehicles and bikes exactly right, take Graham Thompson for instance, see below. He was not only a master of getting the drawing right he was the Leonardo of Reflective Metal. I can’t even draw a round wheel, so I just wing it. The Morgan Sports car below by Graham will be correct in every detail.

Then in painting there’s a chap in Gloucester name of Rob Rowland. I met him and he’s an unassuming kind of bloke who started his art career painting signs for public houses. He’s a steam engine specialist and for me probably the best around. There’s absolutely nothing approximate about his work, not only does he get the train and location he even has the number of the train. Now in the world of art there’s a broad field, I am a fan of abstract art, the impressionists, some ‘modern’ sculpture, and artists who love steam trains tend to be parked in a siding. In Rob’s case he not only gets the engines and places dead right, he manages to evoke the time when they were around and his pictures are full of light. Take a look at his work here. Don’t expect to buy one though, not surprisingly he has none for sale!

Superb painting by Rob Rowland

As for me, I’ll stick to approximations, it’s safer.