P42 Chats with Motorsport Artist Gary Speak

Gary Speak is a motorsport artist and P42 first caught sight of his work a while back, and thought it about time we caught up with the Aussie based artist/ racer and chew the fat…

P42: How and when did you start painting these ‘moments’ in motorsport?

GS: Ironically it came about after the devastating loss of Ayrton Senna. I’d been an avid fan and follower of F1 since the early 1980’s, so shortly after his passing I decided to do a painting of his last victory at Adelaide in 1993. A Senna fan saw the completed work and commissioned me to include it in a montage for his private collection. After that, I was involved in a series of commissions for different people, including a montage of every rally car driven by a local rally driver here in Australia. Then another montage of Australian V8 driver Peter Brock. Again, tragically after he lost his life. From that point on, I decided to try and capture some of the energy and excitement of Formula 1 racing.

P42: You might say it was your last piece but could you pick out a favourite painting?

GS: Hard to choose really. Probably the painting that celebrated the 50 years separating Guiseppe Farina – Formula 1’s first world champion in 1950 and Michael Schumacher in 2000. The advances in design, engineering and development of F1 cars over such a relatively short period of time still amazes me…

P42: Agreed – advances that we can now experience in our road cars! The tech is something else in F1…What type of materials do you prefer to use: acrylic/ oil/ pencil?

GS: I always work with acrylic paints, but draw many, many pencil sketches for reference, prior to to committing to the final piece…

P42: That gives us an insight to the preparation, a lengthy process by the sound of it, how long does each painting take?

GS: It varies quite a lot. Paintings of drivers and cars from the 1950’s and 60’s are much quicker, because you are not dealing with multiple logos and team sponsors. Contemporary F1 cars are much more detailed and difficult to faithfully reproduce with any realism. Sponsorship logos and lettering are extremely fiddly to get the perspective just right. So a painting can take anywhere between 3 to 5 weeks or 2 to 3 months from start to finish.

P42: Arh yes, sponsors stickers, tons of detail and the only way to really get out the on the grid theses days. So mentioned you carry out commissions – any interesting ones?

GS: Yes, some of the privately commissioned works are interesting because of the evolution of the cars that the drivers were competing in.

P42: Must be a challenge to try and make sure you end up painting the clients vision ! Its a corporate world these days and many of the character drivers from yesteryear would be a sponsors nightmare, no names…Any tales from the paddock?

GS: Not from the Formula 1 paddock, but I had a moment when I was competing in Formula Ford when my pit crew had misjudged the amount of fuel I needed in one particular race in which I was looking good for a podium finish. I was unaware of how nail biting for them it was as to whether I’d actually finish the race. Thankfully I crossed the finish line in 2nd place and we had a good laugh about it. My mood may not have been so jovial if I hadn’t made the finish!

P42: Lucky result – we often say that racing often feels like 90% grief, 10% satisfaction, but that 10% is so good you always come back for more. On an other day you would have run out of gas! From your experience, do you have a motorsport hero?

GS: I admire the talent and ability of so many F1 drivers and other racers of all motorsport categories past and present. But if I was pushed to name a hero, it would undoubtedly be “The Prof” – the late Sydney Watkins. President of the FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety, Former FIA Formula One Safety and Medical Delegate and Former head of the Formula One on-track medical team. He made an outstanding commitment in continuously improving the safety standards in motorsport for 26 years.

P42: Many would automatically be thinking about a driver or team but Syd Watkins was an incredible man, very and as you say made a ‘real’ difference to the sport – he saved the lives of many drivers…his passing in 2012 was a big loss to the sport. What are your plans for 2016?

GS: Well I’m currently working on a new painting of WA local Daniel Ricciardo and also the Lotus that Kimi Raikonnen drove a few years ago. After that, I may give Formula 1 a rest and start a new series unrelated to motorsport. But if anyone wants a private commission of their own motorsport moments, I’d be more than happy to oblige!

P42: Many thanks Gary.

Gary can be contacted at speak@f1artprints.com or via www.f1artprints.com

Enjoy the gallery.