Martin Squires Automotive Illustration: The Bike Shed Paris

The Bike Shed are at it again but now they have taken their show to Paris. The format that they used in their previous London Shows has been shipped across the channel and has worked phenomenally well. The majority of bikes on display were from Europe and it was great to see that the custom scene is just as healthy here as in the UK. Alongside the bikes there was a plethora of artwork, photography as well as a barbers, tattoo parlour and a leather worker. Am angst all this where a few manufacturers in the motorcycle world Triumph, Harley Davidson and Yamaha. Having these names there didn't turn the experience into the usual trade show as they seamlessly mixed in with the whole show and kept the atmosphere relaxed and the way the Bike Shed is. This show has proved to me that you can have a show without having the commercial side shoved in your face. This is a really refreshing change and I think it is this social side that needs to be pushed more as thats what the motorcycle scene is about meeting new people and machines with one common thread.

Art Display

(Full display)

I was fortunate enough to be able to display some of my studio work, which I've been spending more time on of late. One of my new experiments was the Dirt Quake 3 Panorama which I mounted on a curved mount in order to allow the viewer to see the whole piece within their peripheral vision...

"The Pits"

(panoramic ink sketch on curved mount)

"Vincent Engine"

(oil painting, with screen printed elements)

These paintings were started around a year ago and sat unfinished in my studio until recently. I had been working digitally overlaying ink sketches over digital paintings for a while and I really liked the effect it gave. I'd been trying to think of a way of doing it with real paintings and whilst talking to Ben Cheshire at Mesh Silk Screen the lightbulb turned on and the thought of screen printing over an oil painting came about. To do this I traced a 1 to 1 ink sketch over the painting and then screen printed it over the top. I then worked over the top with spray paints and enamels to achieve what you see here.

"Vellocette Engine"

(oil painting, with screen printed elements)

As well as displaying work I also sketched profusely over the whole weekend. Here's the results....

Kruz Company's Mini Rod Dax

(ink sketch)

I saw this bike during the setup and knew it was a must sketch for the weekend. The bike has taken 3 years on and off to finish. The engine is race tuned and Kruz are planning to take it to a Mini Bike Drag event in Belgium later this year. This is a really fun build with a serious edge, and I wish Kruz luck with racing it later this year.

Triumph Speed Twin,

(ink sketch)

I'd loved this sprint bike for a while now and I was so happy to see it at the show. This 1938 speed twin has been run on many circuits in Europe and ran at the Brighton Speed Trials coming 4th in it's class. This is very impressive as the people that run at Brighton are real veterans of the sport. The speed twin is built and run by Frank Chatokhine who is a real wizard at tuning and racing vintage motorcycles. He came first in the vintage class in the Dirt Track Riders Association race series last year.

TT, Honda V4

(ink sketch)

It was mainly the engine and array of radiators that attracted me to this bike. The engine is a 500cc V4. After speaking to the owner the engine is typical of the off the wall thinking that Honda had at the time this was built. The extra radiator has been added as these engines alway overheat, it does however add to the experimental flavour of this build.

Tom Rockwood's, Triumph Trackmaster

(ink sketch)

I can't let a real race bike go, even though the show was a custom show it was great to see a genuine flat track bike there. This bike was ridden at Ascot Park in L.A. in the early 70's by Tom Rockwood who was one of the top AMA riders at the time.

Lucky Cat Garage, Sprint Beemer

(ink sketch)

I'd seen a lot of this Lucky Cat Garage bike on various websites and always loved the look of it, especially with the fairing. The bike is based on a BMW and has added NOS! There were so many details and complexities I thought I'd give myself a challenge and give it a go.

Lucky Cat Dust Beemer,

Kikishop Customs, 750 GSXE

(ink sketch)

The pure simplicity and subtlety of this custom is just right. It looks so simple that the amount of work that has gone into this build is deceiving. All the work has been done by one man, including the paint job, metalwork, chrome the list goes on. The cowling is a modified Norton fairing and the tail section is all hand beaten!

This Honda 750 Four is done in the same simple fashion and as said before it's just RIGHT!

Kikishop Customs travel in style too.

More Artwork.....

Unlimited Velocity displayed some amazing large prints. Also known as Hans Surs, Hans has a real understanding of painting and is definitely knows what he's doing, please check out his website as you won't be disappointed!

Pimp My Bell had a display of custom helmet on display these two where my top choice...