Oily Rags and Greasy Fingers Show, at the Bristol Bike Show

Saturday was supposed to be a rest day for myself, but as soon as I heard that
Oily Rags and Greasy Fingers were putting on a show as part of the Bristol Bike Festival I couldn't resist packing up the sketchbook and pen to see why I could sketch......

Triumph Bobber

(ink sketch)

Rob from Oily Rags Triumph was centre stage in the show and deservedly so, there are some great elements on this bike especially the curvaceous almost horse saddle inspired seat.

Yamaha Chopper

(ink sketch)

Owned by Ben from Sideburn Magazine, I was hoping to sketch this bike at Dirt Quake II, and so I was glad I could sit with it in more static conditions.

It wasn't only bikes on display at the show art adorned the walls....

Adi Gilbert

 Great to see some original line work on the walls

The Bubble Visor Girls as commissioned by Chester Belter

I first saw Adi's work in Sideburn Magazine in the form of the Dirt Quake poster and I have been an avid fan since. The main thing I enjoy about Adi's work is the fact that he inks by hand using brush and ink, with a fluid and natural style. Adi has produced illustration work for both Motorcycle magazines and BMX companies as well as various other clients. 
To see more of his work go to his webste 99 Seconds . Also check out his own clothing brand Folklore which looks to have some fantastic goodies in the pipeline.

Ben Cheshire

not only does Ben create great screen prints like this for himself he also runs his own print studio Mesh which has produced some great print editions for various clients most
notably D Face.

 ... and here's Ben's BSA

Meanwhile outside bikes swamped the streets....

Can-Am Commission

After meeting Chris Marsh of Canned-Ham at the Telford Twin Shock Show earlier in the year he asked me to paint two of his Can Am bikes here's the final pieces.

If you want anything to do with Can-Am mx bikes then Chris is your man, go to:

www.Canned-Ham.com

Gloucestershire Steam Extravaganza, South Cerney Airfield, 2013

After having such a great time at the Gloucester Steam Extravaganza last year I decided that I had to go back, this time I took the family for an outing 

and fitted in a couple of sketches too:

Patricia B

1931 Fowler 10 Ton DNA

(ink sketch)

This commission was booked earlier in the year at the Tractor World show and I had been looking forward to it very much. When I met Ian on the rally field he offered to take my sketching bag and let me steer the roller to a better spot to sketch it. My jaw hit the floor and I instantly climbed on board. It was a great experience both sketching the roller (5 hours) and meeting the Mason family who were so generous with letting not only myself but my wife and son have a go on the roller.

Now for a bit of history, Founded by John Fowler an agricultural engineer and inventor, Fowlers was a leeds based manufacturer of steam engines. John Fowler is credited with the invention of steam-driven ploughing engines. On 4 December 1864 John died following a hunting accident. After his death, John Fowler & Co., was then continued by Robert Fowler and Robert Eddison. In 1886 the limited company of John Fowler & Co., (Leeds) Ltd., was formed. It merged with Marshall, Sons & Co., Ltd., of Gainsborough in 1947 to form Marshall-Fowler Ltd.

This particular Fowler roller started work for West Riding County Council Yorkshire in 1931, it then moved to Corfields, Abermule, Wales. After finishing working in Abermule in 1963 it was sold to Liz Mason of Newport Wales. Ray Mathews of Muchwenlock then owned it for 19 years. The Roller gained it's name Patricia B from Ray's late wife. Ian bought it from Ray, Ian and his son Lewis have now owned the engine for about 2 years.

1945 Field Marshal

(ink and watercolour)

This Field Marshal has been lovingly restored over 2 years by Gordon Bedwell and his father. The tractor worked on the same farm all its life until 1968 when it was put in a hedge and left. The tractor was in a pretty bad state after being left outside for so long, many people would have used it for spares or left it alone. However Gordon and his father had a good reason to bring it back to life as it was driven by Gordons Grandfather for the majority of it's life and so this restoration is a fitting tribute to him.

Here's a few photos...

 1911 Marshal 12hp Portable Engine.

Worked in a sawmill in Santiago Chile.

Aveling and Porter Traction Engine

 Humber

 Nuffield 10/60 and Living Wagon

 1958 James Trials

 20's OK Bradshaw

 I think this is a oil cooled engine...

Nice Bantam Competition replica

 An interesting duo of CZ scooters

Early Matchless

 Lovely Scammell mid restoration, it was quite a sight seeing this in the Tesco car park!

 Great Bus line up as usual

Two tractors that I'd love to own side by side.

Farmall Cub and a John Deere BR

VMCC Festival of 1000 Bikes, at Mallory Park

The Weather was much better for this years VMCC 1000 Bikes Festival but pretty hot for sketching. I spent most of my time in the sprint bike tent in the paddock to avoid getting sunstroke, which I still got from sketching outside after 3pm! In other news the event was packed full of bikes as usual, more modern entries than normal, not sure why? There was still plenty to see and loads of interesting folks to chat to. If you haven't been before it's well worth it as you'll always see something new as there are many motorcycle clubs in attendance and couple that with an auto jumble, trials riding on Saturday and Sprint racing on Sunday oh and star riders racing each other on the track, this year Agostini and John McGuinness went head to head! What more could you ask for?

Manx Superior

(ink & watercolour)

Built using a Brough engine that was raced in the 60's and a Norton Manx Frame and gearbox this Manx Superior certainly caught the eyes of a lot of people. 

You can see it's a genuine Manx frame from the large loop at the back, coupling this with a late J.A.P. twin it makes this a very well though out machine. The man behind the bike is Ewan Cameron who has a real fascination with JAP Motors.

 

Always love these back to back Mags.

"The Ironing Board" Velocette MOV Special

 (ink sketch)

Apparently not much is known about this sprint bike. The current owners estimate that it was originally made in the late 60's early 70's due to it having a metal flake paint job. The heart of the bike is a Velocette MOV engine which has had a later alloy barrel from a 350 Velo MAC added by chopping it down to shorten the stroke.

 

1956 Supercharged Harley KHK Special

  (ink sketch)
A Harley KHK is a rare bike in the first place but to supercharge it and take it to Bonneville is even Better. Patrick Delli has put a lot of work into this bike and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he beats his last record of 107mph on the flats this year. 107mph is not bad for this bike as 119mph is the record for it's class. The bike runs 2 Magnetos and a supercharger and uses Methanol. Last time out a Bonneville the bike wasn't even finished before it left, and it took a week of work in the states to get it ready. This time the bike is ready before shipping so, bon chance Patrick!

 

 Racstus 125 Bantam Racer

 (ink sketch)

Built by Chris Newport in the early 60's the Rastus was campaigned by Chris from '63 - 76. The bike was based around a combination of a D3 Bantam frame and an EMC Puch which Chris had previously raced. The engine is a 125 with a central plug Todd head with a Gardener Carb and SU Float. Chris recons it has done 100mph in the past, not bad for a 125.

Here's the obligatory extra spot shots.... 

 Rick Parkington's Georgeous Rex Acme

 Voyager Lineup

not sure what this is but I like it. 

Barnfind HRD on the Bonhams Stand

 Lovely AJS 650 with Watsonian Sidecar

Rudge Racer, this was at Mallory last year but is good enough to get featured twice

 Norman Autocycle on the NACC stand 

 AJS Trials

Another Norman for sale in the Autojumble