Motorsports Artist: Miha Furlan

We're big art fans here at EarlyApex and you could say we're pretty big fans of racing cars too. Automotive art? The perfect combo. The lines of a race car,the beautiful liveries and raw intensity and power of the machines just make great subjects. Slovenian artist, Miha Furlan, was kind enough to allow us to feature some of his artwork on the site and took time out of his schedule to answer some questions about his work. Enjoy!

 Joey Selmants-When did you start drawing cars?

Miha Furlan- I've been drawing cars since kindergarden really, at the time other kids in kindergarden were doing the standard two squares with two circles underneath to represent cars. I was more advanced and used angled lines to make a more 'aerodynamic' shape. I started to draw more seriously in 2001 and for the last five years I have really been spending a lot of my time on my favorite hobby.

JS- What mediums do you mostly work in?

MF-I started with graphite and then moved on to color crayons. Then i discovered the wonderful Copic markers, which i still use extensively. I also use acrylic paint here and there. I can say that my works are done in multimedia and  that i try to take advantage of the each medium and combine them to make the best effect possible.

JS- Describe the process for making most of your drawings and how long does this usually take?

First of all I chose a couple of subjects that I currently think of , then I search the internet or browse through my books to find some useful reference photos. After the subject is chosen (race event, race car,etc)  I try to come up with some sort of composition that would work. When that is done I am of to do the line work and when that is in place the coloring begins...

JS- How would you describe your style? 

Well primarly I have two basic styles, first one is  ultra realism and the second one would be pop art semi abstract style, from time to time I like to combine the two or add something new here and there. I need to do different things regulary , otherwise I would start to bore myself.

 JS- I’ve noticed that most of your work focuses on racing in the 1960s and 1970s, what draws you to this era in racing?

The love for that era is a direct result of playing the famous Grand Prix Legends race simulator game back in the late 90's. I was always a huge F1 fan, but I didn't care much about the historic cars, as said everything changed with that game, I started to appreciate the raw mechanical wonder of that cars. I love the way the driver was in total control of the powerful machines back then and he was not helped by all the crappy electronics that they use today. Those were the times when drivers still had balls and they needed to be flawless, because a single mistake could cost them their lives. And that is something that deserves respect.

JS- Are there any artists who have influenced your work? 

There are quite a few actually. I can name three that i look after the most. First one would be Nicholas Watts, who makes wonderful realistic race scenes paintings and adds a lot of movement in there. Second painter that I like is Tim Layzell who is a young painter from UK , a very talented guy. The third one would be Rob Ijbema who has a superb impresionistic style and does magic with his brushes

JS- How can people purchase your work if they are

interested?
MF- They can check my site for my latest work and can contact me via email, i will be happy to reply to any questions and will give you all the information that you will need to make a purchase.

 

Thanks again to Miha!

Miha's Site-  http://miha-furlan-motorsport-art.blogspot.com/http://miha-furlan-motorsport-art.blogspot.com/