Chicago — Online art marketplace DiscoveredArtists.com reports a growing number of artists who are caught up in capturing cars on canvas. Although these artists can choose from a world of subjects ranging from naked ladies to breathtaking landscapes and crashing waves, they are fascinated by the lovely curves and flashing metal of car bodies.
Automotive art typically falls into three categories — beauty shots that usually are very tight, detailed fine art photographs, nostalgia artworks that set a mood or capture a feeling, and realism portraits, where the artist creates a photo-quality image of a vehicle using brush and paint.
Automotive beauty art typically is the work of fine art photographers who can turn a tight shot of a hood ornament into a masterpiece. The fascination and the challenge for an artist is to capture the reflection of light and shadow on polished metal. The artist sees beauty in the interesting lines, curves and intricate details of grills, chrome strips and other ornamentation that distinguishes one make and model from another.
Working with different types of lenses and by using a number of lighting and digital processing techniques, a fine art photographer focuses his lens on an intricate detail of a car’s body. His challenge is to capture the reflected light and shadow created by the bends and curves of the metal, and to use his artistic eye to effectively frame the image.
“Classic Car Orange” is one in a series of 36 images by fine art photographer Paul Hasara. Art buyers appreciate this artist’s attention to detail, his artistry and his technical skill. Hasara skillfully captures the small shadow of the hood ornament, the vibrant color and interesting mirrored reflections in the chrome. His artistry is evident in the framing of the photo and in his viewpoint. To view more of his auto artwork, visit www.discovered artists.com/gallery/PaulHasara.
“Metal Melt,” by fine art photographer, Vlad Bubnov, redefines the hot rod. This example of automotive beauty art is actually the reflection of a 1957 Ford Thunderbird in its own chrome bumper. Bubnov is a master of fine art photography and is especially adept at creatively capturing and playing with light on metal. His colorful fine art photos sell as limited edition prints that are signed and numbered by the artist. See more of these shots at www.discoveredartists.com/artwork/view/2990/Metal+Melt.
And finally, “Out to Pasture” is an original oil painting by artist Robert Hare. The artist painted this canvas from a photograph he took while on a visit to Whidbey Island in Washington state. 
His immediate reaction was that the car had been put out to pasture after faithfully serving its master, abandoned, and left to rust in the weeds. The artist felt compelled to honor the old beauty with a portrait in oil. See this photo at www.discovered artists.com/artwork/view/4043/ OUT+TO+PASTURE.
