Peter Hutton

THE FINE ART OF MOTOR SPORT.

Peter Hutton.

INTRODUCTION.

Sadly the editor does not have any biographical details of Peter Hutton. Peter is featured for the quality and range of his work – motorcycles and cars seems worthy of inclusion particularly as Lotus is well represented.
The other distinguishing feature of Peter’s work is that it takes aspects of technical illustration to new levels. Viewing his work I find my self questioning design solutions and posing questions.
Also deep within the engineering function there is an extreme beauty and Hutton is able to mine this.
I think Colin Chapman mantra of elegance would appreciate this type of illustration.
Be patient and take a considerable time to study this work. There is much to see and on more than one level as you explore more deeply and thoroughly.

Picture Subjects

Lotus 49 [Engine detail]

1986 Lotus Renault 98T
Lotus JPS
BRM P115
1927 Bugatti Type 35B.

Word Pictures.

The editor has selected two of the non-Lotus cars for description.
The BRM has been selected as it represents one of the peers/ contemporaries and rivals the Lotus. At the A&R we are keen to explore and evaluate through objective comparison and the BRM presents a valid opportunity.
The illustration of the Bugatti has been selected for its exquisite quality and the fact it complements our article on Icons and that of appreciating the aesthetic of the motorcar.

BRM P115

This is an exquisite jewel like painting. Part Andy Warhol –“Coke Can” photorealism with a touch of Heath Robinson.

The work is a masterful technical illustration with aesthetic underpinnings.

A painting full of contrast, black ink on white textured paper and all rippling reflections on polished bodywork, faithfully recorded.
This takes minute observation and considerable discipline to record.

The P115 is seen from the rear and the engine bay is therefore prominent and compositionally the prime focus. The artist has rendered both sets of exhaust. One just outlined in fine ink line and the other with grey wash as shadow covers matt paint. The editor accords and appreciates so much the creative skill and execution that permits so much subtle detail to be conveyed with so little input to achieve maximum visual impact and effect.

Both sets of upper wishbones are drawn in, but uncoloured. This helps illuminate other detail and does not overcrowd. It allows the viewer to participate and perhaps question what technical methods might be available.

The overall composition is triangular the strong base in the foreground and the apex being the tapered nose.

Hutton has recorded the subtlety of light and shade in an extraordinary way. It illustrates how surfaces are not uniform but “pick-up” and reflects images from their surroundings. Merely by his technique the artists conveys the elliptical body section

For the editor this is an extraordinary piece of work working and succeeding at technical, aesthetic compositional levels. Deeply satisfying, as I explore the work I pose the question “If only I could draw like that” for me it’s truly inspiring.

This work must take considerable patience and time. I suspect that original drawings may be to a very large scale and reduced for commercial sale.

The artist renders each material in the construction in a way it can be identified. Colour is important such as the use of maroon on the brake suspension system and steering wheel provide balance and focus within an overall composition.

The artist has a gift in that the subject is rendered faithfully without ego; affected style neither is it overworked or elaborate so to overload the viewer. As if the artists intends to assist a designer explore analyse and understand.

The picture is rewarding it invites entry and exploration. For he editor is deeply satisfying and rewarding. A work seemingly complete and incomplete. A subject that can be retuned to many times and fresh perspectives revealed.

It exists within and without the frame. Its appeal perhaps greatest to an engineer .It possesses its own inner aesthetic of colour and composition.

The editor mentioned the jewel like quality. This is possibly like a diamond with many facets. To view Peter Hutton’s work is to explore and view multiple facets.
It’s also an important introduction.
There may be many whom think a machine is functional without soul. To explore a picture like this could overturn such a view. It may also open eyes and open minds in a manner that allows interrelationships, colours, textures, form and function harmonised, combined and integrated.

1927 Bugatti 35B

In this picture all the qualities of Peter Hutton’s BRM are present.
Within an overall square composition there is a strong diagonal emphasis.

Hutton adopts his usual technique of detail with light wash. Not all the car is shown allowing the composition to “enter and leave the frame.” I.e. partial concentration of subject area in this instance only part of the cockpit is suggested.

The main focus is the engine revealed through the open bonnet. Looking straight at engine the viewer glimpses a jewel like mechanism like a fine chronograph watch. A great deal of materials and textures are deployed. They range from finned castings to highly polished cam covers, hard glass like mirrored chrome and burnished horseshoe radiator surround.

Hutton has captured the mirror quality with great realism. Note how the radiator shell picks up and reflects the headlamp bowls. Elsewhere the polished body and cycle guards reflect the fleeting clouds and sky. The rear view mirror reverses the aero screen.

The editor would suggest that Hutton has an empathy with the subject. He exercises an editing role and elects to focus on components whilst phasing or integrating them into a hierarchy of the whole. He seems to understand the essence of the subject and as a good translator helps the viewer understand. It would seem that Hutton could get inside the mind of Ettore Bugatti and represents the components as imagined or desired. The minute working components are like jewels set in a crown.

Again and with equal detail and attention as his other subjects Hutton captures the soul of the machine in its considerable sculptural and hierarchical magnificence. The author likes the fact that although each subject is static its inherent power and speed are imparted through a DNA that the artists succeeds in knowing. To look at the picture of this 35B and then close your eyes is to trigger memories and thoughts flood in of the extraordinary exhaust note rarely if ever replicated; hunting a tick over, the hovering rev-counter, to feel the engine heat build and the aroma of the circulating engine oil.

The pictures of Peter Hutton are not easy to reproducre for the newsletter however please visit http://peterhuttonillustrator.com/ they are sensational.