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Dirty Car Art is the perfect excuse not to wash your car ever again

Cara Clegg Dec 31, 2014
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Have you ever doodled in the dirt on your car before you finally got around to washing it? Or perhaps when you were younger you wrote something rude in the dust on the neighbour’s rear window? American artist Scott Wade took his doodling many steps further and now creates this stunning Dirty Car Art that you’d never want to wash off.

Born and raised in the US, Scott is an artist and musician who has spent his life nurturing his creativity. He discovered Dirty Car Art as he was living on a long dirt road in Texas where his cars were always covered in dust and grime. His natural instinct was always to doodle in the dust, and this led to him experimenting with various techniques, and eventually evolved into the art we see from him today which he’s been working on since 2003. It’s reminiscent of the chalk art that’s popular in Japan right now with the use of subtle shading to create almost photographic realism.

Of course when turning up to work at a fancy motor event it’s unlikely that any of the cars there will be waiting for him covered in dirt. While he prefers to work on ‘natural’ canvases, in other words cars that have got really dirty from driving for miles along dry dirt roads, he has also developed a technique for creating an ‘artificial’ canvas. The simple process involves spreading a thin, even layer of oil over the window then using a hair dryer to blow handfuls of fine dirt or other powder across the whole thing, which sounds easy enough for anyone to do. The hard part is the bit where you actually have to be able to draw.

▼Here is a recreation of the iconic woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai from his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series that Scott created for Japanese television.

In response to the question of whether it makes him said that his work is washed away when it rains, he answered with a very Japanese outlook, saying: “The impermanence of this art form is one of the things I really love about it. For one thing, it helps me to not take it too seriously and to really have fun with it. But most important, it reminds me that all of life is transient, that we won’t be here all that long, and to really enjoy the wonder and beauty while we’re here.”

▼Another piece done for a Japanese TV show, this time featuring a heron.

▼He was commissioned to draw this fantastic dragon for a Nokia commercial.

▼See Scott in action in these videos.

And it’s not just oriental styles – Scott creates a wide range of scenes from his own original work to incredible recreations of familiar and famous pieces. Check them out below.

▼A recreation of English romantic painter John Constable’s The Hay Wain.

▼M.C. Escher’s impossible architecture.

▼A beautiful wildflower meadow created for a South Korean TV show.

▼He drew a car on his car! Xzibit would be proud.

▼The Boy Who Lived.

▼Awww! Polar bears!

▼One of C.M. Coolidge’s famous paintings of dogs playing poker.

▼And last but not least, something seasonal.

You can see more from Scott over at his official website. And next time you think your car really could do with a clean, why not have a little doodle on it beforehand? If it goes terribly then you can wash away all the evidence!

Source: Japaaan Magazine, Scott Wade Official Website
Images: Scott Wade Official Website