Acrylics on Metal
Although I made the switch from acrylics to watercolors, I haven’t totally abandoned acrylics. Instead of canvas, my new acrylic painting surface of choice is pressed steel. Vintage pressed steel to be more precise. The kind used by Tonka Toys in the 50’s and 60’s. That’s right, I’m hand painting vintage Tonka Volkswagen Beetles with acrylics and a brush (in my spare time).
I saw pics online of actual Volkswagen Beetles that were painted in the groovy, hippie style of the 1960’s. I thought that same style would look cool on a model-sized version of these iconic cars. So I bought a few vintage Tonka Volkswagen Beetles on eBay and let my imagination take over.
Woodstock Poster for Inspiration
The inspiration for this bug’s paint scheme came from a Woodstock poster I saw on the web. Here are a few more pics of my first Groovy Love Bug (and the poster). I also painted on a little “rust” to add a little realism. The bumpers are plastic and were originally white.
I have a few more of these mini Beetles on a shelf in my studio waiting to be painted. As I get them done, I’ll add them to the blog. Stay tuned.