“60 Ford Fairlane”

Title: “60 Ford Fairlane
Size: 30 inches by 40 inches
Media: Oil on Canvas
Completed: 2007
Part of the Artist’s continuing series; “Used Cars”

What a view of a classic early sixties design! Thanks to George Davis for this great photo shot of an often ignored vehicle, the 1960 Ford Fairlane/Galaxy series.

Historically, this was a radical departure in styling from all previous Fords and this design was only used for one year, radically changing for 1961. I do not know why this design was so quickly abandoned, but it is a true milestone of stylist Elwood P. Engel, who would later move over to Chrysler and style their vehicles throughout the sixties. While painting this car, I couldn’t help but notice the similarity between this car and the ’66 Chrysler Imperial. Same rectangular grille with inset quad headlights, same powerful bumper with complex corner wrap-around treatments, and same edged fender lines. Both were great examples of “pontoon” styling, one of Engel’s fortes.

Every painting creates its own challenges. This one was no exception. The photo was taken slightly off true center, but the painting would not tolerate the vision as photographed. I had to make very minor changes to curves and angles for the eye to accept the image. As with many of my “Used Cars” series, the image appears to exist forward, or in front of the actual picture plane. This is most noticeable if the painting is hung on a dark wall and carefully lit so as not to illuminate the surrounding wall space. It will fool the eye and you will think the vehicle is emerging from the wall.