The Artwork of Automotive Illustrator Tony Matthews

Automotive Artists > Tony Matthews

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To those who have been passionately involved in the world of auto racing or car collecting over the last several decades, the watercolor (watercolour in the U.K.) artwork of Tony Matthews is legendary. Tony is a technical illustrator's technical illustrator, who's passion for his craft may only be fully appreciated by others who have toiled at this challenging profession.

Tony's Biography

Tony Matthews was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, East Anglia, England on October 4, 1943, growing up in Hemel Hempstead, and later in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, where his father worked as a Consultant Pathologist at West Herts Hospital. In his mid-teens, Tony's fascination with technical illustration began with drawing simple cutaways and exploded drawings of artillery shells, from cross-sections found in an old set of Encyclopedia Brittanica. During his final year at Hitchin Boy's Grammar School, Tony was introduced to the James A. Allington (the legendary automotive illustrator), by his Careers Master who knew of his artistic abilities and technical drawing skills.

Tony recounts the day he met Allington at his studio: "I went home with my brain trying to cope with all I'd seen in his studio, took out a Mills 75 engine and did a cutaway of it. I took it to him the next day after school and he said "Yep, pretty good, but you've drawn all your elipses wrong." He then did a little sketch to show me that you have a major and minor axis, and that was it - I was on my way! But it was years of doing small illustrations before I could contemplate anything large and complicated. Small illustrations are just as valid as big ones, and can be great fun to do."

Immediately fascinated by Allington's cutaways, Tony began apprenticing for him during school holidays. At first, Tony was preparing simple illustrations for handbooks, as well as parts lists for a local crane-and-hoist manufacturer and for Lotus Cars, but in 1961, he offered a five-year apprenticeship with "day-release" at Luton Technical College.

Tony worked with Allington for nine and a half years, by which time he felt that he had got as far as he could. After leaving, Tony took a variety of short-term jobs, culminating in furniture-making, which almost became a serious career change. By chance, or fate, Tony had the opportunity to work for Teesdale Publishing, who produced a variety of titles, including Motor sport and Motoring News magazine. It was at Teesdale that Tony produced his first cutaway, a Brabham BT34, and having only worked on small parts of Allington's illustrations, he was now faced with an extremely steep learning curve! Tony admits that he had so little self-confidence at the time, and was so terrified of the blank 20 x 30 illustration board, that he did the cutaway at half-size, cutting the board in half.

After such a long stay with James Allington, Tony was determined to stay at MS and MN for only two years, but circumstances, his growing confidence, and the chance to draw so many interesting and varied cars, kept him there for five years. In February 1976, Tony became self-employed, starting his own studio at home.

Racing sponsorship, which has transformed motor sport, was the single force which made it possible to earn a living producing freelance cutaways. At that time, magazines were rarely able or inclined to pay very much, and builders/constructors were rarely inclined to part with money, whereas large companies who sponsored racing teams realized that a cutaway was a very cost-effective way of expanding brand awareness. Tony's commissions gradually increased in number, peaking in the years between 1984 and 1998.

As Tony humbly says of his career: "If success breeds success, exposure is a good second." Soon, Tony was approached by sponsors and manufacturers in all branches of motor sport, which was welcomed due to his interest in all competition machinery. While it is often assumed that Tony's major passion, and employment, has been from Formula One racing, it was in fact the vintage years of the Champ Car Series that provided him with the most work, and some of the biggest racing thrills. Tony says that he will always be proud of the fact that he was able to see the innermost secrets of all the top constructors during this period - Lola, March, Penske and Reynard - with each team knowing that he was seeing as much of their fiercest rivals' details, and trusting him not to reveal anything that was off-limits.

Interspersed with the sponsored, state of the art, next-season race cars were commissions of historic vehicles, which Tony says was "always a wonderful experience," providing the chance to draw (and paint) "completely different forms of construction, and different materials such as copper, brass, leather and rivets, lots and lots of rivets, spokes and tire treads!" However, these indulgences were really only viable when subsidised by the more commercial work.

During Tony's freelance career there was also a small amount of direct work for advertising agencies, which he says was "always interesting," stating that "it is slightly alarming to be confronted with a 26 foot by 12 foot poster of your own work when driving through a city centre." Tony's final illustrations where of the Ferrari F2000, but these were not sponsor-commissioned, and with a general downturn in financially viable work he decided to retire in 2003.

Tony says of techincal drawing: "I don't think cutaways are beyond anyone who can hold a pencil and SEE what they are looking at. I stress that because a lot of people don't seem to look analytically. Many years ago my son said "I just don't understand how you do them, they're so complicated." I said that a car, or any large object, is a complicated drawing, but it is made up of lots of smaller, simpler pieces. And that's the way to start.

Like many technical illustrators of his level, Tony has an intimate understanding of basic mechanical engineering, but there are always individual components that one must draw accurately without having a first-hand understanding of how they function. As Tony says humbly: "The technical side is not too difficult to pick up," "our job is to show other people what has been designed by the REALLY clever ones, the design engineers."

Tony says of himself: "Of course I have a reasonable knowledge, I've re-built engines and gearboxes," but in a humorous aside: "Mario Ilien would tease me sometimes, asking of some fiendish new tiny air/oil separator, "Do you know how it works, Tony?" to which I would blush prettily and mumble that er, no, not really. But it didn't stop me drawing it! As for vibration dampers - forget it! Not only did I not know how they worked I wasn't ever allowed to include one in an Ilmor illustration and Ferrari wouldn't let me even SEE one, let alone photograph one and promise not to draw it."

When working on a single illustration of this complexity for days, or even weeks at a time, one can develop tunnel vision to the world around them. Of his obsessive/compulsive work schedule, Tony states: "When I was working from home I would start at about 8:30 AM, but as the day wore on and turned to evening and then inky-black night I would get faster and BETTER!. Even if I decided to stop at 11:30 or 12:00 I would find myself, an hour later, still sitting in front of the artwork, criticizing this, accepting that, and planning how to approach the next day's work. How sad is that, on reflection!" But it is precisely this level of commitment and drive that is required create such detailed works of art.

Methodology

Tony's drawing and painting techniques evolved gradually over many years, as demands and materials changed. The fundamentals stayed the same in that the reference information required was either photographic, supplied technical drawings, or both, and in the case of smaller items, the actual subject was used.

The most basic and fundamental aspect to any technical illustration is the choice of perspective, or viewing angle; something that Tony tries to vary as much as possible from illustration to illustration. In Tony's own word: "The perspective varies as does the viewpoint, as much for variety as for relevance to the subject matter. So, while it could be said that every front-engined car should be drawn from the front and rear-engined from the rear, this would not give many options, as most competition cars are, at a very basic level, much the same. I always tried, especially when I was into a series, to do the next model at a different angle to the one before and the one to follow."

Continuing on the subject of perspective Tony goes on the say: "The technical illustrator has to try to convey as much information in one hit. You choose an angle that allows as many facets as possible to show. For instance, it's quite easy to finish up with an engine cutaway that has several major components all on top of each other, i.e., camshaft on the same centre as the crankshaft, or if the viewpoint is taken from the side of the leading cylinder (V layout). the pairs of con-rods will be on top of each other."

When photographing a car, the goal was to have an overall shot from a position that would give a good angle, usually from fairly high up, so Tony would always have a compact ladder with him when shooting. Tony's photographic setup included two Nikon bodies, one for black and white film, the other for color as backup, plus an assortment of prime lenses. Juggling cameras, flashes and equipment while shooting inside the front of a formula monocoque, and trying not to snag the pedals and bulkheads, could be emotionally draining at times, especially when this was preventing the mechanics from working.

When photographing reference Tony's philosophy was to always "keep out of the way, don't make too many or unreasonable requests, and wait as long as it takes to get the shot." Tony recounts the time when Peter Parrot of Penske racing once chided him about the space he was taking up, and a little disappointed, Tony said: "Peter, I wear out the heels of my shoes walking backwards! To which he pointed out that he was joking!" As Tony says of himself: "Once I've got a camera in my hand there's no stopping me!." As anyone who has done this type of illustration can attest to, no matter how many photos you take, you will invariably miss something, adding hours of work in creating the missing piece of information from nothing.

After a session in the darkroom, Tony would have between 30 and 90 5x7 prints, plus a single 30" overall print which would give him the outline and any salient details. If there was no opportunity to achieve the overall shot there would be a day or two of sketching and worrying! The large "overall" print would be taped to a 20x30 board, with drafting film taped over it to begin the drawing.

Typically, vanishing points are located far off of the working surface, and to locate these distant points Tony would use black cotton strand and a drawing pin, stating that "my ex-wife's house has lots of pin-holes in the living room skirting boards.

In the early days, Tony would do the entire drawing on board, inking or painting over the original pencil-work, so all of the working drawing was lost. When working on watercolor board, this had the effect of abrading the surface and sometimes leaving a less-than-perfect painting surface, so Tony changed from board to film. Tony would use a 0.3mm mechanical pencil, then, as each area was finished he would ink over the final lines with an 0.2 mm Rapidograph.

When the working drawing was finished, Tony would tape it to a sheet of 20x30 Collier and Southey (Frisk) CS2 watercolor board, slipping a sheet of transfer paper between the two, then pressing through all necessary lines with a stylus. The transfer process would take about a day to complete. If the illustration was to be a mostly airbrush, Tony would use CS2HP, or Hot Pressed board, as this was smoother, with a "less furry" finish, and took masking and cutting better. The transfer would leave a mass of light grey lines to paint to, so Tony would start with something fairly straightforward to get his "eye in," and to convince himself that he "could indeed paint!" Tony would typically start by painting the furthest away, or lowest down areas, working from background to foreground.

Astonishingly, many of Tony's illustrations are not airbrush, but are in fact watercolor that is painted with a sable brush! Tony would use Winsor Newton Designers' Gouache, applying washes with a large brush, and using a medium brush for large areas of color, and size 1 or 0 brushes for everything else. Always in search of the perfect brush, Tony would buy a pack of six brushes, discarding two, trimming three with a scalpel and magnifying glass, leaving one that would be acceptable - "It was always a sad day when a perfect brush would lose too many bristles and have to be binned." Towards the end he would use composite brushes for detail work, that were part sable, part nylon, as these were stiffer, and more like "a mapping pen."

Paint was applied in different ways according to the area/subject or required effect. A large area of bodywork, a tyre sidewall or tread needed one or more washes of clean water to allow paint to be applied over the whole area without dry edges forming, and to enable darker or lighter tones to be blended in. Small features such as tubes did not need a wash but the paint would be slightly wetter. Highlights, reflected lower color and dark lines would be applied, then quickly, and lightly blended. Edges were kept sharp simply by using the brush, taking care not to paint over an area that was still wet, or by using a ruling pen loaded with paint. Occasionally, Tony would use an airbrush for highlights or reflections on windshields and side windows.

As for mistakes, Tony says "Don't make them," as they can vary between difficult and impossible to rectify. Although there are products such as anti-bleed paint which stops strongly-staining pigments from showing through a lighter alteration or correction, Tony says that "it is far better to concentrate, cover any areas painted or waiting to be painted with plain paper masks and be VERY careful when yawning, sneezing or moving a coffee cup." If alterations were required, fresh paper would be tacked over the main illustration, and the edges blended.

The typical amount of time required for Tony to do a cutaway from start-to-finish was four to five weeks, the working-drawing consuming roughly half of that time. This could extend to six or seven weeks for more complex subjects, or when lack of information meant more time-consuming effort on the working drawing. In some cases more than one trip would be needed to collect the necessary information.

Tony says that what excites him most about competition cars and engines is the urgency, and super-human effort required long before the car even reaches the track, and "I always had the people involved in mind while drawing and painting the car."

Miscellaneous

On deadlines and turnaround times Tony says: "The quickest I ever managed to complete a cutaway was three weeks for the John Player Lotus T97, the working drawing done on the board and painted over, a task and a half, it just shows what a tight dead-line and a degree of panic can do." Adding: "My best work has been done in the most difficult circumstances." Specifically: "The last 180 hours on the Ilmor Mercedes 500I engine cutaway were done in 10 days, the last 30 hours in one stretch, while the longest single stretch on one illustration was 73 hours non-stop, but I was rather ill subsequently."

On the subject of adding a drop-shadow under his subject, Tony states that: "I have only once used it twice, and I don't think it suites my style, somehow. I suppose if Jim Allington had used shadows I might have been influenced, but over the years I have come to my own conclusions, and the're not for me," and "There is no logical right or wrong, only personal preferences."

On the subject of construction drawings vs. color work, Tony says: "I started using colour because that's what the market demanded - also, I suppose, because I wanted to see if I could do it - but the construction work, especially with engines and gearboxes, was always the most interesting part for me, I just rather regret not using draughting film earlier, so many working drawings are now 'buried' under gouache, or in the case of the really early paintings, poster paint."

On the subject of airbrushing Tony had this to say: "I had very little experience of airbrushing before I was confronted with a commission for a full-color version of my ink-line cutaway of the Ilmor Chevrolet 265A (below), and after a few days of struggling I contacted my tutor from college days to ask if he knew of an airbrush illustrator who would give me a few hours paid tuition. His response was that no-one would tell me anything, they were all so protective of their hard-earned skills. It was down to me, it seemed, faced with a big, important commission, to learn on the job!"

In retrospect, Tony says, "I'm glad that is how it happened, as it meant I did not have, I think, the same style as anyone else, or have to un-learn a style later on. However, there was no way I would airbrush a car illustration, all that masking would drive me mad... give me a brush any time!"

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