British Artist Uses RC Cars to Create Porsche Artwork

At this stage in the game I thought I had seen it all when it comes to Porsche related artwork. Let’s see, I’ve written about Porsches covered in chocolate, Porsche made entirely out of wood, Porsches covered in tweed and gold, Porsches made out of Legos, Porsche dioramas that will stop you in your tracks, Porsche paintings of incredible quality, pieces of Porsches displayed as sculpture, even a Porsche being crushed. All this in the name of “art”.

[Picture Source: The Sun via google images]

This is different. This is just plain cool.

“Don’t take it down to your studio, and don’t get paint on it.” That’s what Ian Cook was told one Christmas morning after unwrapping a gift of a radio controlled car. Fortunately for us, Ian didn’t listen. Four years since this Christmas “lightbulb moment” Cook, a trained artist, is still going strong creating artwork the size of three story buidings, using both real cars and RC cars as brushes and traveling the globe to showcase his talents.

Porsche 917 by pop bang artish ian cook

After seeing some of Ian’s work ourselves, we caught up with him to ask a few questions regarding his RC collection, methods and Porsche related artwork.

PP: Hey, Ian. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. We’re pretty big RC fans ourselves. Exactly how many RC cars do you have in your collection?

IC: I have many RC cars in my collection of paintbrushes, I’ve lost count of exactly how many I have. I buy them as I go along, and can be out and buy new brushes when I visit toy shops! Christmas and January is the best time to buy, as so many of the shops stock a range of RC cars over the festive season.

I’m very fussy about which cars I buy, if I am doing a project for a manufacturer I will buy specific branded cars for that event. This has included Jaguar, Land Rover, Ford and Ferrari.

I would probably say I have purchased well-over 300 RC since I first started painting with RC cars.

Ian cook pop bang porsche

PP: How do you choose cars to paint with?

IC: Cars are chosen for a number of reasons, generally on their size and what brand they are. However it is like an artist choosing a brush to paint with. [Certain] cars have different wheelbases, power, turning circles, wheels width, height, speed and traction. Over the last three years I have been able to find out which cars react in the best way to the paint.

All these ‘brushes’ are different, and for a show I will generally take between 25 – 40 cars with me to create and paint with.

PP: Do you have any Porsche images you could share with us? What about the RC cars themselves? Any Porsche versions?

IC: Over the past 3 years I have created a number of Porsche artworks, this has included a number of classic and iconic Porsche’s. The 917 Gulf Le Mans and the Martini 911 RSR (see above) have been created. I would like to create more Porsche’s, particularly modern/contemporary ones like the 911 GT3 RS in Green – it would be a great looking artwork!

In terms of paintbrushes, I have a couple of Porsche’s 911 RS’s that I have used previously, they are quite powerful, but great cars to move the paint quickly over the canvas – I have two that have now retired from paint duties.

A Short Video Showing how Ian Creates His Artwork

While I would love to see a video that’s Porsche related, the time lapse below gives you a brief but fun glimpse into the process Ian uses for creating his art.

If you would like to see more of his work or commission him for your very own painting, check out Ian’s web-site at Popbang Colour.