"Ready" Original painting 24" x 36" brush-worked oil paints on canvas.
Easy Rider was the very first portrait I did of a man and his bike, but Ready was the very first painting I did as an artist specializing in motorcycle art. When I painted the chrome and it actually looked like chrome - and I knew I hadn't sweated over it - I felt I had found my niche.
Bill consented to pose for Ready on the condition I go for a ride. So, for the first time in eons, I found myself on the back of a bike, Bill did not race, or take corners like a maniac, but neither did he go slow. He stopped about every twenty minutes to stretch out the legs. I was grateful for all of it. And when we stopped by a country roadside for the photo shoot, I thought the essence of the ride was reflected in chrome and leather.
I painted the leather paints with very wet paint, full of medium, to saturate the canvas pores. And for the leather to really look like leather, the color of raw sienna must be there even if the leather is black. This warm earthy color reminds us of leather's living origins.
Manon Elder