Two years ago over the August Bank Holiday we were in Brighton and walking along the seafront.   We’d already been shopping on North Laine and had seen a few Mods and their incredible scooters, but they were just a taster for the spectacle on Madeira Drive.

The long weekend sees live music events, a market selling vintage clothes, memorabilia and art and the highlight has to be the ride-out where 100′s of scooters drive 5 miles from Madeira Drive along the coastal road to Smugglers Rest, Peacehaven.

I was taking photos as we walked along and just happened to turn and see a scooter at the traffic lights.  The rider turned and gave me the thumbs up as I took his photo.

When we got home and I went through the photos on my camera I knew then that one day it would be really cool to turn this into a painting.    So, a short while ago I did just that.

I toyed with the idea of replacing the ugly background of the photograph with a seascape, or arches, railings, a roundel etc., but kept coming back to my original plan of a posterized effect with black background.  I’m glad I went with the dark background because I think it makes all the colours and small details stand out.   At 24 x 18″ it was quite a large canvas to work on.

The fine details of the rider’s coat badges, fog lights and pipework were major challenges!

As I was nearing completion I thought it would be a nice idea to try and find the Mod to show him how his ‘thumbs up’ inspired me and I’m so glad I did.  I put a post on a few Facebook groups and eventually he got in touch.   He’s chuffed to bits that I painted him and loves what I’ve done and even wants to treat himself to the original for his birthday in December.