50 http://www.popularmechanics.co.za _ AUGUST 2017
AUTO art
We love our cars so much, we
even hang them on our walls.
BY ANTHONY DOMANAS A KID, Steve Erwin drew. Cars, a lot of the time. Now,
he paints automotive artworks that are starting to feature on
more and more mancave walls – even on living room walls.
Art is clearly in the genes: Erwin’s brother, also an artist,
paints fish (not the actual fish, pictures of them). Sport angling
fish, your trout and all that.
“Between the two of us, we’ve pretty much got your mancave
artworks sorted,” says Erwin.
In his studio high up in Vredehoek in the shadow of Table
Mountain, Erwin, under the name of Stencilworx, combines
stencil, airbrush, watercolours, pens and pencils. “Most of my
paintings have been done in watercolour on cotton-blend paper,
but through some experimentation I have figured out how to
successfully pull off a similar look using acrylics on canvas,” he
says on his website. He prefers the look of watercolour on paper
for its “natural fluidity, creating abstractions in a multitude of
shades within the work”. For a bolder look, the choice falls on
acrylics on canvas.
When I visited, the latest addition to the Stencilworx oeuvre
was on the easel. Forget that its subject was neither supercar norAbove: The artist at work in his Cape Town studio. Close-up
shows detailing work being done with a brush. Left: During his
earlier architectural rendering freelancing period Erwin kept the
creative juices flowing, filling books “just playing”.