ABOUT


James Stevens
Welcome
I'm James, hopefully you've had a look around at some of my work and are wondering a bit about the artist behind it.
To this date, my work has been exhibited in Motorsport Magazine, the London Visual Art Open 2022 and galleries across the South of England. I'm also excited to be exhibiting at Goodwood and Silverstone later this year.
Growing up I used to have a treasure trove of pens and scrap office paper (often with my parent's work documents on the back) with which I would use to doodle. I always preferred spending my time drawing over other activities. I became encapsulated by vehicles and films I'd seen. I have tons of old scrapbooks from five onwards, filled with nothing but cars, planes and boats.
So It's not very surprising that my work developed into the subject it has today. Formula 1 is something I'm incredibly passionate about. Capturing the fast-paced Formula 1 vehicle and their drivers with all the excitement and history behind them really never gets old.
But my love of Formula 1 came a little later than you might think, it wasn't until my late teens I saw my first race on the television. I was never brought up watching much sport, or at least I didn't find it interesting, but with Formula 1 it always felt like more than a sport to me, and it certainly became that.
My first painting of a Formula 1 car was actually Lewis Hamilton in 2021 at the Mexican GP, titled "Pit Stop", It was a very complex scene, in the visors of the pit crew helmets I painted tiny reflections of the grandstand, I absolutely live for the small details that make up a painting like this. It was this painting that sparked the work I create today.
Surprisingly this wasn't my intended route. I've always had a passion to create, but I fell into it after I left school. At the time I was studying to become an airline pilot, unfortunately for me, I had some issues with the medical exam because of a prior balance issue, on top of this, my working team at my job were all made redundant at the time.
With all these changes to what I thought would be a career, I picked up the pencil for the first time since Sixth Form. At first, it was a hobby, doing drawings for local family and friends, getting the odd sale here and there, but It wasn't long before I realised that I could do something had always been passionate about as a career.

ABOUT MY WORK
My work captures intricate and complex Motorsport subjects in an environment of pure colour, this is to create an image that lives not just in the painting, but amongst the room it occupies, giving a focused personality to each individual piece.
The subjects within my work often follow themes that have become a large part of my life, such as my innate fascination with motorsport, film and aviation. These subjects are given placement and movement in my work through a path, evoking a face-paced journey through my painting.
