Ricky Carmichael, MotoGP Art

MOTORCYCLE PAINTINGS AND MOTORBIKE ART by Steve Whyman

I have been a professional artist for some 20+ years now, specialising in Motorcycle Art and especially in the field of MotoGP. My interest in bikes filtered into my love of painting and hey presto here we are.

ABOUT Steve Whyman

My interest in bikes started in the early sixties when my cousin and I were taken by my uncle to places like Mallory and Cadwell in the back of an old A30 van to watch the racing. When I was in my early teens, a friend and I used to cycle from Nottingham to Mallory Park in Leicester to watch the more important meetings like The Race of the Year. I remember my excitement when I saw the first of the Transatlantic Trophy races! Americans like Gary Nixon and Dave Aldana riding like I'd never seen before, with fullface helmets and coloured leathers! Wow! I suppose my hero then became Barry Sheene, one of the first to bring a touch of glamour and personality to the sport. All forms of motorsport interest me. Other than bikes, I still like to watch rallying, motorcross etc and I try to get to Santa Pod a few times a year to watch the drag racing (if you've never been, give yourself a treat).

During the late eighties, like most big companies, BT was privatised and the inevitable redundancies started to happen. So in 1996 I decided it was time to take my redundancy package and try the art thing full time. The plan was to draw dogs and pets, and as I had plenty of contacts in that area, getting the work would be no problem. However, as a bit of a change, I decided to draw a few motorbikes. Because my friends and relatives thought they were so good, I asked the manager at Clay Cross Powersports, which was about 15 miles up the road from me, if they'd like to put them up on display in their new bike showroom. A few weeks later, John Winthrope from Crossbow Calendars was there at an open day, he saw my work, asked if I'd like to work with him and that was it really. John became my publisher and retailer from 1997 right up until the spring of 2008

Since then the publishing has been undertaken by myself and Kap at KNK Gallery, Nottingham. The selling is now controlled by Jackie from the website. You will occasionally see the pictures being sold at various bike shows and race meetings and from other outlets and websites.