ART IN DETAIL

The Creation of
Bergkönig at Shelsley Walsh

I live locally to the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb track, so I wanted to produce a painting depicting the famous hill climb. I considered various scenarios and which car to include, as Shelsley Walsh has a rich history, however I kept returning to 1936 when Hans Stuck drove his Auto Union up Shelsley Walsh.

The Auto Union Type-C has long been one of my favourite historic cars, especially the hill climb variant with the double wheels on the rear axle.

Having made the decision of which car to include, the first task was gathering accurate reference material. As luck would have it, a short while after settling on the idea I learnt that Audi were bringing their Type-C back to Shelsley for the Classic Nostalgia event and that Hans-Joachim Stuck (son of Hans Stuck) would be driving the car up the hill again. This was clearly my opportunity to gather the necessary reference material for my painting and not to be missed.

I prefer to paint on larger canvases, when possible, to include intricate detailing to the particular car or aircraft that I’m painting. I therefore contacted the Midland Automobile Club (MAC) and arranged to view the Type-C prior to the planned event, to enable me to clearly photograph the car at the angle I wanted without the crowds.

I arrived Friday morning with the car already unloaded and proceeded to take numerous photographs, including lots of close-up shots of the suspension, brakes etc. which I would require in detail for my painting. The painting is 33” x 23”, allowing for lots of close detail.

I also reviewed various historic photos taken at Shelsley in 1936 to determine any variations with the car, such as omitting the rear-view mirrors and top filler cap which weren’t on the 1936 hill climb Type-C. The most difficult adjustment was changing the type of tyres.

Previous to this I had been given access to walk the hill, to take numerous photographs of the track. It was now just a matter of combining my reference photos of the car with those taken on the hill to create the composition. Some artistic adjustments were made to the track to reflect the track as it would have been in 1936, such as adding more trees, plus it was an overcast rainy day in 1936.

I wouldn’t have been able to produce this painting, especially to include such detail, without the very kind assistance of the MAC and I am extremely grateful to them. As a thank you, I presented a full-size canvas print of the painting to the MAC.

I hope to work on more Shelsley Walsh themed paintings in the future.

If you compete at Shelsley Walsh and would like to commission a painting of your own car, then please contact me.

Prints from 'Bergkönig at Shelsley Walsh' are available