My first car was a blue 1973 VW Beetle, which I purchased when I graduated high school in the early 90’s. I’ve had an affinity for VW’s ever since and was inspired to paint a classic Volkswagen. I collected a handful of source photos from archive.org — but I knew it had to be this one as soon as I saw it. Most of my work is based on my own photos, but this photograph by Ralph Ackerman* had exactly the vintage feel I was imagining.

I’d had the idea to utilize a brown and orange color scheme before I’d conceived of this piece, but the ideas fit perfectly together. The colors hearken back to prominent designs, color schemes, and decorations from the 70s, and compliment the blue car & sky perfectly. As the colors are applied to the sky and surroundings, it creates many possible interpretations in a landscape that could denote warmth, could be Autumn, could be sunset, or could just be days gone by.

*Image rights acquired