www.motorsport-art.co.uk.........Home Artist Contact
Here is a copy of an article about me which appeared in my local paper. I think it's fair to say it tells you all you need to know! I have typed out the complete text lower down this page to make it easy to read. As you can see a big part of my life is my uke playing which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone. Incidentally you may be interested to know that another fan of Formula 1 was also very enthusiastic about the ukulele and George Formby - the late, great George Harrison.
An interesting link for anyone wanting more information about George Formby is to be found here:
Pedals,paint and ukuleles...that just about sums up Andrew Little's weekend. For Andrew is a keen cyclist and at weekends can often be seen on the lanes of North Staffordshire and South Cheshire with fellow members of Cycle 2000, the club he formed five years ago. He is also a professional artist, specialising in steam engines and Formula 1 cars and drivers. and spends many a Saturday putting the finishing touches to one of his paintings.
The third part of Andrew's weekend is George Formby - and
that's where the ukulele comes in. Andrew became a fan of the
wartime comic, film star, and music hall singer after trying,
unsuccessfully, to master the guitar. He said: "Somehow I
just couldn't sing and play the guitar at the same time so I took
up the ukulele because I had always loved George Formby's films.
Through practice I managed to become quite proficient at playing. A few years ago a friend and I formed the North Staffordshire Ukulele Society and I ended up performing in front of a hall full of people, singing George Formby songs and all!" Such is Andy's love of the cheery chappie that he often goes to George Formby Society conventions, which are held in Blackpool.
But most weekends are reserved for Andrew's first love - cycling. Cycle 2000 was formed, he says , because a lot of people wanted to take up cycling as a hobby, without becoming too serious about it all. As a result, Andy and about 20 other enthusiasts meet on a Sunday to pedal round the countryside, usually stopping at local pubs for refreshment if it's a full days cycling.
Which brings us to Andrew's mega cycle ride - The Three Capitals Ride, which was devised by his Dad and entailed cycling 1177 miles - mainly on country lanes - from London to Cardiff to Edinburgh and back to London again in a fortnight. (And then again to meet a higher standard on a subsequent occasion 925 miles in 5 days but this time on main roads.) It is a real challenge and one Andrew is proud to say he has risen to.
All in all, weekends are usually busy for Andrew...who also spends time taking his dog for a walk and fixing his motorcycle. By cycle or by foot, Andrew is always on the go. Which is how he likes it.
To read a transcript of an article written by my father which appeared in Audax U.K's magazine "Arrivee" and which describes our experiences of completing the Three Capitals Triangle in 5 days please click here. Audax U.K is the Association of Long Distance Cyclists.
As you can see from the layout of this site there are essentially two ways in which I like to work.
Firstly there are highly detailed pieces of artwork, inevitably very time consuming, which appear as and when. I do not work from other people's photographs and so therefore the draughtmanship comes mostly from eye alone. A certain amount of trial and error is involved and so oil or acrylic paint on canvas or gouache on board is my preferred medium for these.
Occasionally given the right persuasion I get into very determined mood and go to town with a highly detailed watercolour where, it has to be remembered, there is virtually no ability to correct mistakes with this medium. So take a closer look at my painting of Michael Schumacher and realise that all the detail on his helmet is in an area no bigger than the size of a postage stamp.
Secondly in order to ensure there is a steady stream of new artwork appearing on the website I do a lot of work in pastels e.g David Coulthard at Stowe corner, Paul Tracy at Elkhart Lake. I am trying to provide an immediate artwork response to any exciting motorsport developments during the season. So a case in point would be the painting of Michael and Ralf Schumacher in the Spanish G.P. This artwork was on the website the day after the race took place. Another aspect to this is that there are so many things happening on so many motorsport fronts that a speedy form of artwork is the only way to give vent to my enthusiasm for all this but, of course, it does mean that every logo and nut and bolt might not appear.
As you can see from the variety of different styles and detail levels and mediums on my website there is a wealth of options. I do not however have any overwhelming preference. I am getting a lot of visitors to my site and I would be very interested to hear from YOU what you like the most. Obviously all this has to be driven by commercial considerations but first and foremost I merely want to spread a little happiness.So please drop me a line -