October 2001
Scott Jacobs
scottjacobsstudio@yahoo.comScott Jacobs began painting people, but at the suggestion of a friend, Scott merged his love of motorcycles with his artistic talent. Scott went on to become the first ever officially licensed Harley-Davidson artist. Scott's work as been featured in VQ Magazine, American Iron, Art Business News, Easy Rider Magazine, U.S. Art and Art World News.
Admirers are often surprised to discover that the image before them is not a photograph, but a Scott Jacobs painting. Depending on the dimension and complexity of the subject matter, each original work requires approximately three-hundred hours to complete. Scott's subjects are photographed extensively from several angles for reference and purposes of depths. He paints with a brush approximately the size of a pencil point after drawing the subject free hand. Scott states, " There are no short-cuts when my goal is too achieve exacting detail and a photo-realistic quality to my work."
The most intriguing and difficult aspects of Jacobs' work is the rendering of the chrome adorning the bike. "Chrome," Scott says, "was by far the biggest challenge when I began painting motorcycles. People often ask how I make the chrome look so real. The answer is that the chrome, as well as any shiny hard parts on a bike are an illusion. By that I mean they are simply reflecting the environment." Jacobs continues. "The key to my painting is in tricking the eye into thinking it's looking at a photograph. Silver paint does not exist; look closely and you will see every color depicting the surrounding area. I've had my collectors say that they never tire of my paintings because they're always finding something new in the piece. I just smile."
