I made this drawing of what was left an old Ford Prefect, which had been abandoned on a disused railway line outside the village where I used to live many moons ago! I was a “wet behind the ears” first year student at Glasgow School of Art at the time and I made the drawing in response to the annual First Year Drawing competition which was run over the Christmas and new Year holiday period that year. The title that we were asked to illustrate was “Inside/Outside” – an intriguingly open ended subject title which gave lots of scope for choice. I went out for a walk one day, came upon this old hulk rotting away quietly and thought, “Wow! that would make a great drawing!” I remember it well because it was the middle of winter and it took me three very cold mornings to finish the drawing! I pulled the battered bonnet of the car and the seat springs out and re-arranged them to make it more obvious that the inside was actually outside!
It turned out to be worth turning my fingers to ice each day, because along with several other first year students, my drawing was nominated as a winner – the prize was a three-day trip to go round the London Galleries with one of the 1st year tutors! And a memorable experience it was too because we visited the Constable exhibition which was held at the Tate Gallery in early 1976. I was bowled over by the sheer scale and number of Constable’s work and longed to be able to paint with the same skill and panache. (If only it had worked out like that!)
Prints of this work are available via