CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF SPEED

James Maxwell . June 19, 2022 . All Feature Vehicles

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The Work of Hot Rod Artist Tom Fritz

It all started when his mom brought home a paint-by-number kit. Young Tom Fritz was instantly hooked on painting and the wonderful smells of the oil-based paints. Prior to that he was pretty handy with crayons, pencils and ink markers of all types. “Since as early as I can remember, I drew on everything, everywhere,” Fritz recalls. “It was so fascinating to me. It was like TV, except I was in control. And people would respond. I drew on the underside of chairs and tables, on my PF Flyers shoes, on two-by-fours in the garage, on my drawing blotter, on the wall in the closet, on the inside lids of game boxes and in newspapers. Once I discovered this cool thing I could do, I couldn’t put it down.”

Fritz has a real talent for making anything sitting on or moving on a dry lake bed exciting. This “Hammerin’ It Out” print is special to the artist because it was done in the early-’90s and was the very first piece of art he made into lithographs.

Running on the lakes at night was a risky thing in the early days because there was absolutely no organization and no set lines. Tom named this painting “A Word to the Wise” because it is set moments before the driver fires up the engine of the ’32 and takes off into the night at full throttle.

256B is running at top speed and a roost of dirt shoots off of the tires.

The love affair with cars started at an early age as well for the kid who grew up in the San Fernando Valley (Southern California). “There was so much I found intriguing about cars: They were big; they were the embodiment of raw adventure,” says Fritz. “You climbed up into them and always wound up going to all sorts of strange, new places with your folks. You were encapsulated in an environment like no other in your sphere. It had its own unique motions, design elements, textures and sounds. You always ate ‘fun’ food in a car. The windshield wipers were hypnotizing. The glove box was a treasure chest full of the interesting and unusual. There was always coin to mine under the floor mats. You, and you alone, were master of the dome light. The cigarette lighter was like the obelisk in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’—it held magical power—it could be stone cold one moment, and the next moment it could make the end of pop’s cigarette burn. And how did pop know when that knob was ready to make fire? I used to stand right next to the garage door when the old Chevy was backing out just so I could sniff the exhaust fumes. I’d hang out the window at the gas pump just to smell the ethyl.”

A great deal of time and energy takes place here, sketching out ideas and brainstorming. The walls are filled with photos, drawings and notes.

There is a lot of preliminary work prior to the paint hitting the canvas. Pictured is Frtiz’s sketchbook (one of many) featuring artwork of a classic dry lake bed-type ’32 hot rod in its early stages.

Going from being a kid with a paint-by-numbers kit to a world-renowned automotive artist took some time and an education. Fritz earned his Bachelor’s degree in Illustration from California State University, Northridge and worked as a commercial artist in the defense industry for more than 25 years before risking it all to become a full-time automotive artist.

One day when he was a young man, he was working on the brakes of an old GMC pickup truck (which he still owns to this day) in his driveway. An older gentleman from the neighborhood happened to pass by and the two started talking. After shooting the breeze in typical car-guy fashion, Fritz asked the man, who’s name was Otis Smith, about hot rodding’s early days. Fritz asked about dry lake bed racing from the early, pre-World War II days.

You were encapsulated in an environment like no other in your sphere. It had its own unique motions, design elements, textures and sounds.

Fritz never grows tired of sitting in front of his easel, making vintage roadsters on the dry lake bed. His style, in this case, is used to draw attention to speed and motion, all the while paying close attention to the contrast between the hard-edged details of the projectile and the soft, organic elements of the lake bed.

For this one, Fritz shot his reference photos at noon and positioned the male model in the car, ducked down as would have been standard practice to deal with the rush of wind at speed. Using his fantastic ability of adding his own thoughts on lighting and the effects it produces in an image, he transformed the static ’32 roadster into some seriously colorful eye candy.

Snapshots presented to Fritz by a neighbor who’d spent his youth racing on the dry lake beds of Southern California form the basis for the various dry lake bed paintings that Fritz has created throughout the years. Fritz received the photographs when he was just starting his career as an automotive artist.

Smith shared that in his earlier years he raced on the dry lake beds of California in a ’29 Ford roadster. When Fritz perked up with interest, Smith, who had been a member of the Gophers Car Club back in the day, told him lots of stories and returned later with a shoebox full of original black-and-white photos that he generously gave to his super-interested young neighbor. This treasure box helped Fritz get the sparks flying for his own interest in dry lake bed activities, not to race a car himself, but to create artwork. With the fabulously rare vintage photographs he now possessed, he could create accurately detailed artwork.

When asked about what his greatest lesson was during his formal art education at university, his reply was simple and straightforward, “You needn’t reinvent the wheel. In school, you broaden your understanding and allow yourself to perceive things you haven’t yet thought of or already combined in your own mind, then lock-in and focus and translate your vision outward.

Fritz created this setting featuring a typical pair of race cars that used the old P-38 aluminum drop tanks as bodies. The cars, known as belly tankers, were staged in the image, and Fritz chose his own colors and lighting conditions while he worked his magic on the canvas.

This early painting by Fritz was an important piece of art for him because it sold almost immediately at the Detroit hot rod show where it was exhibited. The quick sale helped convince Fritz that he was on to something big, and automotive art lovers would support his work. The car is the Scott’s Muffler roadster as viewed from the SCTA timing tower back in the day.

The quality of light that Fritz applied to this tight shot of the front of a ’30 Ford is shown through the front wire wheel as the sunlight shines through the spokes. The engine is fully detailed in this rendition, and the guy standing is a friend who happily volunteered to pose.

“As far as preparing me for working as a professional artist, I’ll just say it was a springboard, a foot in the door. I left with a portfolio the size of Rhode Island that instantly labeled me as a student fresh out of school. Something else about school, it taught me about maintaining my sanity. It taught me perseverance. Looking back, I would say school caused me to develop an approach, the ability to address a problem and develop visual solutions.”

Today, Fritz still digs the smells of oil-based paint just like when he was a kid. It was a pleasure visiting with him in is studio, and everywhere you look there are cool photos, drawings and notes about cars, motorcycles and trains as well as landscape and background reference images of every description.

“I’m still waiting to grow up, still like to draw cars. I was doing this stuff when I was a kid on scraps of paper, and they would choke up my desk drawer…it just evolved into this. It’s who I am, still trying to make a three-dimensional reality out of a two-dimensional surface.”

This ’32 Ford roadster (Ray Brown owner) and Indian motorcycle combo came from a color slide that Tom was able to study; however, in coming up with the artwork, he added his own creative twist to the colors. In this particular case, the car is robin’s egg blue/green, and it’s a nice alternative to the more commonplace black color of the original.

The number 64D ’32 roadster is seen sitting and ready to go, covered in red oxide paint and powered by a single-carbureted flathead V-8.

There’s something about that first car barreling down the dry lake in the morning with nothing but clean, crystalline air ahead of it, yet in its wake a veil of alkaline dust and uprooted corruption that blurs the distinction between sky and horizon. That’s exactly the scene in “First Run.”

Fritz has a knack for taking a car and creating his own background; oftentimes, at a dry lake bed or on the salt, and then he sets the mood for the painting with his own ideas on light sources, quality of light, clouds, composition, perspective and to get the vehicle in its absolute best possible angle, point of view to showcase the lines of the body to the maximum level. He takes some artistic license; however, it’s all done with realistic shadows and to lifelike scale. While most of his work never really happened in real life, it all could have!

Education was a topic that kept coming up when talking with Fritz, and his advice to any young kid who really wants to take their car art to its maximum potential is to get educated, educated about art, learning all of the fundamentals, “Learn how to draw, learn about color theory, learn about how to paint, the chemistry that goes behind it,” said Fritz. “Study art history. Artists have spent centuries discovering how art ‘works.’ Learn about it, that way it gives you a basis for you to start. An art school can guide you.”

I’m still waiting to grow up, still like to draw cars. I was doing this stuff when I was a kid on scraps of paper, and they would choke up my desk drawer…

These are the things that spark Fritz’s imagination: salt crust on the tires, sunlight flashing on hoods as cars start like bombs detonating, the ear-cracking thunder of eight cylinders, greasy fingers and tinkering, an expression of noise, danger and speed. Oh, did we mention the sunlight?

Using a surplus 315-gallon belly tank from a Lockheed P-38, Alex Xydias’ SO-CAL Speed Shop team car ran 198.34 mph from its 296-ci Mercury flathead. Fritz always loved the car, so he had to paint it as seen in all of its glory.

A ’29 Ford Model A roadster sitting on the lake bed, the driver wearing a leather helmet and racing goggles; at this angle, the view is directly into the sunshine, which the artist so expertly depicts through brush strokes.

It’s said that his work takes a very uncontrived and unique approach to the wonderful relationship between man, machine and power, all done in beautiful colors and with the soft edges of impressionism. His canvas creations have caught the attention of some impressive clients, including the Ford Motor Company, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, General Motors, PPG, NHRA, Hot Rod Magazine, AAA, Motorsport Aftermarket Group (MAG), Custom Chrome, Inc., Red Bull, Bob Drake Reproductions and numerous other corporations, companies and museums, as well as private commission work. When visiting any U.S. Post Office you’re bound to see some more of Fritz’s work in the way of a series of iconic muscle cars he painted on special assignment from the USPS. Movie buffs are sure to recognize his style in the posters he’s done for the “Deuce of Spades” movie and for “On any Sunday—The Next Chapter.” He’s been honored for his work by being selected to do the art for the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, plus he’s won the top honors for automotive art at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance annual gathering, held in Carmel, California. He was chosen a record seven times! Fritz Art brushwork can be found in many private, corporate and public collections around the world, and the multi-award-winning artist has a website showcasing his work, Fritzart.com.