The Client & Project:
My client for this project was Jason with his vintage red Porsche 356. As one of the guys on the team at Werks 11, a specialty Porsche restoration and repair shop in Temple, Texas, Jason had plenty of ideas for how to personalize and spruce up his own Porsche with a custom painted race livery.
To his team at Werks 11, Jason is known as “The Vulture”. He explained to me that the origin for this nickname derived from his love for scavenging on to reusable or repairable car parts, and saving them for potential projects. With this in mind, he came up with the fictional race team name that inspired the overall design for the custom livery we created on his Porsche.
The Process:
Since the red paint on his 356 was already in what I like to call “drivable condition” (meaning there was some small dings, scratches, and fading on the existing red paint) we decided to lightly patina the new paintwork to emulate an old race car that had gone around the track a few times.
Jason had already taped off and painted out the ivory headlight scallops which created a nice base for me to work from. After he dropped the Porsche off at my shop, I painted a small gold pinstripe around the scallop shapes which set the color palette for the rest of the design.
I sketched out the number 26, as well as the lettering and vulture illustration, from photos that Jason had given me for inspiration. These sketches were then turned into clean line patterns on tracing paper and transferred to the car using chalk transfer paper. After Jason’s approval, I got to work painting!
Everything was created with Alpha 6 Corp automotive enamel paint and an array of brushes from my Mack Tidwell illustration sets and Mack Truck Liners, to my French Masters Lettering brushes (some of these links will take you to my awesome affiliate partners over at Alpha 6 Corporation). I let the original red paint inform where I would age the numbers and letters. Using a little bit of paint thinner and an old brush, I scuffed my paint work where any original scratch marks were to make the new patina artwork look original and real.
The Final + Artist Notes:
My favorite part about the final design is the way the Porsche looks from behind. With inspiration from the Hudson Hornet paint scheme, Jason and I had decided to make the letters in “Vulture Racing” go from a small to large size. This tested my artistic ability in design and layout because “Vulture Racing” had to be drawn by hand two different times, in two different sized layouts. I think the final lettering shapes mimic the shape of the headlight scallops and ultimately highlight the body lines on the back rear quarter panels of the car.
Working with Jason was an absolute joy. His ideas, especially for the angry bird illustration, were so much fun to work with and I appreciate the trust he put into my talents to get this painted for him and his family.
The overall design pulled together a custom look for this Porsche 356 that was not only period correct but also personalized and playful.
This has been a fantastic experience from start to finish! I had a rough idea for the car in mind, but I had a hard time putting it into words (and I certainly couldn’t draw it). Kate took my rough idea and made the final product better than I had imagined. She checked in with me through every step to make sure the project was coming together the way I hoped, and I relied heavily on her talent for design to bring it all together. I couldn’t be happier with the car!– Jason
Subscribe to the Asphalt Canvas YouTube for art lessons & video tutorials I’ve posted about this custom paint job.
If you enjoyed this post, Check my collaboration with Brumos American Racing or the custom paint job I created for our ’64 Dodge Polara.
Shout out to my husband, Morgan’s invention of the Dillo Dazzle Detailer. This quick detailer not only smells amazing, but it was gentle enough to use on the fresh paint work and tough on those pesky water stains deep in the original red paint. I cant believe how much this little Porsche shinned up after a few minutes using this miracle product. Support small business, & grab a bottle here!
Leave a Reply