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news
Cogs Martin TurnerTravels in cycling hyperreality – Artist draws gorgeous rear cassette piece – in pencil
We are big fans of any cycling-related art here on road.cc – other than sculptures made from bike chains that depict a dog doing what a dog does and needs bagging up afterwards, of course – and here is one of the most stunning examples we’ve seen in recent years, a hyperreal pencil drawing of a rear cassette, called Cogs.
It’s the work of Bristol-based artist and illustrator Martin Turner, who took 150 hours to complete it, and exhibited the piece at the Fresh Art Fair in Cheltenham this week.
An award-winning professional photographer, Turner has more recently turned back to his pencils to pursue his first love, illustration – and the results, we hope you agree, are stunning.
But that career spent behind the lens is also evident in his artwork through his use of depth of field, something captured easily on camera if you set the lens wide open, but way more difficult to convey using traditional media such as pencil on paper,
The work is available as a limited edition giclée art print of 100 at £125 apiece, with each print hand signed and numbered and printed on thick luxury 310gsm fine art paper surfaced on a black mount, to fit a 50 x 50cm frame.
On his website, Turner says that “using the traditional medium of pencil,” he “embodies the simplicity of fine art. His hyper realistic pencil drawings are decisive, obsessed with light and texture, and imbued with a confidence that comes from the technical mastery of his medium.
“Working primarily on super smooth Bristol Board, Turner uses both traditional and mechanical pencils as well as graphite powder and blending stumps to create his unique style.
“Anyone who has seen his work up close will appreciate the incredible level of detail. Turner can often be seen using sandpaper to taper the end/lead of a pencil to ensure the finest of points.
“The astonishing fact that Turner only picked up his pencils in 2016 simply adds to the story,” his biography adds.
Given the hours of work that went into the piece, we’re also quite taken by this picture of it as a work in progress.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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26 comments
"Turner can often be seen using sandpaper to taper the end/lead of a pencil to ensure the finest of points." So? That's just what you do if you are drawing seriously. You can purchase pencil sharpening pads specifically for this. I'm certain that these drawings are not 'from life'. the process would involve working from initial photograph/s.
Talented but pointless (no pun intended). With art like this you could have just taken a photo. It's like asking all pro riders to ride on the same type of bike Merckx used to make racing authentic (looking at you UCI + athletes hour record).
And instead of listening to Joshua Bell play the violin I'm sure AI could now produce an indistinguishable simulacrum of his playing, or closer to home with cycling instead of watching the pros race I could watch a hyperrealistic computer simulation; even in these days where machines and computers can do virtually everything humans can, usually better than them, there is still a fascination, and a value, in human craftsmanship and endeavour that separates human achievements from those created or assisted by technology, don't you think?
That's debatable.
That's the trouble with this disposable/ throwaway society. Yes, any dimwit could take a reasonable photo with the cheapest smart phone but that's not the point. It takes real skill and imagination to produce a picture as good as this. I for one look forward to seeing more of his work. Like I said, I'd love to be able to produce work as good as this, and not via the pressing of a shutter button on a digital camera.
A friend of mine does amazing drawings, in this style. He does it partly because he finds it very relaxing and satisfying, and has enjoyed learning a new artistic skill.
Personally, I gain huge pleasure in looking at a picture like this, and admiring the artist's skill and attention to detail.
And what would be the problem if all riders were to use 1970s bikes?
I certainly think it would be a good thing if "super shoes" were banned in running races.
I wish I was that talented.
Me too - at anything, really.
TBH, it looks rather odd to me. The chain link most visible, which is almost vertical, seems slightly rotated in a clockwise direction outwards with respect to the rest. You can see teeth in the chain, but the tooth that would seem part of the same cog, immediately below the link is not between the sideplates, but outside and not in line with any other tooth in a cog to the side of the chain. There is no tooth visible between those sideplates, and there should be. The next cog out, which you see clearly, as you go upwards just seems to disappear. Astonishing control of pencil and technique and enormous amount of work but, er, why. What is the artistic point?
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
It's rather a beautiful thing, that is sufficient to give it a point.
I certainly agree with your final sentence: it is, in it's own way, as beautiful as a sunset, or mountain scene, bucolic pastoral etc...And the apparent discrepancy from an exact copy makes it intriguing, more valid. But it still doesn't seem high art. Though that is probably my problem.
Art for art's sake: money for God's sake to answer your Keats. And nothing wrong with that.
Not qualified to say, but possibly ask Chuck Close? (Edit - looks like it's too late now. Others are available).
It's also possible to put in a ton of labour and come up with something visually unlike the original of course. Not just in the sense of what I did in art classes at school, but e.g. Frank Auerbach.
10 speed, QR for disk (!), mech shifting - he needs to look at some more recent bikes.
no one tell him about cameras
I think he knows.
I also think he knows..
And don't mention AI.
Not Campag == not art
You'll be pleased to know his catalogue features the legendary Campag corkscrew!
https://www.martinturnerartist.com/screwed
This article has been up for just under an hour now and I''m surprised nobody has questioned whether it would have been better with rim brakes 🍿🪖
Is that 9spd?
10, actually.
You sure? It looks very much like 9 to me, assuming the chain is on the smallest sprocket.
I make it 10; because of the angle the 2nd-smallest cog is almost completely hidden by the chain but you can see it at the bottom of the block.
Inferior QR
needs thru-axle