Scott Jacobs, the forefather of contemporary Harley-Davidson artists has produced a work that is worthy of the moniker “Official 100th Anniversary Artwork.” Scott is honored to have had the opportunity to work closely with Willie G. Davidson on this project. Scott states: “I think Willie G. and I each had the same vision of what the painting would be; the difficulty was in selecting the bikes that best describe the last 100 years.” After picking the bikes, Scott and his photographer, Jeff Hackett, began the process of documenting the bikes on film. “Being a photo-realist artist, my goal here was to arrange seven bikes in such a manner that you could see the tanks and as much engine as possible.” The task proved more difficult than originally thought. Each bike has to be perfectly spaced apart and then Jeff Hackett climbed a ladder eight feet high to shoot the bikes. After sixty or so shots Scott finally had what he needed to render the painting.
Working on a project as important as the 100th Anniversary was an awe-inspiring moment in Mr. Jacob’s career. Scott added: “In all my years as an artist (since high school) I have never been involved in a project like this; by that I mean something so important that would be viewed by so many people. It?s hard to describe how challenging this painting was. Shortly after the work was completed I felt totally spent, physically and mentally.”
In documenting the painting, Scott shot progress photos for each significant step. This was accomplished at intervals during the 421 hours it took to finish the painting. Two days were spent just on the initial drawing. As an added realistic quality, Scott used 23k gold leafing on two of the tank logos. Scott said: “The reward will come when I personally see the expressions on the faces at the dealer show in Orlando and hopefully my sense will be that I have arrived. Good luck in the next 100 years, Harley-Davidson, and I’m glad to be part of the family.”
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