Driven By Dreams by Mark Davies NEW The Acorn Gallery

To be given free reign was a cracking start, the fact that I could utilise all the years of retouching for the automotive industry was a huge pull and for those of you who have followed my work over the past ten years will know that I will get a car of some sort into a scene if I can! 

However, the important thing was that instead of adopting a clinical approach with the retouching where you work to a formula to achieve consistency and a ‘real’ quality, I always worked in line with adding a sense of magic and emotion in the detailing so that the result wasn’t reminiscent of a beautiful, staged shot within a piece of marketing collateral. 

It was equally important that the piece of art was ‘on brand’ from my perspective too, it had to be authentic (as f*ck!) and sit perfectly amongst other works of a similar subject matter. So naturally, the link had to be movies and Hollywood! So many movies are adored largely because of the iconic vehicle that stars alongside the lead characters, my portfolio is littered with them!

My most popular piece to date is ‘Petrolheads’ that brought an immense collection of movie cars out into the desert to watch a movie on the big screen under the setting sun. It was a format that just worked so well and really captured the imagination and pulled on the heart strings of my collectors. It’s interesting how a particular image does that, over another that I maybe look at as having stronger characteristics, you just can’t predict it and I love that!

So, when I set about planning the Porsche piece, it quickly evolved into a concept that was built around movies with the intention of creating something bold and beautiful, striking yet something that had real class and that would resonate with the client’s audience. I was inspired rather than intimidated; I love a challenge and as always would go full throttle!

This is where it is important not to go into a project like a bull in a china shop, the initial idea was great, but I am so pleased that I then stopped and looked a little deeper to build on that concept and allow it to evolve into something that was so much stronger and would appeal to a wider audience. The plan was to create a scene inspired by the ‘Bad Boys’ movies as the latest instalment was coming out just prior to this project and it featured the stunning Porsche 964 Turbo – it’s funny, the title that popped into my head was ‘You damn right it’s limited!’ I will keep that for another!

Yet, it was when I started researching into the affiliation that Porsche had with Hollywood that I quickly realised just how many other movies featured the brand. This is where the link to my ‘Petrolheads’ piece came into play; it would allow me to lay out these stunning machines against a beautiful backdrop that would be a cracking case of strength in numbers and that would feature the blatant alongside other lesser-known details that would make you think. 

And here it is! A truly immense line up of incredible cars that featured in these movies: ‘Against all Odds’ ‘Arthur’, ‘Bad Boys’, ‘Death Race’, ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’, ‘Good Guys Wear Black’, ‘Le Mans, ‘Maverick’, ‘Scarface’ and ‘Top Gun’! Oh, and there are a few things in the sky too! The backdrop has turned out so well, a blend of Hollywood and Miami with a wonderfully subtle detail for the Porsche brand icon up on the hills above Los Angeles. 

All the above have turned out so well but it is the result of the central crest that is being uncovered from the shifting sands. I love to challenge myself technically and this was so worth it, the piece would have worked beautifully, yet with this detail it adds so much, and I feel epitomises a quality of what Porsche represents – going the extra mile in pursuit of absolute perfection whilst radiating class. The distinction is in the detail. 

Writing this post event, I sit here with an enormous sense of pride for what has been achieved not only with the image that you see now but how the entire project ran and to have been able to play my part and contribute towards such an innovative and prestigious event. The reaction has been amazing and is hopefully just the first stage of a wonderful journey!