The unique art of Alan Dent

Alan is a South African artist based in Johannesburg who has taken an art form he discovered in the United States and developed and refined his techniques to produce highly captivating works that provide two very exciting features; that, besides the normal visual experience of the artwork he has introduced touch into the enjoyment of the works and that incredibly fine details, whatever the subject, are carved and modelled into each work.

Producing this carved leather work of the Ayrton Senna’s championship winning Honda McLaren was indeed an interesting project for myself as the McLaren was my first Formula One work as an artist.

The work proved to be an intricate process requiring all my experience developed over many years and close attention to detail was necessary to make the piece a collectable work of art.

The artwork begins with using imported high-quality cowhide leather from Argentina as the substrate rather than normal artist grade canvas.

With the leather in a damp state the outline of the subject it is beaten down using specially designed tools so that a raised, 3D and more lifelike effect of the subject is created.

The details of the subject are then modelled into the leather using a variety of instruments and finally, then finer details are added to complete this stage of the project.

Once the leather is completely dry again the piece is coloured with artist acrylic paints and sealed with a matt transparent varnish for a lifetime of enjoyment.

Besides the visual aspect, by adding the extra human sense, i.e., that of touch, the viewers' enjoyment of the piece is considerably enhanced. As far as we are aware the art form is the only one of its kind in South Africa and in fact, there are very few practitioners in the world producing their artistic endeavours on leather.

Over the past three years, and once again beginning with the request of a client, Alan has produced commissions of automobiles such as Porsches, Ferraris and BMWs.

Also racing cars such as Ayrton Senna’s McLaren, the Zakspeed Escort which participated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Paolo Cavalieri’s legendary BMW 745i that Tony Viana raced with such success.

Clients particularly enjoy the fact that they are able to touch and feel the very fine details such as the tyres, the air scoops and even individual spokes in the wheels.

Last year Alan was requested to provide the art for the 2018 Concours South Africa motoring event including a work of the Overall Class Winner’s car from 2017 - a Ferrari F 4 0.

The 2017 work was presented by F1 design legend Rory Byrne and subsequently signed by Rory on the request of the winner.

Coy’s Auctioneers of Kensington, UK conducted an auction at Concours 2018 of a number of Wayne Plitt’s historical cars and Alan’s pictorial of Steve McQueen’s Porsche 917- from the movie Le Mans- was auctioned for charity to begin the proceedings.

The production of a Ford GT work for WesBank, the country’s leading vehicle financing bank as a gift to a leading distributor was another significant commission. The banks logo was tooled into the leather.

Another project featured an Auto Union 1938 Type D that was commissioned by the Audi Centre in Port Elizabeth for a charity fundraising event featuring many of the country’s famous motor racing legends.

One particularly interesting project was the production of five Ferrari’s and a portrait of Enzo Ferrari by a prominent brain surgeon for his week-end getaway home.

Finally, Alan’s car works were recently featured on South Africa’s leading motoring TV show Ignition and in the Driven motoring magazine.

Accompanying each art piece are documents detailing:

Commissions catering for the special requirements of a client can be arranged with Alan. For additional information and images please visit the website here>>>