MGs on Canvas

There are many artists painting today in the more specialised art scene who could genuinely be called masters of their chosen sphere. What we are talking about here are artists who have elected to paint certain themes i.e. sporting, pets, transport etc, most artists that have taken this path would tend to remain with their chosen subject and rarely venture outside and unjustly in Martin’s view are criticised within the fine art world as illustrators, this word has been used derogatorily for some time and was even applied to no other than that doyen or motoring artists Frederick Gordon Crosby. Happily this is no longer the case and illustration has assumed its rightful and valued place in the art world.

Damask Red MGB

There is however artists who have combined their hobbies and interests with their love of painting and have successfully produced work that transcends old-fashioned definition. Martin Ulbricht comes within this category, a very successful artist who has been critically acclaimed for his large atmospheric landscapes and sunsets but who has always had a strong interest in things military, transport and mechanical and his paintings have an authenticity that reflects this.

Primrose MGB

Born in 1948 in south Wimbledon, Martin has from earliest memory always loved cars especially the more sporting variety, especially those wearing the MG badge. Like a lot of MGOC members I imagine this started off by going to watch the veteran car run to Brighton and quite frankly seeing our type of cars when they were new on the roads. Martin’s interest in becoming a professional artist however had to take a back-seat for practical and financial reasons and a career in the army beckoned specifically with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers were he was attached to the army air corps in an engineering support role. Most of his time being spent with BAOR with interludes in Northern Ireland and Cyprus.

Red MG TF

Mercedes racers

Martin continued to paint during this time and gained much valuable material, some of it to be used in later paintings at this time an MGA 1600 Mark II was purchased funnily enough just outside Aldershot (not connected with the army) Martin said this car looked great but already had three glass fibre wings and was notable for the driver’s seat not being attached to the floor. This made for a couple of exciting driving experiences.

White Lady

After three months the A was sold for a small profit and after a brand new Mini the MG bug bit again and a second hand 1966 MG Midget Mark II was purchased, which provided six years of ultra reliable driving and would probably ‘have gone up the north face of the Eiger if you could have had a good run at it,’ he has great memories of this car and it was one of his all time favourites.

Unfortunately after promotion and a moment of insanity a brand new Triumph Spitfire was purchased, the least said about the better; it was his least favourite car. At this time Martin left the army after much soul searching and went to work in Oman for the Sultan’s air force. Classic MGs were few and far between, driving being mainly confined to Japanese ‘tin’ or Land Rovers. On leave to the UK the Triumph was disposed of and the faith reconfirmed by the purchase of a 1979 MGB GT, followed after a few years by a limited edition MGB GT. These were great cars not least because you could come back on leave to the UK and just start them up and drive them without any fuss.

TF at sunset

Meanwhile back in the Oman with a working day ending at 1.00pm more time could be devoted to painting and a lot of the lessons and techniques, which Martin uses today, were learnt there. Also he started to paint more and more for friends and colleagues his subjects being wives, girlfriends, pets etc, which was great experience for when he did go into portraiture seriously. Also when he painted transport subjects this meant he could put convincing people into the paintings. The next step was a short one of doing the double portrait – car and driver. As the painting progressed so did other MGs and in particular a 1951 MG TD, which he rebuilt during a year’s break from the Oman, he re-sprayed it himself and it was painted many times after that on canvas.

White MGB on Whitecliffs Road Run

Eventually though the life of an ex pat came to an end (though not the taste of the Sundowners) and after an appropriate break Martin started painting professionally mainly doing portrait and transport commissions. He was also at this time exhibiting in galleries where large sunsets and landscapes were found to be very popular and enjoyed a ready market. He was also still doing his hobby type of paintings, racing cars, aircraft, military subjects etc and these too were popular and tended to get more ambitious in terms of atmosphere and subject.

Martin now finds that the real interest in these type of paintings comes in putting them into the right settings where they are part of the picture ie. the owner’s home, landscape, and sunsets. This of course has the advantage that the accuracy of the subject is still there for the enthusiast but that it can also be enjoyed as a piece of art in the finer sense.

His medium is oils, which allow great range, and flexibility and Martin’s influences are Edward Seago and Terrance Cuneo, has great admiration for the impressionists.

He does however remain flexible, recognising that there are those who still just want a detailed illustration of the car, which is where we came in.

Martin’s current MG is a 1974 chrome bumper MGB Roadster in Damask Red. He is an active member with his partner of the Whitecliffs MGOC.