BMW Z4 M Coupe by Earl Shepherd

California designer creates a very personal art car

April 10, 2013 – Artist Earl Shepherd of Orange County, California paints a one-of-kind BMW Z4 M Coupe masterpiece.

As told by the artist:

This Art Car is a portrait of Scatha, metaphorically, using my Formal Impressionist style. Which is to say I used inspiration from her two roles as a weekend canyon carver and track car to cover her in a diptych of two separate, abstracted landscapes.

Specifically, the driver’s side is a stylized view of Hwy 154 overlooking Santa Barbara at sunset and the passenger side is Willow Springs International Raceway at dawn. The skies of the two sides converge and blend on the hood, roof and decklid. This creates a yin-yang shape with the “dots” being the M symbol on the hood and a helmet/moon on the roof.

Because of the nature of race car visuals, it is necessary to have some “sponsor stickers” painted into the passenger side of the car, along with the car’s number. These sponsors are not truly sponsors, as none have paid to be on the car or even knew that the project existed, but are companies that contributed significantly to Scatha’s development. The number “400” is Scatha’s production number …