By Zach Doell


Meet Scott Wade. Scott is a graphic user interface designer from Texas, who in his spare time posts dirty pictures up on the Internet. No … not those types of pictures, these.
Scott has made a name for himself as the world’s premier dirty car artist, traveling across the the world to bring his remarkable talent to the backside of hatchbacks, trucks, and SUVs everywhere.



And like most great artists, Wade found his inspiration in nature. For over 20 years, Wade lived on a long dirt road in Central Texas. Frequent trips up and down the lane caused the family cars to become quite dirty. That prompted Wade to casually doodle and draw faces on the windows, a habit learned from his father, an amateur cartoonist.
But after playing around, curiosity turned into experimentation and Wade began to try different types of methods to create his designs. First came using his fingernails to craft finer lines, then he developed using the pads of his fingers for shading, and eventually Wade stumbled upon his current method – using rubber paint shapers and brushes.



His favorite subjects to immortalize in dust?
“Hard to say,” says Wade. “Each time I attempt a dusty rendering of a Master’s work, it teaches me a lot. I love some of what happened with Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, in particular certain areas that really look like ink wash. But if you’re going to hold me to it, I’ll give my stock answer – stolen from Frank Lloyd Wright – ‘the next one!’”
His recent dirty work includes this exceptional piece featuring Progressive Insurance’s Flo with a ‘FLOwer Power’ motif on the back of a Dodge Grand Caravan. Wade frequently works with ad agencies and PR firms on campaigns, but also presents at festivals, art shows, and private events, such as a grade school art class in Illinois earlier this year.


While Wade claims that days and days of accumulated dirt make for the best canvases, he’s perfected a routine that preps a car for art in about 10 minutes.
“I couldn’t do the many events I do each year without having developed the ‘artificial canvas,’ as I call it,” notes Wade. “When I was mulling over how to dirty up a window, a friend told me about Fuller’s Earth, used in the film industry. Buying bags of it is sure easier than scooping dirt off the road and sifting it!

 

Now that is art!