The Art of Chris Dunlop

By Eric MonterastelliOn February 14, 2023December 8, 20231 Comment

Passion for vehicles comes in many different shades and colors. Custom cars, hot rods, and exotics- there’s always a variety of artwork to keep things fresh and is never limited to one genre.

Chris Dunlop is an automotive design and render artist based out of Southern California. He started out as an automotive painter that specialized in custom paint and high end restoration work on Classics & Exotics in Rockville, Maryland. From there he began airbrushing, doing sharpie art, and pinstriping. Soon after he was doing his artwork nearly full time, and some of you might have heard of him, he’s been dubbed “Pinstripe Chris” and he joins us on Break/Fix to share his journey from Paint & Body work to full-time artist!

Check out the follow-along notes, transcript and more details for this episode at GTM

In our discussion with Chris, we cover topics like:

We absolutely love the fact that you’re originally from the DMV, as Marylanders ourselves we’re immediately proud of your accomplishments. So let’s take a trip back in time, and talk about how you got into the automotive world. Why Paint & Body? Did you go to art school? If so, where? Or are you self-taught?
… After several years of mixing full time artwork with painting cars full time, Chris and his wife Caitlin opened up their own paint & body shop where they specialized in classic and exotic cars. Why the Sharpie Mustang and Sharpie Camaro – let’s explore the inspiration behind this. And “the why?”
What is “Robot #3”
The big move … leaving the DMV for Southern California. Car Culture on the East Coast is strong, what led to the shift west?
If you had to give advice to other (starving) aspiring artists, what would that be? Maybe some lessons learned?
You typically work in Traditional or “Analogue” media – but you’ve also made a shift into Digital Renders, why? Examples?
How long does it take to create a “photorealistic” painting of a sports car?
How does one go about getting some Pinstripe Chris artwork?
What are you working on now? Any big projects you can share/reveal to our audience?

and much, much more!

Chris’ automobilia was conceived, like all true art, to share a passion. His art includes exclusive works, including prints and originals themed in the automotive and motorsports world, he offers pieces that will fit virtually any home, office, dorm, garage or museum.