Adrian Mitu at work on his breakfast table
When Adrian Mitu was an architecture student in Bucharest, Romania, he would often spend his idle moments lost in thought contemplating vintage and classic cars. After graduation in 2013, he decided to forego his chosen discipline and enter the world of automotive design. A fan of former BMW designer Chris Bangle – the creator of flame surfacing and the controversial 7 Series – Adrian has always sought to reduce his favorite automobiles down to their stylistic essence. An inveterate drawer of cars in his spare time, Mitu would send hours roughing out the lines for some of the most iconic designs ever penned.
The iconic E-Type is the perfect subject for Adrian’s caffeine fueled brush
One morning when Adrian was sketching at his breakfast table, the walk to get his watercolors was too much for his sleep deprived body to complete so he dipped his brush in a cup of coffee and a new future dawned for the young Romanian. He didn’t stop at that first hesitant placement of brush into liquid, but returned to it repeatedly until the entire vehicle was gouached in a shade that would make Starbucks proud.
The young Romanian is a populist with subjects ranging from the truly sublime to the Triumph Spitfire
While it wasn’t quite the apple striking Sir Isaac Newton in the cranium – it was close. Adrian began to paint all his creations with his new medium and that the results have been fantastic. Notwithstanding the technical detail that goes into his art, there is a surreal quality to each piece that is heightened by the fact that real coffee is used to tint each color – sometimes ink is mixed in for effect – and that the world’s most popular drink is an endemic part of this artistic process.
EX 181 is a particularly appropriate car for the coffee treatment
It may seem odd that the prolific would be architect has foregone what would likely have been a lucrative career to paint cars with coffee, but his artwork repeatedly validates his decision. There are many automotive artists in the world, there are a handful with real talent, but Adrian is in a league of his own.
An XK140 and the Cup
'Cars & Coffee – Adrian Mitu' has 1 comment
September 9, 2015 @ 11:43 am Brent Bishop
While I am really impressed with both the Jaguar ’54 XK 140 and the ’52 MG TD, my favorite British motorcar remains the ’67 Austin Healey 3000 BJ8. Lots of speed, a blast to drive and as great as they in classic design.