Roly Hermans

Roly describes himself as a painter of heritage transport. He produces highly detailed paintings of ships, planes, trains and vehicles. His subjects range from centuries ago to more recent history, and from New Zealand to further afield.

Roly is proud to call his art 'illustrative', aiming to bring to life both the humdrum and the dramatic moments in transport history, and evoke a sense of nostalgia in his viewers.

His work is inspired by the artwork that graced the boxes of the plastic model kitsets he used to buy as a child. He still makes models, and brings his modelling skills into his paintings, especially with his love of detail and his striving for accuracy.

Roly carefully researches his subjects (a task he enjoys as much as the painting process), and then portrays them in realistic settings. His finished artworks and prints could almost be considered as two-dimensional museum dioramas.