A drive for success sees Keith race into first place as artist for McLaren

Published on Monday 12 May 2008 10:45

AFTER losing his job and suffering a breakdown, Keith Leslie turned to art to help get him through the difficult time.

Now, just a few years later, he is the official artist for Formula 1 team McLaren Mercedes and is currently putting the finishing touches to a painting of British driver Lewis Hamilton.

The 27-year-old illustrator was rewarded by the motor racing giants after "pestering" them with a succession of e-mails asking for a job. They finally relented, asking him to capture the moment drivers Fernando Alonso and Hamilton took first and second at last year's Monaco Grand Prix.

He said: "I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere as a self-employed artist without being persistent. The McLaren team would probably call it pestering but I knew what I was offering had commercial value to their organisation. They finally e-mailed me back, inviting me to submit a proposal – I was elated."

The former Boroughmuir High pupil, who worked a succession of unrewarding jobs after finishing an HND at Telford College, has now set up his own business just three years after he fell into a depression when he lost his job at the Safeway store that was then in Hunter's Tryst.

He said: "I had to hit rock bottom. I had to go through a lot of hell after losing my job and it changed me as a person. There are lots of other people out there who are unhappy with their jobs.

"We all reach a point where we think 'where am I going?"

Following a commission to paint four-time Superbike world champion Carl Fogarty, Keith successfully applied to the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) for funding to start his own business and in June 2006 he received a loan and a grant to purchase a camera, additional lenses and computer equipment.

He said: "I had this skill, my painting, which I knew I had had for years but I couldn't get a job because I didn't have experience. I felt lost and that's when PSYBT came into it."

His original artwork of Alonso and Hamilton is now thought to hang at McLaren's Surrey headquarters, but copies are being sold through the team's website.

Keith, who was last year elected a member of the Guild of Motoring Artists, creates his works at his Oxgangs studio by painstakingly copying from photographs, first by pencil and then using paints.

He said: "I'm fanatical about all things motorsports. I love cars and motorbikes and have designed and painted them since I was a kid. It's incredible to know my work is now being appreciated by motor racing fans around the world."

Mark Strudwick, chief executive of PSYBT, said: "Keith is not only an immensely talented artist, he is also an exceptional entrepreneur, having demonstrated great spirit, determination and self-belief to become established in the right market and promote his product.

"He identified the sector he wanted to operate in, made the right contacts and is now selling to a global market. We're delighted we were able to support him in the early stages of his business."

&#149 www.psybt.org.uk

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