Style and sex appeal. 

We know those words define our stamp collections, but they also apply to pony cars, which grace the five postage stamps from the U.S. Postal Service that will be formally issued in a ceremony at 11 a.m. August 25, the first day of the Great American Stamp Show in Sacramento, California.

There is no admission charge to the show or the first-day ceremony, but you are urged to register in advance.

The Pony Cars Forever stamps pop with bright detailed artwork created especially for the stamps by award-winning motor specialist artist Tom Fritz, of California. Sun appears to glisten off shiny fenders and bumpers as the cars speed along open roads. The images are so real (they look like photographs!) you can almost hear the roar of the engines and maybe even a squeal of tires.

Fritz, who talked about his artwork and the new stamps in an email interview with Jeff Stage, senior editor for the APS, has been invited to take part in the dedication ceremony and plans to be there. Stamp artists are often unable to attend first-day ceremonies so we urge members to take this opportunity to see one in person.

Artist Tom Fritz.

“Fritz’s ability to capture light, speed and emotion is simply unparalleled and, with this, he manages to tell wonderful stories,” wrote Eric Gallina for the Formtrends website. “Fritz paints honest, beautiful and evocative images that dance off the stretched canvas …”

Racers in the desert prepare to take on the field in Tom Fritz’s painting, “What D’ya Reckon She’ll Do?”

“The entire project took about five or six months,” Fritz said about creating the stamp artwork. “A lot of time was involved in nailing down the initial concept sketches/designs. Researching and making all of the necessary arrangements for the vehicles I used for my reference took the most time. Once my brush hit the panels, the painting goes pretty quick; maybe 20 to 25 hours of actual brush time, if that, for each.”

Fritz created the artwork under the direction of the stamp designer Zack Bryant, art director Greg Breeding and the USPS creative team.

This is Fitz’s second set of stamps for the USPS. He also created the artwork found on the Muscle Cars stamps of 2013. The Muscle Cars and Pony Cars stamps are the third and fourth issues in the America on the Move series, which started in 2005 with the ’50s Sporty Cars stamps, followed by ‘50s Fins and Chrome in 2008. Art Fitzpatrick created the artwork for the first two sets. Tom Fritz and then-Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe chat with Jay Leno about the 2013 Muscle Cars stamps on a 2013 episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage,” 

Here is Stage’s Q-and-A with Pony Cars stamp artist Tom Fritz (we will print more after the show is over in the October edition of The American Philatelist):

When did you start working on the artwork for these stamps?

I didn’t waste any time. The designer, Zack Bryant, reached out to me via email on January 7, 2015, asking if I’d like to collaborate on the development of stamps celebrating the American Pony Cars. At that moment, I was hours away from jumping into the van to work my 13-day show at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale. So, while at the show, I started casually canvassing friends and attendees about what they thought were the most popular of the pony cars. Even before the project was locked down, I was already doing my research. 

What was the assignment?

I was provided a list of seven suggested cars, which would somehow be narrowed to five for the stamps themselves. The list of seven included the Plymouth Barracuda and the Pontiac Firebird [which didn’t make it]. There was a degree of flexibility in determining the specific year and model for each of those listed.

What did you use for your modeling?

The USPS uses a photo research service that was able to locate examples of each of the vehicles. Based on my approved sketches, properly licensed reference photos of each were acquired and passed on to me.

Can you tell us the basics of the creation process? These are all oils on panel? And did you move them onto digital for fine-tuning?

I started by making five-or-so sketches of each car from varying angles. Once the final sketch was selected and approved, the photo reference was collected. Each of the final oil-on-panel measures 18 inches by 10 inches, proportional to the aspect ratio of the final stamp. I cut the panels out of masonite, primed both sides and applied my paint. Digitizing and manipulating my images on a computer isn’t part of my process. When the panels were completed and approved, I signed each on the reverse side and handed them over. 

A montage of Tom Fritz’s early sketches of the Pony Cars that appear on the upcoming U.S. stamps.

What’s the most challenging of these motorized objects to paint?

Steam locomotives have an incredible amount of plumbing involved, and this can be problematic when toggling that touchy switch between technical accuracy and a painterly hand. But motorcycles are probably the most challenging. Whereas cars and trucks are made up of huge slab shapes, motorcycles have a lot of little windows going through them that require accurate placement and expose all sorts of detail.

Do you always use California or Pacific landscapes in your backgrounds?

Here in California, we have incredible lighting, which offers up plenty of colorful settings! My backgrounds are generally abstract compositional foils for the subject. I treat it in terms of masses and shape that lead the eye through a painting. Of course, the background can offer historical clues to the story, texture, mood and relate time-of-day or certain lighting situations – like sunsets.

Let’s talk about colors on these new stamps. What’s your basic color philosophy?

If there’s one thing my paintings have in common, it’s this: my colors tend toward bright and bold. It’s no accident. So, my palette consists of high-intensity spectrum colors. I tend towards analogous mixes. I’ll use grays for shadowing and distance.

“Noontime Splendor,” by Tom Fritz.

Would it be correct to call your general tone romantic? Or, maybe a cross between realism and romantic?

Perhaps? I don’t spend much time considering where my work lies among all the “-isms,” so I’ll leave that to the critics. Concerning realism? I studied photo-realism in college back in the ’70s and created a few works enough to discover how quickly bored I was with the soul-less, styleless, uncritical copying of a photograph. I have a looser hand. My brushwork tends to show. I prefer chasing the appearance of something – distilling its essence, rather than concentrating solely on its form. I’ve heard my work described as realism softened by impressionism.

Are all of the colors shown on the stamps true to the time of manufacture or are these more like customized paint jobs?

I used colors that were true to the time of manufacture.

Let’s talk about a couple of the cars on the new stamps. The Cougar. That grille – almost really from an earlier era of big grills. And I love the lines on the road. It looks like there is a second set of interior road lines. Is the car running on a track or a beach?

The color the 1967 Mercury Cougar XR-7 GT is wearing was called Burgundy Poly (for polychromatic). The lines on the road are merely a rhythmic device that helps bring movement. It’s how I designed the picture space, using various marks composed to express the motion I placed the car in. It could be taking place on a track. Or on a twisty road somewhere.

Left: The Postal Service supplied this photo of a Cougar for the artist to use. Right: Tom Fritz's sketches of the Camaro.

The Javelin. Now, this is a fantastic orange. And, a slight wisp of smoke on the right side? Time of day?

In 1969, American Motors Corporation offered a “Big Bad” color option on its Javelin. Three colors were available. “Big Bad Orange” – which you see on the stamp, – “Big Bad Green” and Big Bad Blue.” You caught the subtle smoke I indicated. Had I played up the smoke, I would have obscured some of the critical shapes in the body I wanted to retain. Time of day you ask? Well, it’s time to play hooky! 

Left: The Postal Service supplied this photo of a Javelin for the artist to use. Right: Tom Fritz’s sketches of the Javelin.

How exactly do you make the sun glint off these vehicles?

Honestly, by carefully controlling the light-to-dark aspect and color temperature of the colors I mix, where, and how I apply them. I’m not using any special, top-secret galactic formulations of unobtanium paint or anything like that. Just off-the-shelf tubes of oil paint like everyone else. 

"Out Quicker Than a Hiccup" by Tom Fritz

Is it more challenging to create human forms or motorized forms in your artwork?

Neither, really. I had a solid art education; figure, anatomy, perspective, color theory, design and so on. And once I got the degree (at California State University Northridge ), I worked as an artist every day – observing, studying, and creating. That’s been my only job. So for me, it’s all just line, form and mass. 

"The Good Life", by Tom Fritz

You certainly have embraced the genre of motorized transport art (how do you define your specialty? – from motorcycles and cars to locomotives, planes and ships. But were you always into this area? You studied art in college – were there other areas you were drawn to as well?

I don’t like to pigeonhole myself, so I just call myself an artist. If you look at the broad spectrum of my work, you’ll notice that color, figures and landscapes play a significant role – I love all things “visual.”

Thanks, Tom. A lot of stamp collectors look forward to meeting you at the Great American Stamp Show. More Tom Fritz artworks can be viewed at his website, www.fritzart.com.

(Images courtesy of Tom Fritz, except for those of new stamps, which are courtesy of U.S. Postal Service.)

Click here to read a press release about the new stamps from USPS, and don't miss out on the ceremony at the Great American Stamp Show.