The Betty Hunter

ArtMartyr Gallery Presents the work of Chris Garcia.

My name is Chris “The Betty Hunter” Garcia. My work is based around Vintage SciFi and Custom Car Culture. I also build sculptures such as Robots, Rayguns and UFO’s.  “The Betty Hunters” is a brand I started back in 2009. 

I’ve always lived that 40’s, 50’s lifestyle, which has inspired me to be heavily influenced by the early Horror and Pulp posters of that era. I started painting my movie posters where the mysterious “Betty Hunter” was after the hot girl. Then, I did a poster called “Man Made Monster” were I added a motor to the image.  The motor was a hopped-up Flathead that was illustrated on the cover of an old Hot Rod Magazine from the 50’s. It sparked a new idea for me. I had always enjoyed drawing engines and hot rods. 

When I was a  kid, my dad would always take me to the drag strips and car shows. He loved fast cars, big blocks, blowers, and hemi’s, anything that made your chest rattle. I would come home and draw them for him. That’s where my love of cars and hot rodding started. I am fortunate to be able to combine both my passions as a career.

I decided to paint a set of posters of all the most popular hot rod engines and call it “The Motor Series”. I’ve done a Nailhead, an Offy, an Oldsmobile Rocket, a Straight 6 with a Wayne Head, etc. These motors are not stock, they have to be  hopped up the way they would have been done in that era. The original paintings are 24”X 36”. I use acrylics because it gives me that old poster look. I had smaller prints made as posters so that my fans could collect them all. There are a few more automotive engines I’m going to paint and then I will be painting some vintage motorcycle engines. 

Click the link below to watch the BlacktopTV interview at the Ventura Nationals on YouTube.

Much more than what you see here when you follow Chris on InstaGram @TheBettyHunter