It's photo-realism at its best. And whether or not you're into Formula One racing, you can't help but be compelled and touched by the incredible images of Alberto Ponno, Italy's phenom artist and one of the art world's best kept secrets—until now.

He's a man who boasts no special awards and laments that his countrymen don't appreciate his brand of art, with one significant exception: Ferrari, Ponno's top client.

His crisp edges and hard lines might speak of masterful frisket and masking work, until you discover the almost unbelievable and nearly impossible: it's all rendered in FREEHAND! It's no wonder that it takes Ponno two to four months to complete a painting.

With a passion for drawing since the age of five, Alberto Ponno has been painting professionally for 18 years. Ponno's father, who raced cars for Bucatti in the 1950s, was a major early influence. As a result, Alberto dreamed of becoming a race car "pilot," as they're called in Europe.

Born in Roseto Degli Abruzzi, Italy, Ponno speaks no English. His formal education is no more than the equivalent of a vocational school for auto mechanics. He moved to Milan at 22, where he worked as a motor parts designer for Alfa Romeo. While he was with the company, he finally realized his early dream by racing in their GTA car.

It was around the same time that he started designing and drawing cars with an airbrush, which he was forced to master on his own. "The airbrush for me was love at first sight at an art store," Ponno explains. "I was instructed by the store owner to practice first by airbrushing dots and lines. Instead, I airbrushed an image from a magazine cover, a woman on a beach chair wearing sunglasses. The people at the art store were blown away. They were amazed at the outcome." Ponno swears he had no difficulty with it from the start. "It just came naturally."

The focus of his work is Formula One cars of the 1950s. "Movement is very important in my artwork. You'll notice that I never paint a static car. Airbrush is a very important tool in creating the sense of movement I demand in my work. With the airbrush, your line is not so definite, which is perfect for rendering blurry and hard lines. For example, by making the spokes of the wheel blurry, you get a sense of movement." Another effective technique Ponno uses for conveying movement in every painting is the dust or "powder" of the road generated by the wheels.

This leads to the most pressing and intriguing of wonders concerning Ponno's work: why doesn't he use masks or frisket? Wouldn't it make the process easier and more time-efficient? His answer: "Because masks create too hard a line, and the work and technique might look too contrived and obvious."

The only aid Ponno uses is an opaque projector. He airbrushes the critical areas and scale over the projected image. Although most of his paintings are in color, his references are generally black-and-white photos. Because many of his references don't show complete information, Ponno researches books for complete detail accuracy, often a painstaking additional step in an already tedious process.

Although it's easier to paint on paper, metal remains Ponno's surface of choice. "The effect I like to achieve translates better on aluminum," Ponno explains. "Metal is more difficult because you must be much more precise, and also because mistakes show up easier. However, metal is so smooth that the quality of the work is more dramatic and pronounced."

Ponno sells only the rights to his work. "I still enjoy my art, but financially I'm just surviving. I don't have a lot of money as some people believe." Regardless of the slow periods he sometimes experiences, Ponno steadfastly continues to paint. Even at a steady pace, he produces only five or six paintings yearly. In fact, in 1999, Ponno produced just three pieces, because one large painting took at least four months to create.

Asked if he's still learning new things, Ponno, now in his 50s, jokes, "No, but it's getting worse; the older I get the more my hand shakes!

"Also, after holidays or relatively short periods off, I lose some of my edge from the layoff," he adds. "So I warm up by painting simple images first. With age, painting is more difficult for me to steady my hand, so I must practice more. Also, my sight isn't getting any better, either."

Airbrush: Paasche VJR Paint Media: Glasorite urethanes Surface Media: Metal/aluminum and Fabriano smooth paper Air Compressor: 2 hp Price per painting: 2,500,000 to 15,000,000 (lira, that is! $1,500 to $8,000 US currency) Respirator: No. "I tried it once but couldn't breathe for two hours," Ponno quips. "I'd rather breathe caustic fumes!"