João was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1974. Since his early years João can remember starting to practice and cultivate a taste and technique of observational drawing and the automotive theme caught his attention. Influenced by relatives he discovered the motorsports from young age and then two passions emerged: Ferrari and Formula 1.

“This was in part due to the fact that I lived all my teenager years only a few kilometers from the Estoril formula one circuit and watched live almost all the Portuguese Grand Prix as well several winter testing sessions”.

Almost as an obsession João began to draw the most recognizable italian models of the 80´s, the Formula 1 cars and the GT´s.

One of João early references in classic cars is the Caramulo Museum in Viseu, north of Portugal, wich thru family connections has allowed him to get close to Bugatti´s and Rolls Royce from the 20´s and 30´s and also to ride on a 1951 Ferrari 195 Inter (see head photo) with just 13 years of age and a Ferrari F40 a couple of years later. Today João is an active collaborator with the Museum, attending some of the motorsports events organized by this well known institution and displays some of his works at the Museum´s shop.

Drawing and the observation of shapes are a fundamental part of his work as a designer and artist, from product design, painting, packaging, photography or graphic design. (in www.joaosaldanha.com you can have a comprehensive view of João´s design portfolio and also his work as an amateur photographer)
In 2012 a curious thing happened: “although I never stopped cultivating my taste for different kinds of classic cars and brands thanks to an increase of events taking place in the Lisbon area, and being formula my main reference in motorsports, almost by chance I started drawing cars again”.

The technique that he uses now is derived (although a clear evolution) from the one he started developing as a teenager, illustrating trough the use of different materials (watercolor, color pencil, wax crayon, gouache) that work together to reproduce the harmonious lines and shapes of the classics. In 2015 João started to work on canvas (besides the work on paper) wich allowed him to evolve his technique even further and diversify the thematics and scale of the projects.

Life and family has put João on the track to Macau and in October of 2015 he first visited this former Portuguese colony and was able to see the legendary Macau Grand Prix wich inspired him to produce some works related to the event´s history.

In November 2016 he presented his first solo international exhibition “MACAU GP LEGENDS – Motorsport Art by João Saldanha” at the Rui Cunha Foundation Art Gallery in Macau (China) during the 63rd Macau Grand Prix weekend.

João regularly publishes his work in portuguese and international magazines and attends Portuguese and international classic car events, such as MOTORCLÁSSICO (Lisbon) CARAMULO MOTORFESTIVAL (Caramulo) CASCAIS CONCOURS D´ELEGANCE (Lisbon) RETROMOBILE (Paris) GOLD COAST MOTORFESTIVAL and CHATER ROAD SHOW (Hong Kong).

His works are part of private collections in Portugal, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, USA, Macau and Hong Kong.

He has his portfolio of illustrations on his web site and his facebook page

Over the past years, João attended and showed his work at Motorclássico in Lisbon, Autoclássico in Oporto as well as other exhibitions.

At present he is taking commissions for a varied range of clients, taking pleasure in approaching each work as a unique and challenging project.

You can find our more about him and his work on his website; www.joaosaldanha.com. Why not follow him on Facebook here.

He has kindly sent us the images below for you to enjoy. Always respect copyright.

Click images to enlarge,