Silver Leaf and Pinstripes on the new compressor

Last week the shop received a new compressor courtesy of Ingersoll Rand- it's a great gift but only available in a tan color. That had to go, so Jason and Ron painted it up this very sharp green pearl. My job was to add the CW Restoration logo using silver leaf, and pinstriping around it. I used a banner for measurement references and scale, then went on about the leafing process. The leaf was done before the final clear- and the stripes after that to keep everything clean. The logo came out great- no holidays in the silver leaf, and the lines came out sharp. On the day we were filming for Hot Rod Tv, I got a little bored and broke out the paint and brushes again to do a nice design on one side of the compressor. The design came out great and the colors all worked great together. I think this was the 1st time the guys I work with have really seen me do something that I actually do. I hope they liked it!

Silver Leaf & Pinstripes on a 62 Impala

My first pinstripe job since we got to Cali! The job was to lay some silver leaf designs on the hood, trunk and sail panels on this 62 Impala, then chase them with black pinstripes. Day 1 was spent applying silver leaf and brushed on clear. I like to wait a day in between leaf and stripes so that everything can be nice and dry. Day 2 was spent laying down the black pinstripe outlines and expanding on the design. We're talking about maybe adding another color to the designs when I go back to do the long lines down the sides.

Some more pinstripe practice!

A little more practice goes a long way. Yesterday I got a couple new brushes in the mail... one of which is a Kafka brush. These things are all the rage apparently, so I thought I'd try one. $14 investment isn't too bad. What can I say... It's Ok, but not great. Probably because I'm used to the Mack brushes already. The Kafka can definitely do some things the Macks can't easily do, but not better and not faster. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool brush... But it made me like the Macks so much more after trying it. Luckily, I also ordered a new Mack 10 series #00. I didn't use this one because it's new and it's a back up to the other #00 I already have. So instead I grabbed the #00 I already had and whipped up a couple quick panels. After trying the Kafka, these Macks are butter. Fast. Consistent. And straight. Love. So here are these 2 panels. One is Vermilion and Bright Red on an obscurely painted panel... the other is Black and Ivory on a gold painted panel. I've even started signing my name with the same pinstripe brush I use for the designs... makes em tiny, but legible.

Fun Fun Fun!!!

Even more pinstripe practice

At the end of each day I've been trying to spend just a little time getting pinstripes down on something. The last couple days culminated into this panel. I started by spraying Rustolium Florescent Pink on a blank white panel... then layed out the gold size... then applied gold leaf... then engine turned... then airbrushed in a little black here and there (just to see what it would look like)... then I outlined everything in dark magenta (to keep the initial contrast down)... then added some more to the design using process blue... then finally I made a lime green to border the whole dealy. Another panel made it all the way to the end! Yay! And good thing, because I'm trying to have as many as I can for some upcoming shows. I'm also trying some new stuff, so these panels make good practice and excellent education.

Some more pinstripe practice!!

If I'm to follow my dreams then I need to practice practice practice more. With some of my free time in between real work this weekend, I did just that. If I'd have known this panel was going to make it all the way to being finished, I would have done a time lapse video. But since it was just a practice piece I wasn't sure that it would make it... but it did!!! So on this particular piece, I started with a blank white panel. Duh. Then I laid out a design in Vermillion, then Aqua, then Dark Magenta. Once that was dry I masked up the design with a little edge around it, as well as a border around the entire panel. Next I sprayed the open area with flat lime green. Then, I airbrushed in some dark green and white green in the shadowed and highlighted areas. After every thing was unmasked I airbrushed in a little more darks and lights to finish everything up. Last but not least, I outlined the border of everything with Magenta. Bright pretty colors... lots of fun!

Harley Davidson Ford F-350 Pinstripes

A bunch of months back I did a couple pinstripe designs on this Harley Davidson truck. At the time that the designs were done I had talked with the owner about outling the flames that came with the stock paint job on a later date. That later date was a couple days ago. I picked the truck back up from Neal Owens (of The Sunbox Company) and brought it back to the shop where I had to make lots of space to fit it inside. Since the truck was a Harley version, I thought it was missing some orange- so I used 1 Shot Vermilion to outline the flames. Initially the flames were a bit more subtle... but after the orange outline, the truck really had a more complete look to it.

As with always, this was a lot of fun to do!

The Bagger with LOTS of Pinstripes

A couple weeks back I was asked to pinstripe a full set of bagger parts off a Harley Davidson along with the matching helmets. The customer brought me all the parts fresh out of paint- the tank, front fender, 2 side covers, front faring, both saddle bags with lids, rear bag lid and 2 helmets. I decided the best way to execute the designs without introducing too many new colors was to start with blue designs on the yellow parts, and yellow designs on the blue parts. After the initial designs were layed out, I went back with white to add a little more to the designs. 1 Shot Reflex Blue, Lemon Yellow, and Lettering White were used. On the gas tank where the blue/yellow paint job was split, I did the designs 1/2 and 1/2- Where the tank is blue it has yellow pins, and where it turns yellow I switched to blue pins. Made a subtle, but neat effect. None of these designs were pre-planned, not even the matching ones.... just one line at a time fun. 14 designs in total.

The Moto Lady Helmet

Jeff of Saint Motor Bikes gave me this silver metal flake helmet to jazz up for our mutual friend in Portland, Oregon- The Moto Lady. After emailing with her a few hundred times, I had enough info to go on to get started. The reason for the vast number of emails was basically the creation of the Moto Lady logo on the back. I'd sketch out an idea, email it to her, she'd make her revisions and we'd move on to the next drawing until we landed at this one. And a fine one it was. Early on I had decided that most of the pinstripe design was going to go around the logo, so the logo had to be designed and lettered first. Once it was down, it was a simple process to allow the design to take shape with the logo as the center piece. I ended up using 1 Shot Black, Ivory and Bright Red, along with the use of synthetic gold leaf to complete the helmet. Everything came out suuuuper cool. I snapped a bunch of photos and sent them off to her for approval, and she returned them back to me in this beautiful package.

This is the Moto Lady:  http://themotolady.com/

More Pinstripe Practice

I swear I have a regular job with many many many hours every week devoted to my jobs. However, in order to maintain my sanity and keep up with practice, I try to as frequently as possible break out a blank panel and experiment on it. Today's experiment was a combination of things. Not all panels make it to the end like this, but this one did. So I started with a panel painted really bright orange. Next, I used a stabilo pencil to draw out the design I wanted to fill with gold leaf (faux). After the design is done, I brush in a mix of Sepp brand Gold Leaf Adhesive, a little 1 Shot Imitation Gold (for tint), and a drop or 2 of Mineral Spirits, using a Mack 10 series #1. I brush it in freehand instead of using tape to outline the design- I find that in each subsequent step not having the tape edge helps a lot. Now the gold leaf adhesive (or "size") has to setup to its tacky point... with this stuff it takes between 3-4 hours. After the adhesive is at its proper tack, I applied loose leaf gold leaf over the entire design. With loose leaf there is a bit more mess, but I feel like the leaf lays smoother. Once the leaf is well pressed into the adhesive, I clean off the excess with a make-up brush and careful rubbing. As soon as I was done I took a drill equipped with a velvet end and turned the leaf. Faux gold leaf doesn't turn really great, but it turns Ok. Even this isn't the best example. Once the engine turning is done, I use the same Mack 10 series #1 to brush clear coat over all the leaf. The brushed clear will go a little past the leaf, but with no tape edge leaves no built up edge to outline. After the clear was set-up I outlined everything with 1 Shot Process Blue and added a little to the design as I went along including some floating borders using a Mack 10 series #00. Once the blue was dry, I went back in with 1 Shot Aqua and added a little more to the design and to the straight lines using the same brush. Even tho the gold leaf didn't come out exactly the way I wanted, everything else came out great. Outside the colors really jumped. So here's a panel that made it alllllllllll the way to the end!

Some Pinstripe Practice

Whenever I have enough time to break out the brushes, I try to put them to good use. Lately I've had a lot of good use for them. But for once I just wanted to practice. While waiting for some gold leaf size to tack up a few days ago I did a few small pinstripe pieces on paper. I also set up a little stop watch to try and get myself to be conscious of time as I was practicing. Each piece has 2 colors, so there was the time to lay out the 1st color, plus the time to clean the brushes and mix new paint, plus the time to do the second color. Each color took about 15 minutes to do and each piece was completed in around 30 minutes. It was also neat to just do something without the worry of who it's for or likes and dislikes. Magically, these designs were quick, simple and soothing.

Pinstriping is FUN!

It's the Little Things...

Towards the end of last year I was asked to do some kind of stripe that would split up a 2 tone paint job being done on a truck. The owner and painter of this truck is Casey of Classic Powder (classicpowder.com). He was totally open to any ideas I had... which was great. He had already painted the top of the truck black and the bottom a nice bright metallic green when I got there. The only specification given was that he wanted it to taper from the front to the back. So I masked off the area to be striped and thought about what would be cool to do in an area this small, but still have some impact. Traditionally when I'm asked to do stripes I'm thinking I'm going to be pulling lines with a paint brush. This job was a paint through a gun. Again, not my norm, but I figured I could put a cool twist on it. Since Casey was open to anything, I decided I would try an engine turned look on base coat. We agreed that bright silver would be the best starting point. After the silver was dry enough, I made a turning tool out of a dixie cup and a scotch brite. I took the scotch brite and cut it into a circle the size of the  bottom of the dixie cup, then glued the scotch brite to the bottom. I glued 2 layers of scotch brite (one on top of the other) so that the outside edges of the bottom of the cup wouldn't dig extra hard. Then, from front to back I pressed the 'tool' into the base coat and turned it by hand 180 degrees, overlapping each rotation by 50%. The look and the lines came out so clean that no additional colors or outlining was necessary. Casey cleared it all up and it came out great. It seems like a simple little touch, but it really adds something to this already cool paint job.

Another happy customer!

TRON style Motorcycle Helmet

Recently I was asked to do a Tron styled motorcycle helmet for a customer. The helmet started out covered end to end with stickers and needed to be sanded flat. Once it was sanded flat, I painted it with Chrysler PXR (metallic black) base coat and clear. Once that was dry I prepped the helmet again for more paint. I began by laying out the designs in 1 Shot Metallic Silver. I decided the way I was going to do this was by pulling all the lines free hand with a pinstripe brush (as I commonly do)... this would keep me from having to mask out all the lines and spray them. Also, it would keep the edges smoother instead of sharp. The widest stripe was masked out and sprayed so that it would look consistent. Once the 1 Shot was dry, I followed all the lines and circles lightly with an airbrush that had transparent white in it. This would allow for the halo effect to be really effective after the next step. The idea is to get the lines to glow like a neon sign. After that, I mixed up some Alsa Corp Blood Red Kandy and went over all the lines until I got the desired color. It took a good number of coats since I was going over whites and silvers with red kandy... this meant that the colors would start out  very pink until I had applied enough to make it red. The amount of kandy used also influenced the way the glow popped in the sunlight. Inside, the helmet has a deep red look- but outside, the sun light really makes this effect jump. The look of everything worked out great. 3 coats of clear and it was done! Doesn't seem like a whole lot of steps, but mixed in with some other work, it took some time. Thankfully, the customer was very patient and happy with the results.