NEW Original Piece with Custom Painted Frame For Sale!

This is an original piece named "201" after the early Ford I-4 motor (201 was the displacement), and was done entirely freehand on 5"x7" illustration board using only Ultra Fine Sharpies. In addition, the satin black frame was hand painted using gloss enamels and a paint brush to extend the artwork out onto the frame. I really love doing the frames extended pieces- they really seem to add more fun to everything. For Sale!

Available here: www.PinstripeChris.com/Store

The Mixed Media Store is OPEN!

The new Mixed Media page of the Store is good to go! Now the most recent canvas/mixed media pieces I've posted are available as 8.5"x11" frame ready prints for only $15, as well as the Originals. Every print is signed, dated, and numbered- Check it out!   
www.PinstripeChris.com/Mixed-Media-Store

"Sharpie Bermudez" For Sale!

Last night at the Sev Ven Gallery Show I got to meet lots of great artists like Vincent Gabriel, Chris Ralski Amesquita, Michael Bermudez... and see some really cool art from artists who weren't present like Raquel Sturges and Jim Charette. Inspired by all the artwork I saw last night, I decided to do a small Michael Bermudez inspired Sharpie Art piece over coffee this morning. Michael and I share an enthusiasm for HR Giger style work which is where some of our ideas stem from.

"Sharpie Bermudez"
Sharpie & Airbrushed Acrylic
14.5"x6" Illustration Board

FOR SALE!

Original 14.5"x6"

Sharpie Bermudez $50.00 USD

www.PinstripeChris.com

Sharpie Art done LIVE at the Sev Ven Gallery Show!

 At the beginning of the show some basic lines go down before the madness happens so I can feel how the surface is going to act on an easel - since I never use one! Worked great though and on lookers were able to see what I was doing

 

 Part way through the inking I flipped it upside down to get a better reach on some areas I want to add to- also helps give another perspective on the drawing 

 

 
A few short hours later and Voilà! The ink part was over, but the fun at the event was just beginning- so many great people here to talk to about art, and some great live music being played

My evening's creation done live at Sev Ven Gallery Show using nothing but a Sharpie! Thanks again to Kat Monroe for having us and putting on a great show- Caity and I had a great time chatting it up with other artists and admiring a huge variety of artwork!

Mini Sharpie Art For sale!

I'm warmin' up for the Gallery show I'm working tonight with this little 5"x7" piece of illustration board- this one is purely Sharpie, no acrylic pazzaz. All done freehand with an Ultra Fine (0.3mm) Pen so the details and line clearances are nice and tight. Will fit nicely in a standard frame- the first person with $35 owns it!

SOLD!!

New Mixed Media Piece "Acrylic Spark" For Sale

I made this little test piece today in between emails and coffee to try out a concept I had in mind. What it ended up being was a really mixed media piece that was just plain fun to do! Here we have what started out as a pure Sharpie Art piece, then added to with acrylic washes, opaques, and finally enamel. A little bit of airbrushing and localized 'fling' to finish it up. My basic idea was a spark plug with an acrylic fling style spark- then I decided to embellish a little. What's really funny is the cross between Animation Cell style shading, and Airbrushed shading- means the rule book got thrown out the window on this one  :)
 
"Acrylic Spark"
Sharpie, Acrylic, and Enamel on 12"x15" Illustration Board
Prints Available!

Acrylic Spark

Print 8.5"x11" $15.00 USD

New Sharpie Art "Lamborgreeni" For Sale

After taking about a thousand photos, here's the final picture of the piece titled "Lamborgreeni". This piece is a new version of the piece I did a couple weeks back titled "Art In Motion", but sports a huge mix of acrylics in addition to the sharpie art to bring it to life. I went with a number of different application techniques- brushed acrylics, flung acrylics, airbrushed acrylics...all over the Sharpie art. Even decided to go with a carbon fiber like stripe at the top to kind of help keep the mood without dominating the piece with black, white and green. The corner shot is to show that the artwork wraps around all the edges of the canvas giving it a complete and finished look. The colors are nice and bright, but definitely better in person. This is a great piece for anyone who like Italian craftsmanship mixed with abstract art.  I will definitely be doing more of these with some more cool cars!

"Lamborgreeni"
Sharpie & Acrylic on 18"x24" Canvas
For Sale

Original/Print

Original 18"x24" Canvas $650.00 USD Print 8.5"x11" $15.00 USD

NEW Sharpie Art "Acrylic Invasion!" Finished & For Sale

Well now... this is fun to look at! I made this piece as a re-visit to the idea of the "Sharpie Vs Acrylic Battle"- only in this particular version the acrylic is the invading force. I got to use a handful of methods I experimented with last week and put them altogether to make this one- even did a little bit of airbrushing to get some drop shadows in there to help add some life to it. I'm still trying out brands of acrylic to test color quality, opacity, and dry gloss level, but I think I've found a couple that prove to be quite vibrant. This was a lot of fun and I didn't make too big of a mess. I really love the way the colors came out and how the different application techniques interact with the sharpie art.

"Acrylic Invasion"
Sharpie & Acrylic on 16"x20" Canvas
This piece is for SALE as well as Prints

Original/Print

Original 16"x20" Canvas $325.00 USD Print 8.5"x11" $15.00 USD

©Chris Dunlop (Pinstripe Chris) 2013

New Sharpie Art "Beautiful Disaster" For Sale

Did this piece suuuuper fast last night- had a small piece of 11"x14" canvas and thought it'd be best used as a test piece for an idea I could later use on a larger scale. I did the ink work 1st, then quickly masked a few areas, flung in black and red acrylic, then unmasked to reveal the clean canvas areas. The effect come out great- I was able to mix a couple mediums without the acrylic dominating the Sharpie. Now what to do with it...

Since it's in limbo, I'm making it available to buy for just $75, or an 8.5"x11" Print for just $15 

SOLD!!  Prints, however, are still available!

New Sharpie Art "V-12" For Sale

So here's the last piece of 2012 I did I call "V-12". I decided on this name because I think it has a slight Ferrari/Italian feel with the Red & white split between a Gold pinstripe, and also because this piece has more of a smooth flow with larger elements rather then smaller more highly complex elements. The piece was really a test of could the art still make an impact with less? I was able to get more detail into the larger elements this way, which I like. Also I like the contrast of simplicity from some of my other pieces. The corner shot is to show that the artwork neatly continues around all the edges giving it a finished look without adding a frame.

Sharpie, Acrylic, Enamel on 15"x20" Canvas
As with always, this was done completely freehand and both the artwork and acrylic wrap around the canvas.

 Original and 8.5"x11" Prints For Sale-
The prints are cropped down to just the canvas piece with no border and color adjusted digitally for clarity. Click here to see the Print Version

Print/Original

8.5"x11" Print $15.00 USD Original 16"x20" Canvas $300.00 USD

Sharpie Art on Canvas Complete

 

As it turns out, I really like working with canvas- it has its pluses and minuses, challenges and what not, but in the end, after cars I think this my next choice. The added challenges also help keep it interesting which is a huge plus. This piece came out smooth and sharp and the artwork goes all the way around the corners- this is something someone can just put straight on a wall. There's still a bit of blank space left that I might do something crazy and experimental on... yesssssssss. But as far as blank space goes, I like the look of something that isn't just filled up. So lately I haven't been filling every square inch with sharpie. I think the method of NOT filling up the whole thing is more challenging then just filling empty space. Sometimes, yes, I like to full something up-  but not every single thing   :)

New Sharpie Art on Canvas (Preview)

Yesterday I returned home from the art store with a fresh piece of 18"x24" Canvas to try out-  they were having a sale and I thought, why not? I've tried Sharpie on canvas a couple times in the past (several of which were earlier this year) and have been a little unconvinced that the 2 could work well together. At least to a level of which I could be really happy with and want to share. So I've approached this piece differently-  prepped different, and starting with a different type of canvas (since there are many types). I'm happy to say as a result, this piece has come out GREAT! I've been able to get tight line clearances, and do much more with finer lines then ever. It does pose it's challenges, but what fun is something without challenges? But my favorite part is that I could wrap the artwork around the edges continuing everything and giving it a more 'finished' feel. Hopefully this will discourage the use of frames on pieces like this.

I'm actually done with the piece and waiting for the camera to charge to take the final pics. And I don't like to give everything away in the preview, so only part of it is totally in focus  :)

NEW Sharpie Art "Art In Motion, Stays In Motion"

So I had this random thought earlier today: If an object in motion, stays in motion-  what about objects that look like they're in motion even when they are stationary? Visually, I'd say they are definitely in motion... but I thought I might try my hand at making an art piece that emphasized this idea a bit. I started out with a profile sketch of a Lamborghini Gallardo (I'm on a big Lambo kick right now), then carefully put ink to the cars shape until I was happy with where it was. Next I built up the surrounding shapes to mimic the aggressiveness of the Gallardo while maintaining a similar black and white balance. That balance would later serve to unify the outside shapes with the cars shapes. I didn't have a solid plan for the wheels so I tried a number of variations in pencil before moving forward with divided 6 spoke wheels. The brake calipers were added to bring some detail to the wheel area and break up the solid black. The tail light is the only thing I used red ink in since I thought the subtle color would be a nice touch. All the ink, sketch work were done 100% completely free hand on this piece of 9"x17" Marker Paper. The background gradient and tail light glow I added digitally-  I sometimes will do this 1st before airbrushing it onto the piece to see if the idea even works. In this case, I think it really helps the overall look. To me, this little piece looks like it's frozen in motion, and the snap shot caught every bit of movement, speed, and aggression this Lamborghini is made of. I can't wait to have a gigantic canvas print of this made for my living room!

I'm also now thinking of doing a series of these based off other Super Cars and Exotics

NEW Sharpie Illusions Piece "Sharp-eyez"

In light of trying lots of new things lately like mixed media, I thought I might try and mix a couple different style ideas together. This piece started out as a test piece, but still managed to come out very clean and sharp. I started with the eye- it was done using both airbrushed and paint brushed acrylics. Once that was done, I built a little Sharpie design around it, but not so much that it would over take the page. I could have gone as far as filling the whole page with design, but there needs to be some blank page left in order to drop shadow some of the art. I did this on a small scale (9"x12"), so If I had done it on a larger board I could have expanded a bit further. Still, for a test piece I think this one came out very cool- a little bit of abstract to this one.

Available as a 8.5"x11" Card Stock Print (signed, dated and numbered) for $20

Thanks for looking!

Sharpie Art Portrait

A couple weeks ago I was asked by a good friend and customer of mine to do a Sharpie piece in the style of my "Sharpie Thoughts" piece using a portrait of his daughter. It was a great idea and was intended as a birthday gift for her. Initially I set out to do a sketch of the idea before I went full on with ink... but i decided to put some ink into my initial layout anyways so that he could see how the original would potentially look. What was tricky about getting the ink down on this one was that because of the small scale I was working in, I did most of this inking with a 0.3 mm Sharpie pen- which leaves pretty much zero error for mistakes or wobbles. But it came out great! I was a little surprised at how sharp the initial 'sketch' had come out, so I sent it off to the customer for approval. He said if I could finish it out then to just go for it! So the last step was to try and get some airbrush detail in like I have been with recent pieces. I veeeeery carefully airbrushed drop shadows below every single curly-Q, dot, and arrow. In a addition I did a little shading in the portrait to bring all the tones together, but without getting too carried away. Tucked neatly into the artwork it says "Kira, Sweet 16". As with always, this is 100% free hand- no templates, stencils or tape was used. This was a great idea and a lot of fun to do. Ended up being a little abstract, a little decco, but very cool.What a great gift from a father to his daughter  :)

I would love to be doing more of these type of illustrations- so if you're interested feel free to send me an email-  Cruizin4Customs@hotmail.com

"Kira"  Sharpie and Acyclic on 13"x15" marker paper

© Chris Dunlop "Pinstripe Chris" 2012

Sharpie Lettering "Jacob" PLUS a How To

Yesterday I evening I had a little extra time to pass so I grabbed a fresh sheet of 18"x24" drawing paper and started on a fresh piece. Anytime I'm uncertain of what the outcome will be, or if it's not a final piece, I'll usually do it on drawing paper since it's not as serious a loss as canvas, illustration board, or marker paper would be. So I set out to write the name "Jacob":

With my fresh sheet of paper tapped down to my desk to keep from shifting while working, I grabbed my trusty Sharpie Pro Fine Tip (4) and drew out the letters and how I wanted them to interact paying close attention to line clearances, line weights, and and black and white balance. With the basic lines down, I went heavier with black in areas to achieve the perspective I wanted. At this stage I only have the name outlined- none of the other black arrows or daggers that protrude outwards exist yet.

The next step is the red, so I grabbed my Copic Cadmium Red (5) to add the outline around the outsides of all the letters while again being slightly heavier in the direction of the perspective I'm working towards. I know right here people would be asking 'Why didn't you use a red Sharpie?'. In this case, brands like Copic and Prismacolor offer markers with incredible tone control- so I can build up to a nice bright red and even darken it in some areas with the same marker. This can be done with a red Sharpie as well as long as that shade of red is what you are looking for.

Next is to go back to the Sharpie Pro Fine Tip (4) and start working shapes into the remaining areas of white inside the letters- this will help balance the white and black a bit. While doing this, I also took some of the black outside the letters just to be more interesting overall. Again, that will help with the color balance.

The next thing I did was use the Sharpie .3 Pen (6) and sharpen all the corners and tips that way I want.

Now I can see how much room I have around the letters... so I decided to grab a low pressure Paint Sprayer (1) and fill it with a mix of Basics Acrylic Black (2) and water to dilute it to my liking. It ends up being mostly water since I want the black to be pretty week. Outside the paper is masked off to keep overspray from getting on the desk. The result of a couple passes around the edges is a nice course gravely effect.

With that dry I used a White Sable Brush (8) with the same acrylic black mix from the spray and start painting in spider cracks. At first they dry grey, which is good because you dont want them too strong at first. Slowly I'll add a little more black paint to the mix and work the lines until the darkest parts are concentrated towards the outer edges, while the lighter grey is closer to the letters. This helps keep the center of focus on the letters, but still allows for a little detail around the edges making the drawing feel more complete.

Now that the border is done, time for some airbrushing with my trusty Iwata Eclipse (7) which has been converted from a .5mm nozzle to a .35 mm. I'll make up a mix of Craftsman Acrylic Black (3) and water until I get the transparency of grey I'm looking for- again basically mostly water with a little black in it. I used a different brand of black from the earlier step because the Craftsman brand is a little thinner and goes through the airbrush easier then the diluted version of Basics I think. It'll take a couple passes over the shadowed and shaded area to get the tone I want but thats ok- I'd rather build up the tone slowly with a weaker mix of transparent black then out too much down too quickly and ruin the whole effect. The shadows themselves also have to placed correctly in order for certain effects to really work- in which case light source and perspective come into play. But done with care, shading and shadows have a big impact in the final piece.

The result is something wickedly cool and totally unique. From start to finish this piece took about 1 1/2 hours to complete including dry time in between acrylics, and everything was done completely freehand.

Thanks for looking!

Sharpie Car done LIVE at CBad Cars & StumbleFoot Brewery

Yesterday I was invited to an event that was 2 events in 1 to do some live artwork on a car-  CBad Cars (which is an early morning gathering of cars in Carlsbad, Ca from 7am- 9am), and Stumblefoot Brewery (which a number of people from the 1st event also go to the 2nd to hang at the brewery). So I got up super early to drive down to San Diego County and be on time. There were already plenty of cars there, a lot of which were show cars from SEMA 2012. I met the owner of the truck there for the 1st time and he was super open to what I was wanting to do and just let me go at it. There I got to meet lots of cool people and show them what I was doing as well as talk about my artwork. Its always so much fun to do these types of jobs at shows where people can physically see it happen. LOTS of photos being taken too. After a short while it was time to relocate to our next destination- the brewery. We got set up there and I continued to draw until the point I realized most everyone had left. I was having too much fun and didn't really see that happening around me. So I finished off the 'island' I was working on, and that was that! This particular piece was done just for the shows, and it worked out terrifically. I've been getting more requests lately to travel around and do these live at events-  and I'm always up for it! As always, this was a total blast and I can't wait for the next one!

Special thanks to Michael J Macare for organizing the events, and Victor Lopez Jr for bringing his truck!

Sharpie Speed piece with Airbrushing

                                         30"x15"

Last night I decided I want to just put something down on paper- no specific idea to try- just wanted to hammer something out. I did want to do it quickly to see where I could be at in what kind of time tho. So I grabbed a Sharpie and got all the ink down on this piece fairly quick- about an hour. It doesn't have the pazzaz that some of the more detailed pieces has, but it's still very clean, and very straight, and very sharp. As with pinstriping and same areas of airbrushing, the faster you move, the sharper and smoother your lines. The trick being that you need think as quick as you draw to put our lines down where you want. This piece is a good example of that. I hung this one on the wall with the rest of the random pieces I have earlier in the day... but when I got home I saw it and thought that I could make it better. Typically once I've got completed photos of something, I feel pretty comfortable making additions to see where it goes. In this case, I picked up the airbrush and filled it with a very weak mix of acyclic black. From there I carefully went around and shaded a few things while shadowing others. When I was done with that I felt the piece was much more complete and interesting. It's funny how much little things can make a difference. Well Im totally happy with this piece now-  back on the wall it goes!

The Sharpie Helmet

                                         ^^ All of these were taken BEFORE clear coat^^

                                          ^^ Here it is in the booth getting cleared by me  :)

                                          ^^The original helmet

Yesterday afternoon I was handed a brand new Simpson Racing helmet that belongs to one of the customers at Cw Restorations... and it was white. With the owner only asking me to incorporate a few details- he said the rest was up to me. So naturally, I say Sharpie! A little diss assembly and prep later and I was layin' some ink down. The helmet was a really interesting shape to draw on-  constant curve. First it was one of those fun new challenges, then it was the catalyst for the flow and shape of things. A little bit last night, and a little bit this morning and the ink was done. I incorporated the owners name (Mike Wong), shop name (CW), car name (Cam-Manche), and my name/site (C. Dunlop/www.pinstripechris.com)-  I got everything in there and in a way that isn't too distracting I think. Next step was to run over to the shop and get it the rest of the way ready for clear, and clear it. A short while later and it was SHINEY. I'm still having debates with people about the effects of clear coat on Sharpie... but that's alright. Here's another example of the possibilities. I'll post finished photos soon!

High Quality Canvas Prints of Sharpie Cars, Sharpie art, and more are coming to the website!!

Since I had this past week off from the shop I've been able to do many of things needed to be done during normal business hours. One of which was visit a company that would potentially be in charge of the prints I'll be selling on my website www.PinstripeChris.com. The company's name is Maxwell Dickson, and they're a print company based out of LA completely run by artists- so they make their own art as well as print it. They specialize in VERY high quality prints on canvas. The folks there were incredibly nice and answered all my questions- I can tell they're going to be a great company to work with. As part of the visit, they printed me a 24"x16" of the Sharpie Camaro-  and it looks fantastic! Soon I'll finish up adding all the buttons to the site necessary to purchase prints of various sizes of everything from Sharpie Cars, to Sharpie Art on board, to Renderings- right from the image you're viewing. Since the cars I do go Bye Bye once I'm done, I really have no way of doing anything else with the artwork after that. And since I've gotten to work with some awesome photographers, the photos themselves are excellent. Now that I'm selling originals on illustration board, it also seemed smart to be producing prints of those as well. I'm super excited to get this rolling!