Dennis

Mathewson
AIRBRUSHING BUBBLES HOW TO ARTICLE

ISSUE #26
ARTIST THIS ISSUE:
Todd Malcolmson
Kustom Painting Harely How To Article

Paul Shaw
Illustration Animal Portrait How To Article

Danyell Bulter
T Shirt DEsign How To Article

John Avila
HAND LETTERING HOW TO ARTICLE

CHIP DENIEF
MAKING T SHIRT BOARDS HOW TO ARTICLE

Q & A with Artist:

Dennis Mathewson
Sam Boeger
Marjorie Cameron
 ISSUE 26
Publisher
Get your Technique Together Today!
Airbrush Technique Subscribe To Airbrush Technique Magazine Today!
5378 SE 13th Ter
Ocala, Fl. 34480
1-352-622-1796
Airbrush Technique Magazine Digital Edition
Web Sites: 1 year Subscription= 6 issues
airbrushtechnique.com $19.95 One Year Digital Format
airbrushtechniquemagazine.com
howtoairbrush.com
howtocustompaint.com

E-mail:
Airbrush Technique Magazine Extended Subscription
$49.95 a year and includes:
airbrushmag@gmail.com
*6 issues digital format Airbrush Technique Magazine
Editor *Access On-Line to over 310 airbrush, kustom painting articles
Don Johnson (MEMBER ARTICLES on www.airbrushtechnique.com)
*Access On-Line to over 40 airbrush, kustom painting instructional vid-
Contributing Artist Issue #26: eos (MEMBER VIDEOS on www.airbrushtechnique.com)
* Access Member Forums on www.airbrushtechnique.com
Sam Boeger * New articles added every month so the number of articles you have
Todd Malcolmson access to will grow over the lenght of your subscription.
Dennis Mathewson
Danyell Bulter
John Avila Master Card, Visa, Discover Card, Paypal
Paul Shaw
Marge Cameron
via secure server on the magazine web site
Chip Denief www.airbrushtechniquemagazine.com

How
Airbrush Technique Magazine Issue
To #26 Printed Format
Airbrush
DVD
#1
45 minutes in length covering airbrush To purchase a copy of this issue in
basic lessons, airbrush equipment printed format please visit:
basics. $39.95 FREE shipping
US lower 48 states. Check or money
order.
Airbrush Technique
5378 SE 13 ter http://magcloud.com/user/airbrushmagazine
Ocala, Fl. 34480
 Q & A with pin striper/airbrush artist Sam Boeger

Hi Everyone! I started striping when I was 13 years old and I’ve always had a passion for art
and cars. I absolutely love learning, and I’m fortunate to learn from some amazing mentors
and friends I have met along the way! With practice, patience, and passion you can achieve
anything! If you have any questions or comments, let me know! Thanks- -Bogie check out my
website- www.bogies.biz

What drives you to be an artist? years I have been taking it on with more endurance, and I love
What drives me to be an artist is the need to create. I find that it! I feel that it fits my personality very well, and I’m able to still
being creative and wanting to express yourself is very addict- be creative and be in the car industry. It’s like the perfect col-
ing, exciting, sometimes frustrating but always a rewarding ex- laboration of art and cars. And its not just the cars, its pinstrip-
perience. I’ve always known I wanted to be an artist ever since ing the shoes, purses, anything that can hold still long enough,
I could hold a crayon in my hand and it was something that I it gets striped! I think that’s what’s makes it fun, is taking any-
was always interested in. thing and making it that much more customized.
There’s a quote hanging up in my studio that reads...
Happy are those who dream dreams and willing to pay the
price to make them come true.
I think that sometimes we aren’t able to fulfill our dreams be-
cause we can’t pay the price at the time, life happens, and it’s
supposed to. But it’s still never loosing sight of your aspira-
tions, they’re apart of you. I feel that every one of us has an
artistic bone in our body, but its maintaining it and letting it
grow.
It’s not an easy task; it can sometimes can be a long and lonely
road trying to gain the courage and strength to actually pur-
sue your passion.
Its pulling those late nights and early mornings, cussing at your
brushes when you get something right, reworking something
till you cant stand it, and then the moment hits you, and then it
all works out, seamlessly. Its that moment where you achieved How do you go about using color in your artwork?
something artistically, its those moments that I crave, all those Color I feel is one of the most important parts of the design.
blood sweat and tears paid off, and you’re able to share your It’s what ties the whole piece together. When it comes to strip-
vision with the world. ing a car or bike, I’ll use the accent colors to do the striping
design, or otherwise noted by the owner. If I’m allowed to go
How was it you first picked up a pin striping brush to use hog wild on a dark background, I tend to go for a lot of color, I
in your artwork? enjoy trying to incorporate fades, where the line goes from one
I first picked up a pin striping brush when I was 13; I played color to another. But for fades to be successful, its best to use
around with it but never took it as seriously as I do now at age analogous colors, colors that are next to each other on the
21. I grew up in a household full of cars, my dad is a mechanic color wheel, for instance red to purple, purple to blue. I think for
and I’d always enjoy going out to the garage and try to help an artist, its important to study the color wheel, because you’ll
as much as I could building cars. Now I own more hotrods be able to associate and find which colors are compatible with
than my dad does, all projects cars of course. He knew that each other. I have found that using warm colors work well for
I was serious about my art and he told me about pinstriping, pin up girls with cool colors going around it, for example a pin
and we’d go to shows and I’d observe the lines of pinstriping up with oranges and yellows, with blue and purple accent lines
masters, getting up close and try to read the name under line around her. But importantly, have fun with color, test different
work. I took a few seminars as I got older, and in the past two color schemes and you’ll surprise yourself on what evolves!
Is your artwork planned or spontaneous for the most coat anything, and I truly appreciate it because it keeps me
part? grounded. Also, being a girl in a male dominated field inspires
My work for the most part is planned. When working on spe- me, because I want to inspire other girls to go out there and
cific designs, that include pinups or other things of that nature. don’t be intimated and just have fun with it. There is also this
I sketch out my ideas first to get an overview of what I’m going misconception about the starving artist, but I have found that
for. When striping purses or shoes, I use a stabilo pencil and the real wealth is in meeting people through my art. People
lightly draw out my design, because working on a flexible sur- who are genuine and creating friendships, because of that hu-
face, it can be difficult to keep you design balanced. But if I’m man factor, I’ll never have to worry about being a starving art-
just doing some old school designs on a flat surface, then I’m ist.
very spontaneous, and I build off the design, and sometimes
even add fading lines that make the designs pop out and look What keeps you motivated on those days when you just
almost like they are neon lights. I think being spontaneous is don’t feel like striping but commission work needs to get
exciting for the fact you’re never to sure what the outcome is finished?
going to be, and it will always be different from your previous Ah! The famous artist block, those are never fun, what I do
work. when I get stuck in those modes, is to take a small break and
then try to tackle it again later. If I’m still not able to get what
Do you use a computer, plotter to help with design I need to accomplish, then I’ll work on something else to keep
ideas? my creativity afloat. Try working on another project that’s in a
I do use a computer when it comes to working on certain ideas different medium, because I feel that it helps spark ideas on
or pieces that I want to execute. My dad has an older plot- how to do something differently and experiment with using an-
ter that I play around with, and cut out decals. Lately I’ve been other method that could be more effective. I believe that some-
drawing up some skull designs and have fun with it. It’s a really times the harder that you push your creativity, the harder it is
fun feeling seeing some of your artwork made into a decal and to let it flow naturally.
you can stick it on stuff. For my personal computer I have an
iMac with a Wacom Intuos 3 tablet, I’ll sketch out ideas and do Who are some artists you’ve worked with?
some digital painting in Photoshop. I feel that the computer is I’ve been very fortunate to work with many awesome artists
a great tool, and can help you grow as an artist; I believe that who are also my mentors. I guess you could say I’m a padawon
it’s another skill that you can add to your artistic toolbox. But pin striper learning from all these Pinstriping Jedi Masters try-
of course I feel that you have to understand the artistic basics ing to understand the force (a little star wars reference, I’m a
and you can apply all that knowledge when you cross over to sci-fi nerd). Howard Yamamoto gave me my first pin striping
the computer side. box. John Hannukaine and Gary Jenson really gave me guid-
ance and were patient with teaching me brush control. Rich
Ayer has always given me advice and courage to pursue the
pin striping field. I also had the honor to learn from Airbrush
artist A.D. Cook; he helped me understand a lot of airbrushing
techniques. I also got to work with airbrush artist Nick Lee,
there were a few projects that he airbrushed and I got to pin-
stripe around, he’s a very talented artist. My airbrush teacher
from high school Mrs. George, it’s rare to have an airbrush
course in high school and it was amazing seeing how much
knowledge she has! I’m so grateful to all of the mentors and
friends who I have been able to work and learn from, I feel that
I have such a great support system.

What inspires you to stripe?

There are many things that inspire me to pinstripe, but I think
one of the reasons, is the fact that it is a very perfectionist
type of art. I’m a huge perfectionist and I try to be as precise
as I can, and that’s what makes it a challenge. Also knowing I
have my parents’ support in doing this helps a lot. My dad is my
coach and my mom is cheerleader, they really help me achieve
my goals. My dad is a huge inspiration to me, and my worse
critic, he’ll let me know if a line isn’t straight and doesn’t sugar
 KICKASSKUSTOMS
This article was written by airbrush artist and kustom The next step in getting the job underway was getting
painter Todd Malcolmson who is based in Australia. Todd the bike parts sandblasted. Once we had the parts back
owns and operates his business Kick Ass Kustom Paint we sanded them with 80 grit dry sandpaper. As there
and Airbrush in Canberra, which is the capital city of Aus- were no dents in the tin wear we wash primed them first.
tralia. Whilst Todd began airbrushing as a teenager in Wash primer is a primer that etches into the metal to
New Zealand, he started airbrushing and kustom paint- give a surface for the primer to bond to. Next we applied
ing professionally six years ago. three coats of high solid primer and baked it at 60 de-
The brief from the client for this job was “something dif- grees Celsius for 45 minutes. We then sanded the bike
ferent but with meaning”. The client said that he was into parts with 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper and we were
skulls and Ned Kelly. Ned Kelly is a well known Austra- then ready to start on the fun part. As we were starting
lian Bushranger who died in 1880 in a famous shootout from scratch I decided to do the kustom painting in re-
with the law. Ned is considered by Australians as either verse, meaning we did the murals first and then painted
an outlaw hero or a merciless killer. With this informa- the base colour.
tion in mind I set out designing the artwork for this bike.

For the first step I laid down a light cream colour made from Standox
high opacity white, yellow, bright red tinter from our mixing machine
and a little brown base coat. This colour is the base for the skulls.
You can see here I have mapped out the design using stencils I cut
out on a plotter using Avery mask. The white on the guard you see
here is a mask to protect the area from over spray as there is a mu-
ral going in here. By doing this it serves two purposes. One is that it
allows me to see where the oval is and secondly because the skulls
go over the insert, when I remove the mask there won’t be a ridge
that may be noticeable when the mural is done.

I have now mapped out my reference points (mouth, eyes and

nose) for the skull. I then come in with high opacity white, which
I have thinned 1 to 1 with Standox slow reducer, and yellow and
start to add some colour, at this stage it’s all pretty loose. I am
also not worried about the over spray passing the skulls as the
background colour is dark and will cover it.
 I am still working on the colouring of the skulls here. I am starting to get tighter
with the airbrushing now. I add a little more brown to my base mix and start add-
ing more detail in the skulls. I also then start to darken the bottom and backs
of the skulls. The reason for this will become clearer later on.

After adding more brown and a little red oxide to my mix I keep defining the
details in the skulls. I like to build my colours up slowly as it will give the skulls
more depth. It could be done with only a couple of colours but this will not result
in the same amount of depth.

This close up shows the detail in the skulls. Notice how the over spray has gone
over the eyes and teeth, I am not concerned about this now as I am going to be
airbrushing a darker colour in later and that will tighten up these areas.

I have now repositioned the skull stencils I used earlier. I use the stencils to
redefine the eyes and nose. The colour looks black but in fact it is a dark brown
mix made using a mix of yellow, bright red, cyan blue and black. I now go through
and add all the details to the skulls at this time.

I removed the white mask protecting the insert and have airbrushed the outer
circle to resemble a stone look, by laying down a mixture of white, black, and red
blue. I pin taped the outer edges with 3M 3 millimeter pin tape and back mask
the guard to prevent over spray. Once the base colour is down I add the stone
effect using black, blue, white and gray. I airbrush this section freehand coming
in very close to the surface to keep the detail tight. The outer and inner edge
was pin taped off and then airbrushed to give a chiseled effect. The wording
was cut out using a plotter and airbrushed in black. You may notice the over
spray in the middle, however this is not a problem as I am going to mask off the
oval and use this colour as my base for the mural. By doing it this way I am go-
ing to get less of a ridge in the middle.
 You will notice the edges of the skulls are fuzzy and also very dark. The reason
for this is that the background colour will be black. By doing this I will get a nice
transition from the skulls to the background and lose the stencil look.

Here I have added colour to the eyes of the skulls using Candy Apple Red and
Oriental Blue Kandy concentrates. These were mixed 8 parts inter coat clear
to 1 part kandy concentrate and reduced 1 to 1 with slow reducer. I use Kandy
as it is transparent and will not affect the black/brown colour in the eyes. This
allows you to tie the pupils to the eye sockets and avoids over spray from base
coat affecting the surrounding areas. The skulls are pretty much done for now.
Lastly I go in with white to add highlights to the skulls. I keep it very tight and
don’t go overboard as too many highlights can kill a design.

After masking off the skulls with the stencils first cut out, I mask off the flame
design with 1/16th crepe tape. This tape is excellent for doing flames as it
bends easily through the tight teardrops of the flame. Once the outline is done
I use 3M 2 inch masking tape to fill in the flames. I now lay down a deep gray
base. This is the colour for the flames. Here I have masked off the flame design
ready to lay the jet black which is the background colour of the bike. The flames
were pin taped and filled in with masking tape to prevent over spray. When
masking off the flames make sure that all the areas are covered so you can
avoid disasters from painting getting where you don’t want it. For this project it
wouldn’t matter much though as the flame colour is a straight colour (meaning
it has no metallic in it) and can be touched up without too much effort, but it’s
always best to avoid potential problems when possible.

Here I have de-masked the guard so you can see the design so far.

At this stage I airbrushed jet black, with 3-4 drops of brown, under the skulls to
cast a shadow. Using straight black is not a good idea as it is lifeless and by add-
ing the brown it still looks black but has more life to it. I let the black drift onto
the skulls very slightly to tie them into the background. You need to be careful
with this though as too much over spray on the skulls will kill the project. The
shadows will only appear on the flames as the background colour is black, but it
still helps to give the appearance that the skulls are standing off the tin wear.
 I mask off the insert using 3M three millimetre pin tape and mask off all the
surrounding area with masking paper to prevent over spray. This paper is what
use to mask off large areas as it is coated to prevent the paint from bleeding
through. The colour is a blue and red mix with white. I airbrush the picture in
black. The picture was a tattoo so I airbrush all the outlines and then go in and
add some shading, pretty much how a tattoo is done when tattooed on the body.
Once finished I airbrush Oriental Blue Kandy (mixed as before 8 to 1) over the
complete insert to give it depth as this knocks back the mural and gives a rich
blue look to the design. As Kandies don’t affect the black too much the mural is
still easy to see, although you need to remember that depending on the colour
kandy you use it can affect how much you can see the mural underneath.

The back guard has just been cleared in the spray booth with three coats of
Standox crystal clear and baked at 60 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes. (Sorry
it’s fuzzy but the camera lens kept fogging due to the heat in the booth). After
letting the job sit for two days to allow it to cure it was colour sanded and buffed
to a show quality finish. (NOTE: Clear coats don’t fully cure for 6 to 7 weeks
depending on the type of clear you use.)

Here are photos of the tanks and front and back guards com- priceless. One very happy customer. As this is our first how to
pleted. On the front guard we also did Ned Kelly’s helmet to article we hope that it was informative and interesting for you.
finish off the design. The Eureka flag was draped over the skulls To check out Todds work take a look at his web site
along with the grey flames. The process we used for airbrush- www.kickasskustom.com
ing the tanks was exactly the same as the guards. Its always
good at the end of the job to see the clients face when they
come to pick it up, the look on the clients face for this job was
 Bubble Templates

I have found that sometimes the simplest things can be the I am constantly mesmerized watching bubbles under the sea
most effective. Naturally occurring organic images like; sky freely flow with the currents, always on their journey upward
and clouds, fire and smoke and water, bubbles are effects that as they transform into many different shapes and sizes as they
each artist can create to enhance their artwork. ascend to the surface.
The real trick to achieving most organic type effects like the To say that I have painted a few bubbles is definitely an un-
ones mentioned previously are to understand their original derstatement, as I have painted thousands upon thousands.
natural flow and movement. Having spent many hours scuba Because I have painted so many, they have become second na-
diving in Hawaiian waters, I have watched and studied first- ture to me to create out of my head without using reference.
hand the underwater sea life with the naturally created for- Take the plunge as I take you to my underwater bubble world,
mations that have become their habitats as well as the land- showing you some of the tricks to my bubble creations.
scapes and atmospheres that create the underwater lifestyle.

First off, I use a medium blue base coat urethane

painted panel. Once completely dry, I apply a pattern
that I created on my plotter at my Cosmic Airbrush
Shop. I draw the bubbles by hand then scan them to
the plotter to cut the mask. I also use a few selected
Artool freehand shields. I use my signature Dennis
Mathewson Hawaiian Hues made by Alsa for my
base colors. I mix two colors, a light teal blue and a
dark navy then reduced 200%.

Once my colors are ready, I begin with the light teal and using my Iwata Kustom CM
airbrush, I spray a light mist right around the cut of the mask. I add around 20% more
color to the bottom than the top. Bubbles reflect light from the top on the bottom of the
bubble.
 Using a Mike Lavallee tru-fire template, I highlight
round edges with white basecoat. How ironic,
using a fire template to create water images. It
works great, thanks Mike!

I then add white basecoat only to the bottom of all of the bub- ing the bubble a light glow all the way around it. Once finished,
bles, following with the navy blue to the top of all of the bubbles the masking is removed (saving the mask for future use).
avoiding contact with spraying the edge of the mask, thus giv-

Using an Artool Big Shield template with its per-

fectly cut circles, I add a few bubbles here and
there as I choose, utilizing the same colors as
previously explained. I have also added a few
softer freehanded bubbles to some areas. The
combination of the mask, Artool template and
freehanded painting make for a totally natural
looking bubble effect.
 I usually use a blue base candy or a transparent blue to spray over the entire piece to
soften the look against the blue background.

Using a #2 liner brush with some lettering and striping colors, I mix a light blue teal line only to the bottom of the bubbles finishing
with a white dot to the top and bottom of each bubble.

After completing the brushwork, I airbrush a soft white glow to each bubble’s bottom
with white base coat.

Lastly, using a Popsicle stick I deflect some white base coat off of the end, resulting in tiny
white speckles that appear as tiny bubbles.
 Q & A With Airbrush Artist Dennis Mathewson
What drives you to be an artist? first generation custom painters at that time did not wish to
I have an uncontrollable drive to create. I think, eat and share their so called” tricks”. They turned their backs to me
breathe creating artwork. It sometimes seems like an uncon- when I asked them questions. Seems all didn’t wish to share,
trollable curse. Artists see the world in a different light and all but one, Bob Spina he has been a great inspiration in my
being an artist, inspiration constantly surrounds me. Living in life and even till this day, I call him “Uncle Bob” with respect.
Hawaii draws much of my creativity from the beauty of the sur- Spina, years ago was Ed Roth’s right hand man and he is a
rounding nature, easygoing lifestyle and rich history. Each time true 1st generation custom painter who still paints and stripes
I travel to other locations they inspire me differently. I have everyday to this day. Since then, so much has happened and
chosen Hawaii to live because of its inspiration, people, lifestyle changed for this industry and myself.
and beauty. Plus the fact that I can airbrush and paint with the
windows open year round giving me a healthy environment to
paint in.

How was it you first picked up an airbrush to use in your How do you go about using color in your artwork?
artwork? Color is a wonderful thing and I hope that all beginning artists
I grew up in Las Vegas and one weekend in 1971 at age 12, my use color from day one in their work. It can set the mood, give
parents took me to southern California (Laguna beach) where I power or depth to artwork. I use different types of colors in
saw a man and his wife painting clothing with wizards, castles, my work, depending on the piece. In custom painting, some-
clouds, flying winged horses and rainbows. WOW! This was a times we use just what is necessary to achieve a design like
fateful and incredible discovery to me seeing how an airbrush red flames on a blue car, with that said we are just applying
could spray color and be controlled. I received my first Paasche what a customer has chosen and have no say in the matter.
VL airbrush that next birthday and the rest is history. It was dif- Maybe we can help choose the pinstripe color or accents to
ficult to learn back then, before Airbrush magazines with how- the standard design and that is where some color knowledge
to articles, books and instructional videos, everything I tried to can come in handy.
learn was pretty much self taught. I got my first job working In other paintings where I create, I use what some call “Dream-
for Big Daddy Rat at the Rats Hole shop in Vegas at the age of scape colors” where I knock down the colors hues using softer
16. I was coloring in cartoon hot rod t-shirts and rarely did any colors, giving them less vividness or brightness. In other paint-
custom designs. We only had three colors and used day glow ings, I tip the scale the other way with lots of hot and cool
enamels Rocket Red, Horizon Blue and Lightning Yellow along contrasts in the painting with cool back lighting and warm fore-
with One Shot black and white. There was no water base t-shirt grounds. This type of painting has gotten me recognition in the
paints at that time. Any colors mixed on the shirts had to be industry and has led to my developing a solvent based color
over lays of colors and everything was cartoon style. Man, so line called Hawaiian Hues for ALSA, where I punched up the
much has changed since then. My automotive custom paint- pigments into bright strong airbrush colors that I use in my
ing began at the same time. With practicing on my own car, I own work daily.
painted and airbrushed is about 9 different times, hehe. Many
Is your artwork planned or spontaneous for the most Norman Rockwell Varga have moved me. Current artist like
part? Olivia, Boris, Simon Beasley, Robert Crumb, Walt Disney and
Both, I sometimes put months of thought to a design and even some of my Tiki artist folks like Doug Horne and others. I
develop lots of reference photos in file. Some pictures I have have traveled all over the world teaching classes to other art-
taken my own photos and others, I search in magazines or ists who inspire me as well. I have been teaching since my first
on the net for ideas. In the end I use my own original thought class in 1978 and have been involved in pretty much in most
and create that image to my own liking. Other times, I have no airbrush organized workshop programs and taught indepen-
reference and I just draw what I feel or see in my head. I then dently as well. I am known as a T-shirt air brusher from the
paint it as if I was releasing a vision. 70-80s then a Custom Painter from the 80-90s and now Fine
art, I mostly work for my two Galleries in Hawaii and other loca-
Do you use a computer, plotter to help with design tions that sell my fine art. Life as an air brusher has been quite
ideas? a journey and still is growing. The roads of art have taken me
I use a computer mostly for email, hehe. As for creating on the many paths, but in all my traveling the one thing I never forget
computer I get frustrated and just want to use a pencil. I do to pack in my bag is an airbrush.
have a plotter and use it for lettering or some simple images. I
have used it to do many shapes for my bubbles though. Mostly transparent or opaque colors used?
I use both opaque and transparent colors in my all my work. I
What inspires Dennis to paint? also mix them together for a translucent color as well. I begin
My wife, Susan and daughter Indigo inspire me to be success- with opaque and then adjust its tones with transparent s giv-
ful. Also my customers, I have had some for many years and ing it more richness. I use the translucence when I do detailed
they depend on my creativity. Hawaii inspires my subjects and work such as a face or small object where I want to control
settings as does the Island lifestyle. I also try to stay true to my the colors’ ability for richness. By adding white to a color it
style of art and feel I have found my own nitch in a world full of can build up to a gradual tone and once reached it will remain
skulls, flames and dragons. there without going too far.

What keeps you motivated on those days when you just don’t
feel like painting but commission work needs to get finished?
Motivation is never an issue to me I wake up wanting to paint
and somedays can’t wait to begin. I work 5 days a week at my
shop and weekends in my home studio where I someday just
want to paint at home around my family and my two dogs Kona
and Tiki. I often ask them for their opinion of my paintings and
my wife will always tell me the truth, my daughter will seems to
like it and my dogs just plan love it always, hehe.

Who are some artists you’ve worked with?

Wow, this list is pretty large, forgive me if I can’t mention ev-
erybody but a few names I have worked closely with are Daniel
Power, Bob Spina, Tom Kelly, Christian Lassen, Craig Fraser,
Make Lavallee, Steve Vandemon, Mickey Harris, Jason Doll,
Vince Goodeve, Mike Learn, Fonzy, Gerlad Mendez, Jonathan
Pantaleon, Blake McCully (Crosseye), Tom Perwitt, Luca Pa-
gan and last but not least the late Robert Benedict who was
an incredible artist and my good friend who passed away. I
also assisted Sorayama while he was here in Hawaii. There
are also lots of local Hawaii talented artist that have worked
with me and that list goes on.

Which artist inspires you?

Each day can be different and I admire all art. I have a little of
every artist inside me I have worked with and still am amazed
by every new artist I meet. Looking at other art always gives
me inspiration and classic artists like Maxfeild Parrish, Dali,
 SPIDY T SHIRT DESIGN
Materials used: Brown Prisma pencil, blank T shirt, t shirt board, createx colors, bottom feed airbrushes, masking
tape.

For the design layout I use light brown I start off with opaque white adding this For this step you will need the color
Prisma pencil. This color pencil is good to the eyes and spider logo on his body. peach. Now I have no reference for
for laying out your design as it can be re- I will move from light to dark while paint- this part so you will need to follow along
moved easily with tape if you draw lightly. ing this design. closely. I had this idea of the Sandman
To protect the collar from over spray I trying to engulf Spiderman. To get the ef-
mask it off using masking tape. fect of sand moving I use peach making
streaks in the direction much like a “U”
shape. Down, around and back up.

Keeping that same effect of the sand

moving now we’ll render on hand coming
Switching now to golden yellow I contin- To help add some definition to the sand
out to grab Spiderman. Using that same
ue making streaks between the peach I now switch to light brown and continue
peach color and the same technique of
streaks I just applied, also add this color making that same type of streaks but
making streaks in that same motion;
a round Spiderman. more in the form of dagger strokes. To
down, around then up again. Because
help bring out a sand color I light mist
the hand is jumping out with sand and
the light brown over the entire area.
debris following they should be placed on
a straight path at different angles from
the hand.
Continuing with the light brown I start to As I finish giving detail to the other hand Using a ruler to make directional lines
give the eyes and hands of our Sandman with the light brown; there’s that debris will help achieve the effect of the debris
some definition. I want the eye to show to deal with also at this point. Using a flying at you. Take a straight edge and
but look like an imprint in the sand. I add 3D rock and brick shapes with dagger spray on the edge of it clockwise.
streaks using the same technique I’ve strokes coming off the back end making
been using up to this point. it seem like debris is coming at you.

Now that the streaks for Sandman have On the other side I want to make light At this point it’s time to a step back and
been laid I’ll add the dots for the sand specks of debris flying in the same direc- look over the whole piece to see what
following the same direction as the tion as the lines. could use a little more detail.
streaks.

Now with the background is complet-

ed it’s time to move onto painting Spi-
derman. In the parts of his suit that
have highlights I apply gray.

To keep the gray from blending in with

the black that will be added I’ll need to
just mist the opaque white in lightly.
After applying the white I can go in and Once all the black is filled in the areas To keep that “Comic Book” feel I’ll need to
apply the black. Starting by just out lining where the gray and black meet we’ll add some cross hatching. What’s that
a section and then filling it in around the have a hard edge to soften this edge I’ll you ask? It’s where two or more lines
areas that are gray. take black and lightly fade it in where the cross to provide a shadow; done more in
two colors meet. inking for you it will be a dagger stroke.

Now that most of the detail work is done For more of a 3D feel I add some shadow And there you go the finished shirt. I
I’ll add some high lights to help further areas to the Sandman’s arm. hope you enjoyed this article and can
define the muscles. use some of the techniques presented
in your own projects.

BASIC LETTERING TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

I have always had an interest in airbrushing, pin striping, and In the past twenty or so years airbrushing has really gotten a
lettering. All of these art forms can be used together, or be lot of exposure, through magazines, videos, car shows, etc. pin
used singly for outstanding results. In the issues of Airbrush striping has seen a real big interest also. But for some reason
Technique 19, 20, and 21 I did three articles on pin striping the art of lettering has just not been so much in demand. One
from basic getting started to a finished design. In this article reason some say is the invention of computerized equipment.
I am going to give you some tips and techniques on doing a In this article I will show you examples of a basic block lettering
basic letter style. After you become familiar, comfortable doing style, lettering tips, common mistakes, brush selection, paints,
letter construction, you can learn many styles of letters and books, and practice strokes. Plus the very important formula
apply this to airbrushing as well. for deciding correct letter proportions.
 TOOLS USED IN THIS ARTICLE
TOOLS USED IN THIS ARTICLE
These are the brushes I use for most of my work. I have two sets of lettering and
scrolling brushes. One set for oil based paints and one set for water based paints
such a Createx, Rich Art, and the acrylics that we are going to use here. TOOL PHO-
TO (left to right) T-Square plastic ruler, compass for making perfect circles, any kind
of pencil to sketch with and draw your layout lines, Robert Simmons Sapphire S21
size 1/4 (flat brush), Mack Brush 2962 size 1/4 (flat brush) These brushes are the
best for lettering with water base and also oil base paints. A Robert Simmons Ameri-
can Painter Script Liner series 4050 size 4 (for thin letters, outlining, and for doing
nice scroll work use in water or oil base paints, eraser, six inch clear ruler (optional).
Apple Barrel Plaid 20504 black acrylic paint, Apple Barrel Plaid 20503 white acrylic
paint, masking tape, roll of masking paper, or newspaper to practice on. You may be
asking: “Why letter with a water based paint”? A water base is available at most craft
and hardware stores.The same goes with the brushes. Using a water base paint is
a little faster moving and if you make a mistake you just do it again. Also many great
sign painters use water based paints to paint display signs.

THE BASIC BLOCK ALPHABET

I know what you are thinking. Why even learn this letter
style when all I want to do is the occasional lettering job
on a motorcycle tank or my lettering is only aimed at air-
brushing T-Shirts. This alphabet is boring looking, many
might say. This alphabet has many variations such as
thick and thin strokes, serifs at the end of strokes, it
can be rounded, stretched, narrowed, and even look
like cave man lettering. This lettering style is the very
foundation for many, many other lettering styles. As I
said when you learn this style it can open the doors to
many other forms of lettering styles; also the potential
to earn extra income with your new lettering skills.

BRUSH STROKE EXERCISES

This is where you start to learn the basics unfortunately there
are no short cut to learning this. Do some of these strokes
look familiar? Many of these strokes can also be applied to pin
striping and airbrushing as well. These are the main strokes
to build just about any type of letter. Any type.....Yes you see
the words “Brush Strokes...” That is a Slanted Casual letter
style. When you get the Basic Block style down well, the Ca-
sual style will be no problem. But for now, we start here with
the basic stroke exercises. If doing Dagger Strokes is a way
to build airbrush control this exercise will get you familiar with
using a “Flat or Liner brush”. Even though it’s tough starting
out doing all kinds of strokes, you will gain confidence as you
progress and start making letters. It will be like many other
art forms; it will also get easier. As I said in the “TOOL SEC-
TION”, you can use masking paper or news paper (pictured
here). The reason for news paper is that you can practice between ready made lines; another tip from the old days.
 GETTING READY TO PRACTICE
Here I will show you how to layout lines on masking paper for
practicing purpose’s. I like to use a good grade masking paper
in nine inch or twelve inch widths. For ruling the lines it’s best to
start with two and a quarter inch too three inch spacing leave-
ing a space of about a half inch between your layouts. You don’t
want to get in the habit of working real small or real large. That
will take more experience and you will need different size brush-
es. Don’t worry about paint wrinkling the paper this is common
on thinner paper. In this example I have made the layout lines
with a dark felt pen. As an alternative to masking paper you can
still use newspaper if you like. If you can buy the same type and
brand of brushes that I have mentioned. If you can’t make sure
it’s this same style of brush. Many people purchase the wrong
brush because the person in the store knows nothing about let-
tering, you now know better. Thin your paint as needed. I like to
use two ounce paper cups I fill them about half way with paint
and add a few drops of water as needed.
Mahlstick
I also use a Mahlstick (pictured).
This is used to help you control
your strokes. It is also how many
traditional sign painters paint.
Some people like using them,
and some say they are too hard
to get used to. I use them as
needed or just use my other
hand to guide me.

VERTICAL STROKE

For this I am using a Mahlstick and start at the top line. Hold to practice with you need to work fairly fast because the paint
your brush perpendicular to the paper and use an even light dries fairly quickly. If you have any kind of Mahlstick around or
pressure and pull the brush straight down to the bottom line have made one try some exercises with it and some with out
and lift the brush up. Sometimes with practice you can get to see which works best for you. As far as how many exercises
a nice sharp top and bottom edge on the stroke. If not you you should do many people do these several hundred times
need to clean up each of your strokes. On vertical strokes like before they are ready to do the actual letters. Like I have said
these you clean up the top and bottom by pulling a light left to there is no set rule. Just take your time, enjoy the painting, and
right “chisel” stroke. You see I painted four strokes for you to make it as clean as possible.
compare yours too. When using paper and water based paint
 HORIZONTAL STROKES (left to right)

When starting this be careful not to saturate your brush too make all the edges nice and square before going to the next
heavy with paint. The brush will sag and you can get drips, not one. It takes time to get used to water based paint and to get
to mention very uneven effects. I’am now doing the horizontal the feel of the brush. At the end of these samples you will see I
strokes. The idea here is to do three or four, and make them have four finished horizontal strokes and a sample letter. This
the same width and thickness. I like to finish each one and is a combination of the vertical and horizontal exercise.

DIAGONAL STROKES
You can make three of these strokes, or as many as you like. each stroke. As in the previous brush strokes, clean up each
The diagonal seem to go much faster. Pick an angle and make one top and bottom before going to next one. In putting these
the first half of a “V”. Remember to stay within the ruled lines. together you will use all the strokes to make the letter “V”. The
After each stroke clean up the top and bottom. The same letter “A” is the same method just reversed. The photo above
method goes for the second half of the “V”. When doing these shows diagonals cleaned up and the letter V.
try and keep all the strokes even and all spaced evenly between

LETTER C

For me the letter c and also the letter o can sometime make or break a lettering
job. One of the biggest problems when first starting out is to lean the letter to the
right or left, or just not doing it evenly. You will notice I made a guide line with a felt
pen first. The goal in practice is to do any of these strokes by just painting in the
lines, this builds brush control. When you do a lettering project it is best to make
a light sketch for a guide. The letter is also broken down by the arrows. Arrow one
is first stroke, arrow two is the second. After finishing step one over lap the brush
strokes in step 2. The key is to do the overlaps and not get wider or narrow in the
process. The letter c should look like a single stroke. On paper it’s very hard to make
it perfect as the paper wants to wrinkle quickly. Be sure doing any type of rounded
strokes to rotate the brush between your fingers, do not hold the brush rigid.

PAINTING THE RIGHT HANDED C AND THE O

 This is a continuation of the c letter. In this I have drawn out what I call a right
handed c. It will seem awkward at first making an opposite c letter but in order to
do the letter o this is a valuable exercise. You will see I have again used a guide
made with a felt pen. Again this is only a guide until you can do this as if it’s second
nature. It takes only two brush strokes for the first version, and three strokes with
the second layout version. As with the letter c overlap the first strokes with your
second stroke. Some artists make an o a perfect circle, and some do it more oval
looking. This is where the brush control and rotating the brush on round letters is
very important. If you do not rotate your brush you will develop very jagged rough
looking letters. There are many alphabet variations even for a common block letter
style like this. When doing any style never alter the style letter to letter unless it is
meant to be that way.

BUILDING THE LETTER S

This article I hope will take some of the mystery out of doing lettering. While I am
not showing every letter style to draw and paint, I am showing some of the letters
that I believe need extra attention. These are letters that are the ones that will really
stand out if not painted correctly. The letter “S” is one such letter. In this alphabet
this letter must be straight and not lean. It also must be a little smaller on the top
part with slightly more space on the bottom. There are three examples of how to
draw a simple layout for this letter. Most lettering guides use the layout with just two
strokes. The other two are variations. The painted “S” in this article was done using
two strokes and rotating the brush as needed for a smooth letter.

THE MOST COMMON MISTAKE WHEN STARTING OUT

By now if you do not have the proper brush and your paint sold the wrong brush to begin with. The biggest reason people
is too thick you might be experiencing less even desirable re- lose interest in learning lettering is because they start with the
sults. I have known many great airbrush artists, pin stripers wrong brush. (Paint too thick and wrong brush combination)
who get frustrated with these exercises all because they were

THE LETTER X
This may be one of the quickest letters to do. A common mistake is that the “X”
should not be “top heavy”, meaning a bigger space on top. In my layout I show a
basic drawing of two strokes. A sketch should be very light only to be used as a
guide, but since this is a basic article it is dark so my camera can pick it up. In my
painted “X” you will see it is just a little bigger on the bottom. You can even get it to
show more space. You must keep in mind the X needs to fit in with the other letters
and not be too big.
 LETTERING INFORMATION
The ABC’s of Lettering I have owned for many years and it’s one of the best books avail-
able on the subject of lettering.. While I have many books (mostly older out of print), this
book for me has helped more than any other. It starts out with brush exercises and goes
into making letters with a brush, pen nib, etc. The A B C of Lettering by J.I. Biegeleisen has
been around since 1940 is still available from many sources. Very easy to understand and
each chapter on letter styles has valuable information on how to use the styles. It does not
matter if you are new to this subject or have been at it for forty years you’ll fimd this is a
very good book. I hope this article has helped you understand lettering better and maybe
motivated you to try your hand at lettering. Remember lettering skills can be learned by
almost anyone with an interest. By learning to do lettering you can add this skill to your air-
brushing and pin striping skills and open a whole new world on what you can offer your customers. In closing I want to thank Dee
Peterson for the photos and all of you who have helped me improve my airbrushing and pin striping skills. And also thanks goes
out to Don Johnson for a great magazine and airbrush forum. For more information on this subject and the art of airbrushing
and other art forms I recommend Airbrush Technique Forum, and Airbrush Technique magazine.

Hey everyone, it’s “Kwit” here with another How-To. This time the initial layout of the subject. This will insure all key features
I am going to show you the technique I use to build the lay- are within proportions and allow you to concentrate on the
ers of short hair when doing pet portraits. I find this technique artwork itself. So we start by creating a custom stencil to the
to be the easiest to cover mistakes and overall less trouble exact size.
than doing all those dagger strokes. Using a high quality ref- Supplies used during for this How To were....ETAC EFX paints,
erence photo of your subject will make doing portraits much Cresent 9218.3 Hot Press Illustration Board, Various eras-
easier. This time it is “Peanut” a 300 plus pound grand prize ers, Magnets, gloves, masking tape, Xacto Knife and a double
winning show goat who has won numerous sanctioned shows action airbrush.
in Kentucky, Illinois and Tennessee. I like doing stencil work for

I like using Microsoft Publisher for sizing and printing larger than normal images. Free
Poster Creating software can be found on the internet if you do not have Publisher. To
get started open up a New Publisher File and Create a “Custom Size Page”. The Illus-
tration Board ( Cresent 9218.3 Hot Press ) that I am using is 15 X 20 so that is the
custom size I use. I then insert the image and layout the text to see how it will look.

Once I’m satisfied with the layout I select print preview. If I’m happy with the preview I
go ahead and print it out. Notice this one was 4 sheets after it is printed. I cut the inner
edges off and align all four sheets together taping the front and back of the seams to-
gether with Scotch Tape. Now I have a full size image to start cutting the main areas.....
eyes, nostrils, ears and whatever other key points you may find as important.
I always seem to forget to take pictures when doing these How To’s, this time
was no different. So let me catch you up. After I combined the sheets, I cut out
the stencil as mentioned above. On this picture I also separated the brown from
the white, which will stay in place until the end. I then mounted the image to the
illustration board by placing magnets on the front and back to hold it in place. I
picked out the darkest areas and cut those out first. I misted a red brown dark mix
of ETAC EFX into the dark areas; then spray in a layer of red brown on the image
leaving the white covered. In this picture you can see I’m working with an easer to
help define the fur.
Now we pick up on the photos. The ETAC EFX paints erase easily off the Hot Press
board; I use a Faber-Castell Perfection 7058B pencil eraser (this one has the
Brush end) and begin laying out the flow of the hairs. As a precautionary measure
I wear gloves to keep from getting moisture on or rubbing the paint off with my hands.

I continue laying out the hairs, checking my reference to see how it flows with the
muscles. Here I go in with the Xacto and scratch some of the higher points of his
face. This is the rough layout so if mistakes are made, don’t sweat it. You can also
try different Xacto Blades at this point, curved or angled will give different results.
Remember, it’s just the layout.

The ear does not appear to have a lot of hairs on it in my reference, so I change
to a Kneaded Eraser and erase certain highpoints of the ear. The Xacto or pencil
eraser would have left lines, so I chose the kneaded eraser. Just like you experi-
mented with the different blades, try different erasers and see what results you
get.

Here you can see I have my “initial” layout completed. Notice the flow of the dif-
ferent hairs, adjust and make any corrections at this point because this is the
foundation, the next layers will just follow this flow.

www.airbrushtechnique.com
Airbrush Technique Magazine Support Forum, Gallery, Product Review, Airbrushtube
I begin shading with a darker brown. Once complete I start over with the scratch-
ing and erasing and keep repeating these steps working in light layers. I also
change my mix by adding different colors between the layers. This adds to the
perception of depth because each time you scratch and paint over it you create
‘lighter’ color hairs in the fur bringing them closer to the viewer. Just scratch ran-
domly and do not scratch over the same hairs twice, this is all random.

After Numerous layers of doing the above steps I have the main area completed.
I have removed the white, misted a light yellow ochre on the white and scratched
the hairs in the nose. Some final highlight scratching will be done after the back-
ground is complete.

Here is a picture after the background has been completed. To get the “out
of focus” appearance just keep your airbrush away from the surface a couple
of inches when laying the colors. The closer you get the more it will appear to
become in focus because your lines are getting tighter. Notice I moved the air-
brush closer to the surface the closer I got to Peanut, bringing the background
in focus around him.

I hope this How To helps someone out and feel free to view my other Artwork at
www.EagleEyeArtwork.com..................Paul”Kwit”Shaw
 Q & A With Airbrush Artist Marge Cameron

Q. What drives you to be an artist? and context. I feel that even for the simplest jobs, color theory
A. The same thing that drives me to eat, drink, sleep and is an important key to the success of a piece.
breathe. For me, being an artist isn’t something I DO, it’s
something I AM. Like having blue eyes or being a certain Q. Is your artwork planned or spontaneous for the most
height, it’s a part of my overall composition. part?
A. I have always admired those artists that are able to just pick
up a substrate, grab some paint and let their work take them
where it may. If it’s anything but figure drawing, I’m not one of
Q. How was it you first picked up an airbrush to use in
them. The vast majority of my art is definitely planned. I spend
your artwork?
a lot of time mentally painting before I ever pick up an airbrush
A. Most people see artwork done with an airbrush or someone
or lay down any tape. I often jot down a quick outline of the se-
using one and decide they want to learn. I was lured in an-
quence I’ll follow in preparation for most jobs, especially bikes.
other way. A guy in one of my oil painting classes in college had
It helps me ensure I’ll have all the materials I’ll need and really
learned how to airbrush the year before and offered to teach
cuts back on any procedural errors. If anything, I am probably
me. He and another guy I knew were going down to the Chica-
guilty of over planning!
go area to shoot shirts for the summer at a major amusement
park. Once I heard how much money you could make in a few
short months, I borrowed one of his old Paasche VL3’s and
practiced every day between classes. Prior to that, I’d never
even heard of an airbrush. And yes, I got lucky and got the job!

Q. Do you use a computer, plotter to help with design

ideas?
Q. How do you go about using color in your artwork? A. Absolutely. Just like the airbrush, it’s another valuable tool
Mostly transparent or opaque colors used? in my arsenal. It’s kind of funny, but when I first learned to
A. I think I probably approach color differently than most air- airbrush, I was such a “purist”. I never used any kind of aid,
brush artists, especially for automotive work. I come from a no masking, no stencils, no freehand shields when I painted.
fine art background that includes acrylic and oil painting, and Everything was 100% freehand. The good thing was it really
work primarily with opaque colors. Although I have started us- forced me to develop my skills. The bad thing was it took me
ing more transparent colors lately, I rarely build up color with a lot longer than anyone else to finish a project. Now that I
layers. If I need a particular orange, for example, I mix it to be own a computer and a Roland GX-24 cutter, I can use what-
what I need straight from the gun. I also rarely use a color right ever it takes to get the job done quickly with the best results.
from the bottle. Nearly every color gets tweaked somehow. I would probably die without my computer now. I can whip up
When choosing what colors to use, I still default to traditional mockups using my Wacom tablet and a customer’s photo to
art theory: hue, saturation, contrast, harmony, temperature solidify concepts when they’re not sure what they want. I can
quickly test out color combos or composition options without Steve Leahy were the most rewarding. I spent many, many
spending a dime on extra paint. I can efficiently create and cut years collaborating with Mark Nelson (RIP), often one of us
out intricate masking without wasting hours bent over a Xacto painting what the other sketched, but unfortunately his work
knife. There are still times where I just have to do it the old fash- was never widely published.
ioned way, but if I can save my client a few bucks and myself the
extra effort, I will!
Q. Which artist inspires you?
Q. What inspires you to paint? A. Wow, that’s a hard question to answer. I am influenced by
A. Passion for life. Period. Even if I never made another dime off so many artists, traditional painters and airbrushers alike. If I
airbrushing, I would still do it. I have been painting since before had to pick only one that had the biggest impact on my develop-
I was walking, so for me, life would be shallow without it. I find ment, it would have to be Robert Bateman. Even though he’s
inspiration everywhere: working in the garden, walking in the a wildlife artist who works mostly with acrylics and brushes,
woods, watching an awesome movie, looking at other artists’ his work has really pushed me to constantly improve my own
work, hearing my kids laugh, talking to a great friend. I am sur- work. I remember the first time I saw one of his paintings. It
rounded by the ravaging beauty and fierce reality of all life has was at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau,
to offer and good or bad, it never fails to move me. Wisconsin. My father had taken me to see the Birds in Art
Show, and I was permanently blown away.
__________________
Marge Cameron
Cameron Arts, Inc.
www.myspace.com/cameron_arts

Q. What keeps you motivated on those days when you

just don’t feel like painting but commission work needs
to get finished?
A. Maintaining a good reputation and the light at the end of the
tunnel! I don’t ever want the stigma of the lazy or unprofession-
al airbrush artist. We have all heard horror stories from our
clients about some guy someone hired that went 3 months
over the promised deadline. Although I do fall behind some-
times on personal projects, I don’t ever want to be that artist
for my paying clients. They deserve more respect than that.
Then there’s the added bonus of knowing that once I get the
job done, it will be gone and I can move on to something else!

Q. Who are some artists you’ve worked with?

A. I have worked with many artists over the years, especially in
my old t-shirt days, entrenched shoulder-to-shoulder in amuse-
ment park booths. We would do some really cool stuff togeth-
er after work. But as far as direct collaborations on pieces
(whether it be modeling, sketching or painting), Rod Fuchs and
 This article covers a step-by-step in making your own T-shirt boards.
Chip aka ‘aiScribbler’ has been airbrushing for a little over 20 quality.
years now, with a career that covers textiles, custom graph- 3. Do I possess the skills, or have the time and tools necessary
ics, sign work & pinstriping. Although he enjoys many forms of to create my own boards?
art, he especially enjoys expressing art onto T-shirts with his There are some outlets which sell shirt boards that are already
airbrush. Scrib has also developed a great love for computer cut to size, saving you the hassle and expense of creating them
generated art and web design, having designed far too many yourself. However for the cost of one pre made board you can
logos and websites to count over the years. His graphic pro- buy an entire sheet of material from which you can make sev-
gram of choice is Adobe Illustrator, cooperating with Adobe eral boards. Since you’re a crafty person with the skills and
Photoshop. Scrib and his wonderful wife of over 22 years have tools for the job... let’s just make them ourselves. Here we go:
a college-student son who serves as an associate with Scrib This how-to uses tempered hardboard (masonite) to create
in his ‘real life’ job as a minister. Over the years, I’ve used (and the shirt boards, but the methods of measurement are similar
have seen others use) all kinds of materials for T-shirt boards... regardless of the material being used.
poster board, foam-core poster board, core-plast corrugated You will need the following materials/tools:
plastic, insulation foam board, cardboard and hardboard, just * 4’x8’ (3/16” thick) sheet of tempered hardboard (Service
to name a few. variety, finished smooth on both sides)
Ideally the material used for shirt boards should be durable, * Circular saw, table saw or hand held jigsaw (just the jigsaw if
moisture resistant, smooth and not too thick. (I have shirt the lumber store cuts the panels for you)
boards which I made of cardboard that are over 20 years in * Sandpaper (a reciprocating or vibrating hand held sander is
service.) The questions I hear asked most often are: 1) What a nice touch)
material should I use for a shirt board? 2) How wide/tall * Hand drill with a 1” flat wood bit
should I make them? I’d like to address these questions in this * Tape measure (or yard stick)
little how-to. Before tackling the job of making boards, consider * Pencil and Sharpie marker
the following: * Wide masking tape (or blue painter’s tape)
1. How long will my shirt boards be in service? Am I really only * Poster board and Foam core poster board, or like material
going to make a few dozen shirts, or am I in this for the ‘long * Sharp scissors or an Xacto knife with a new blade
haul’? * Adult Medium T-shirt from which to measure and make the
2. What are my budgetary constraints? You can make shirt pattern
boards out of many materials, but some are a little pricier than * A sheet of paper to diagram your cuts
others, although expensive doesn’t necessarily mean higher

Step 1: Before we purchase a sheet (or sheets) of hardboard, we’ll need to

measure a shirt. Place a piece of poster board on a flat surface. Take an adult
medium T-shirt and lay it on top of the poster board with the sleeves opened
outward, so as to make a ‘T’, ensuring that the front of the shirt is facing up-
ward. Smooth the shirt to remove the wrinkles being cautious not to stretch
the material, notice the natural contour of the shirt. No one is rectangular
shaped (except SpongeBob), so our shirt boards should follow the natural con-
tour of the shirt, rather than forcing the shirt into an unnatural shape. Using
a pencil, lightly trace the shoulder and neck area of the shirt onto the poster
board... this will act as your template. Don’t stop tracing at the point of the
shoulder, but continue to follow the contour down the sleeve until your come to
the edge of the poster board. This single poster board template will work with
each shirt, with only a few adjustments for the larger and smaller shirts.
Step 2: After you’ve traced the shirt, carefully mark the area of the neck open-
ing. Now, about midway down the shirt, take a careful measurement of the
full width of the shirt, and record that measurement. Now, remove the poster
board and you will find the contour needed to cut the neck and shoulders.
 Step 3: Keep in mind that the T-shirt should be tight, but not overly stretched
onto the board. You have placed too much time into creating and painting the
design to have it look contorted by a shirt which was over-stretched. Granted,
the customer’s gut might warp the image, but we can’t control that. Let’s con-
trol what we can by making the shirt board the correct size. Your shirt mea-
surements provide the width of your shirt, but they are not quite wide enough
for the board.
For the shirt to be ‘just right’ in tightness, add 2” to the overall width measure-
ment. Carefully cut your poster board along the shoulder and neck contour lines
using your scissors or Xacto... follow the contour exactly to the outer edge of
the poster board. I have found that folding the poster board in half, vertically be-
fore you make your cut provides uniform shape to the shoulder. Also, curve into
the neck, rather than creating a harsh corner... your neck has a natural contour
and no sharp edges. (Sorry SpongeBob.)

Step 4: Using the poster board as

a template, I like to use a piece of
foam-core poster board or foam in-
sulation board to create a finished
template. (For this tutorial, I used
1/2” insulation foam board.) Lay the
poster board onto the firmer mate-
rial and transfer the lines, then cut
the foam board with an Xacto or ra-
zor knife. The purpose in this step is
to prevent wasting your hardboard...
play around with the contour of the
neck until it fits the way you need it
to, and then use your foam board
cutout as a final template. The firm-
er material will allow a ‘test fit’ of the
shirt, where the poster board is too
weak to serve that purpose.
Step 5: Most T-shirts go up or down in 2” increments. You can overall width. This is the width of your finished hardboard shirt
note the measurements and increment steps for my shirts, board. The next size up should be 2” wider, while the next size
which I’ve included at the conclusion of this article. We mea- down should be 2” smaller. An Adult small and a Child XL are
sured the width of an Adult Medium T-shirt and added 2” to its essentially the same size in width, so one board will do both
sizes.

Step 6: Now for more planning.

Take your sheet of paper, and draw a panel proportionate to the 4x8 sheet.
(You may opt to do this digitally, as I did, using Adobe Illustrator or a similar
program.) Carefully map out each cut of the hardboard necessary to create a
rectangle for each shirt board size. Plan carefully, ensuring the least amount
of waste possible as you place your panels into the diagram. I’ve included my
diagrams, keeping in mind that there may be a more efficient use of the board.
It worked for me with very little waste. I prefer my shirt boards to be a height
of 34”, so I create every shirt board at a length of 34”. Keep in mind that the
finished board loses some height due to the contour of the shoulder, creating
a ‘neck’ rising above the shirt. My tallest shirts are only 30” tall, so there is
about 1” to spare at the bottom of the shirt board of my largest shirt.
 Step 7: Using your foam board template, mark each hard board carefully follow-
ing the template guide. Allow a tall neck... I like about 4” above the shoulder. Care-
fully cut the boards along the contour lines using a jigsaw. If you cut carefully and
slowly without forcing the saw you should have a fairly smooth cut. Another tip is
to place wide tape along the cut lines (with your marks on the tape) then make
your cuts. The tape helps to hold the material so that it doesn’t shred or fray off
as badly while you make your cuts. After the cuts are made, simply remove the
remaining tape. I am fortunate enough to have a friend with a wood shop and a
very nice scroll saw. He uses ‘spiral blades’ which allow for clean curves and very
smooth cuts, and was gracious enough to cut the boards with my assistance. His
curved cuts were better and smoother than mine using a hand held scrolling jig
saw.

Step 8: From the top, center of the neck, measure down 2” and make a mark. Us-
ing your drill and 1” bit, drill through the hardboard at this mark, creating a small
finger hold and a place from which to hang your board.

Step 9: Most hardboard will have wood fibers clinging to the edges of your cuts,
no matter how carefully you make your cuts. Using very fine grit sandpaper,
sand away these edges. Your goal is not only to remove the fibers, but to give
each edge a gentle roll, removing every hard edge. This will ensure that your
shirts slide smoothly on and off of the board preventing any tearing or unneces-
sary stretching of the shirt material.
Step 10: Wipe off all dust from the surface and edges of the sel and paint all the info is on the neck right in front of me. For
board using cheesecloth. The hardboard still has a somewhat the sake of reference, I’ve provided the measurements for my
open pore quality, allowing small fibers to come loose over time, boards and the Illustrator diagram I created to cut my boards.
sealing both sides with a light coat of clear spray paint resolves (see above for diagrams).
this issue. You may also opt to paint the boards and decorate * For Accuracy Sake: I would recommend measuring each
them. Some artists use different colors for the various sized individual size before laying out your shirt board diagram, or
shirt boards for easy, fast recognition. I prefer to keep mine in cutting any boards. Cutting the boards 2” larger than the mea-
a high-gloss white because the light color aids me in seeing a sured shirt will ensure the perfect fit, and the right amount of
paper with a design under the shirt when transferring cartoon stretch. Use my diagram as reference, but always measure for
and caricature designs, then I color code the neck of the board yourself. Keep in mind that I use Jerzees Heavyweight 50/50
for each size. shirts, other brands may measure differently.
Conclusion: *Viola* You now have a great shirt board, and the Adult Sizes: Small (34-36) 20” width (Also Child Large)
Medium (38-40) 22” width
satisfaction of having made it yourself. Hang your boards up in
Large (42-44) 24” width
a dry place. Keeping them off of the floor, or out of a stack, en- X-Large (46-48) 26” width
sures less warping of the board over time. The tall neck serves XX-Large (50-52) 28” width
as a point of reference for me. I photograph and catalog my XXX-Large (54-56) 30” width
designs on card stock for reference as I paint. My front man Child Sizes: Large (14-16) 20” width (Also Adult Small)
Medium (10-12) 18” width
takes the order on a small form listing colors, names, etc, pulls
Small (6-8) 16” width
the design card and clips both to the neck of the board with the X-Small (2-4) 14” width
shirt ready to go... All I need to do is place the board on my ea- Enjoy your new boards! Scrib
 AIRBRUSH TECHNIQUE MAGAZINE BACK ISSUES

For back issues in both printed and digital editions check the magazine web site.

Special Offer: Issue #1 thru #22 just $89.00 free shipping within the US lower 48 states

Special pricing on select printed back issues of just $3.00 each plus shipping

Order via secure server on the magazine web site using

Master Card, Visa, Discover Card or PayPal

www.airbrushtechniquemagazine.com

MIPA

Water Based Paint for every surface.

www.mipapaint.com
 COMING IN ISSUE #27 TODD MALCOLMSOM’S GROUND
PANEL ART HOW TO ARTICLE

Prepared by MagCloud for Roberto Savoia. Get more at airbrushmagazine.magcloud.com.