Today is so tiring for me.. Just started Paintlust work again and this time we are working on location at Dulux. I managed to find some time between brush strokes to make a call to Amir from Vatos Airbrush Studio. I asked about the equipment and the courses fee and was flabbergasted to find out that the full course is RM 3500 for 10-14 days of studying. That is about RM 250 for 2 hours a day. T_T
I can understand why it is priced that way. I mean once he departs all the knowledge to his students, he is basically creating competitors for himself and it is a fair price to pay for knowledge like that. I found out that the airbrush alone is RM 1000 ++ without the compressor. Wow. This project seems so desolate and lost now.
However, I am lucky and grateful for he sms back with a few more affordable choices. Yay!
RM 500 for a 2 days course
RM 800 for a 3 days course
RM 1500 for an advance 5 days class
RM 3500 for full course
The numbers are abit off arithmetically but who cares! I can afford a 2 days course which covers the basic of automotive airbrushing. I don’t really need the techniques for airbrushing cuz for that… Google is my friend. The important stuff I need to know is the kind of paint I need to use, how to do the finishing, equipment handling and safety regulations. The paint is toxic and it scares the hell out of me. I am terrified of mortality ever since my dad passed away.
Anyway, on Saturday I head to Amir’s crib in Klang for the lesson.
Greeted with art on cars
There were 2 cars in WIP stage right in this corner lot house. I feel so excited already seeing the art. >_<
Airbrush techniques 101
Amir taught me how to disassemble and assemble the airbrush, explained to me all the tools and paint I would need for my car job and also where I could find the stuff I need to buy. I am growing to respect this guy more and more, it is very inspiring to meet an artist so humble and willing to share his pool of knowledge. He did told me he wanted to continue going to courses hosted by artists that inspired him, Dru Blair is one of them. And it struck me that, once you are immersed in your profession for a long time, sometimes ego gets to you and you feel like you know it all you know what I mean… this is a reminder that I ought to seek for creative knowledge more and really nurture the artist in me.
My first attempt at airbrush
Handling the airbrush is not easy, keeping your hand steady is no easy task. One of the most difficult thing in this process to me is the balance between the pressure on the finger button and the distance between the airbrush and the canvas. I still can’t get the airbrush to respond to how I want it to yet and it can be a little frustrating at times. I think I need at least a month’s practice just to be able to tame the airbrush.
Airbrush master at work
Ok I have an updated list of things to buy after this session. Boy I am glad I held out in buying those items. Phew.
Pinstriping Masters Techniques,Tricks,and Special F/X for Laying Down the Line USD 37
CarMix paint from Mercury Paints, local automotive brand
Intercoat to lock the artwork
Normal thinner, 2k thinner & turpentine
Sword striping brushes from Mack, Amir told me bout buying pin striping brushes from Sarawak but I still have 2 brushes stashed in my US address.. so I am gonna take this opportunity to get some striping swords from US while I am at it.
Matte clear coat
Automotive masking tape
Airbrush and compressor RM 735
A short demo by Amir
At the end of the day, Amir presented to me a painting done during his demonstration. It is very captivating to watch an artist at work, unless it is Vinn cuz I see her work every damn day. Lol. Ever since I returned to art, I feel so so so much happier and joyful
Now that this is taken care off, I can spend my time working on the car design. Finally!
Anyway, if you need airbrush art done on cars check out Amir’s works at Facebook. I would definitely recommend him as well if you are looking for airbrush classes in Malaysia.
OMG I just checked my spam folder and found a lot of emails from hazelong.com’s enquiry form!!! T_T So sorry everyone. If I didn’t reply you can email me at hazelong@gmx.com immediately and I will reply asap!
My adrenaline has yet to slow down.. still so very excited about this. In the beginning of every art project, I would always seek for more and more information and knowledge. The learning part of the journey is the most enjoyable one, I feel at ease only when I am constantly doing something interesting.
Doesn’t this look amazing?
So this post will be about information that I have gathered so far.
Pinstriping Masters Techniques, Tricks & Special FX for laying down the lines
Things to buy soon : Note that this may not be the cheapest, I am not a fan of searching high and low for the cheapest price. I like to get things fast and on the spot without much delay in making decisions.
Pinstriping Masters Techniques,Tricks,and Special F/X for Laying Down the Line USD 37
Kafka pin striping brushes in 3 sizes from 0 – 3 USD 37.41
Normal 1 shot reducer
1 shot 5 primary color set
Vinyl Primer
Hardener
Graphiguard
1 Shot paint, reducer & clears
I have emailed Tom’s Stickers and is very pleased with their prompt response regarding the car wrap enquiries. They have a branch in Shah Alam which would be quite convenient for me to go to.
1. Color limitations of the printing : no limit
2. Duration of the car wrap application : 2-5 days ( depends on the design)
3. Resolution & file format of the design : high res is preferable, ai, psd,eps
4. Template for the design if any : only send out design once payment receive (I was asked to go to their show room to discuss with the designer there first)
5. Price for glossy car wrap print and application : around RM3k
Creative decisions are the hardest to make. I can’t even decide on the background color.. which will basically be the main color of my car. Deciding on the illustration is even worse. All I know is I want a girl in there, a beast of some sorts and some abstract illustrations (hopefully lines so I can do it with pinstriping)
I do have some inspiration so far though..Here are they in bits and pieces.
Split in two colors with a bleed from the lower half right over the windows.
Something to enhance the curves of the car..
Chip Foose design
This is probably how I will split the tones in my car, but different flow and the white parts will be illustrated of course.
On further thinking, spending 3k on car wrap and another 1k plus on pin striping is bit ridiculous for me as that is half the price of a motorbike that I wanted to buy for so long. Buying an airbrush set with the pin striping is more affordable. I found an artist in Shah Alam that sells airbrush kits, does automotive airbrushing and gives classes. What more could I ask for? Time to contact the guy and see how it goes.
It’s been some time since I have gotten my car. Ever since it has reached my hands, I wanted to do a whole lot of pimping to it to make it look prettier. I couldn’t find the time or money to do it though.
This time around, I am going to make it happen! I am going to give myself 3 months to do it and I am going to record the whole process here.
So here is my car, a white Satria Neo CPS. White cuz I am a female and it is a must for me to to state the color. :p
My ride
Anyway the car is stock with no modifications, just a few strut bars here and there which I have added on earlier last year. The car has been repainted with a Polyutherane paint in white to replace the old paint. PU paint cuz it is more resistant to scratches and chips, and also it doesn’t yellow with age.
So that essentially means if I were to do any work on the car, the paint I use have to be as good as the existing PU paint or it wouldn’t be worth it.
Pinstriped car
Yee Hou showed me a video (below) on pin striping and it was so awesome cool! Pinstriping is basically drawing lines on the vehicle to enhance the flow of the car’s curves and design.
While pinstriping is great and all, I feel like I wanna do some illustrations and paintings on the car as well. Airbrush is out of the hand as it would be costly that’s number one, number two I would have to learn from scratch and that takes months, I would also need a huge sanitized garage space for this job. So that is out of the question, I searched high and low for people painting on the car with brushes and turned up with no inspiring examples.
In the end, I feel that a car wrap with my digitally painted design would be most appropriate for the occasion. The car wrap is in vinyl(I think) and after it is back from the shop, I would pin stripe the bungkus-ed car.
Car Skinz GTR wrap
I am still unsure at this stage if this would work. After much research, I would be using the usual utherane paint for the pinstriping which is suitable for metals and steel like vehicles. However, the car would be wrapped in vinyl and the paint might not bind to the surface. However I have read somewhere that the paint is very versatile and binds to everything that is solid.
After a few more searches, I was happy to confirm that the enamel can bind to vinyl. Phew.
My schedule would be something like this :
March – Design, Research, Gather materials and tools April – Send for car wrap May – Paint the car
Sounds good so far. A few more things to do though, I need to contact Tom’s Sticker to ask about the price, templates and printing quality of the car wrap.
And I need to purchase a pin striping book, tools and the paints in US and ship them back here. Not sure if shipping liquid back is allowed. Gotta check that too. Tons of things to do, so little time.
Until next time then. So excited!!! T’is gonna be fun!
