Pinstriping

Just picked up my Mack series 10 #0, can of 1 shot, and piece of glass for the first time the other day and got to striping, or trying to. I now truly appreciate all the artists out there who have mastered this art. Can't wait to get it good enough to post pictures up here.

On another note;
I walked into this art store by my house the two days ago to pick up mineral spirits and brush oil. The sales guy started asking me what it was for, so i explained to him it was for pinstriping..... "Uhhh. what?", "you know, on hot rods and motorcycles, really intricate.....", "oh, yeah...... well I don't think we carry anything for that, we only sell, fine art here"

Told him to shove his fine art up his ass. If people only knew how much talent it takes to stripe.......

 

You should have said "yea, I hear this is the only store Rembrant shops at".

 

this site has been helpful to me. hope it is to you as well:
http://www.pinheadlounge.com/

 

My biggest problem is symmetry.... everything I do comes out crooked!

 

Just say it is "abstract".

 

That's the attitude to have!

I actually got a tattoo of one of my designs... sheepishly to the tattoo artist I asked if she could make it a wee bit more symmetrical, it wasn't bad... but not Perfect... lol

 

get your mineral oil and mineral spirits at walmart... get a stabillo pencil and a ruler and make a grid.. go to sketchkult.com and read the newbie archives for pointers and such..have fun

keep it wet!

 

I've been striping on some grid paper I got.... and when I do things work well, but when I get off the grid things get sketchy.

I'm getting better though, practice practice practice!

 

Don't tilt your head when your painting.

 

my local art store carry one-shot , but not one striping brush . Didn't even know where to find them.

 

Try an auto body supply company;they sell Mack series 20 brushes for doing touch-up work.Good for starting out and they are about half the price of a series 10.A lot of stripers swear by them.Or you can buy them mail order from a number of art suppliers(Dick Blick is probably the largest)or from Mack Brush directly.

 

Try Coast Aibrush. I just found them and they have great prices, fast service, and a huge selection. http://www.coastairbrush.com/categories.asp?cat=21

ANother large outfit is TCPglobal.

Personnaly, I had a lot of trouble starting with the Mack Blue #0. It is too long for me. Once I got an Excaliber, things started moving better for me. I just bought a pile of new brushes for different techniques such as scrolling, lettering, and graphics. I am just doing this for the fun of it. Not trying to make a living at it. Those guys are awesome and put some serious blood sweat and tears into building a life out of it. Goata respect them for it.

 

Stadtler Omnichrome pencils are better than Stabilos, they wash off with water,
but don't scratch like the new Stabillos can. And they don't turn to mush in hot weather. Priced around the same. Earlmich.com has them.

Mack doesn't have prices on their site, that I could find,
but I think Series 20 is around $8 and Series 10 is around $12
The "extra" $4 is well worth it.

Check the yellow pages under "sign supplies" for paint and brushes.

 

I posted a comparison of paint dealers and prices here a couple weeks ago.

Do your research.

 

http://sketchkult.com//phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1110

Here is a link that will answer alot of your question. The guys on this site are great. Good Luck

 

those links at SK are priceless.

The SK site in the link above is locked down for new posts, but is still available as a a read-only.

the new live address is

http://www.sketchkult.ning.com

 

good luck i been playing for 4 yrs and its still a challenge

 

I think symetry is my biggest challenge also. I was told by an old striper to use waxless chalk instead of pencils because it will wipe off better and not leave any ghosting in the design later. Don't know for sure but he had been striping for 30 plus years and I am a newbie at this.

 

I use the USA*General's Scribe-ALL. They work great and come in black, white and red. They wash off with Windex (or spit on your thumb) and don't seem to adversely affect the One Shot at all. The art supply store usually has them. As for symmetry, fold a piece of paper in half, then unfold it. Draw on whichever side you prefer, then fold it back and rub the living hell out of the back side of the drawing. Unfold the paper and you'll have a perfect match. On light colored cars, tape that paper onto the car with graphite paper under it. Trace the design over your paper. Pull the whole thing up and you'll have a beautiful pencil sketch of the design on the car. Just follow the lines with your brush and BINGO....perfect symmetry. Granted, this is a crutch and you should really work hard to get it right without cheating, but for a beginner, it works pretty damned well. Or, just lay a grid on the car with a flexible ruler with tape on the back to prevent scratching the paint. Then sketch the whole design with your stabillo pencil. Tell the client to wait about two days, then gently wipe the whole design with Windex and a soft cloth to remove the pencil marks. That's the way I did this one...

 

Haha that's cool, it looks angry

 

hey, i've got a question now that i've been out shopping for material. what the hell is the difference between : reducer, thinner, mineral spirits, denatured alcohol and turpentine? all the same thing? seems to sound that way from what i hear. seems they are all used to get the paint out of the brush when done and for thinning the paint while working. is there a difference?

i can't belive i have to go to 5 or 6 different stores for supplies! been to two art stores, home depot, cvs, automotive supply and still don't have everything... what a pain.

 

I can't draw a straight line with a T square. If I tried to pinstripe it would come out looking like a blob of shit.

 

I just started too! I do pretty with straight lines but curves are crazy hard for me to keep the width uniform!

 

Line width is influenced by pressure.
The harder you press on the brush, the wider the line.
If you hold your brush with two fingers, the other three
can rest on the panel to support your hand. Then it is
easier to be consistent with your pressure.

I've got a "How to Hold a Pinstriping Brush" how to PDF on my site.
http://www.flyingeyeballs.net/Links.html

 

They are not the same thing. Reducer is for enamel, thinner for is for lacquer, turpentine is for oil based.
Another quick tip: put a little baby powder on the side and heel of your paint brush hand. Reduces drag when pulling a long line and cleans up later on with a wipe.

 

Great Thread! Keep it goin...I'm soakin up the info like a sponge!

 

I use Odourless Mineral Spirits for cleaning brushes only,
1-Shot High Temperature Reducer for striping,
and 1-Shot Low Temperature Reducer for air brushing.

 

cool. that clears a bit up i've been wondering about. thanks for all the info!

 

Thanks for the tips! Your web page is very informative, it is now bookmarked in my computer. I will try some more curves in my next practice session. Maybe I might even post pics if I feel like giving you guys a laugh!

 

Thanks, I have more How To PDF ideas coming.
Just need time and energy.