Painting Decks

[redrage]

Okay, I’ll admit that I haven’t been very prolific this year. It hasn’t been by choice I assure you; I’ve been pretty sick this year. I was initially told I probably had cancer only to have that diagnosis change into something that the doctors don’t fully understand. Fortunately it doesn’t appear to be cancer and even though I’m still tired most of the time I’m finally starting to feel a little better. Needless to say, I haven't been doing much of anything in the way of resin kits.

Despite all of that crap…

I have been able to sneak a few “side” projects into my schedule. The latest work on my build table really isn’t a figure at all by strictest definition but it is a 31” tall illustration of an anime girl. For reasons I can’t really explain I got a wild idea to do paint a few skateboard decks to hang on my office wall: this is the first one.

What does that have to do with Japanese Garage Kits? Probably nothing.

Of course if I didn’t build garage kits I probably wouldn’t have had the desire to do this illustration in the first place. I’ll admit I’m just doing this because it’s a lot of fun! I found the black and white figure drawing in a magazine. I really liked it so I modified it a little and added my own color scheme. I did the graphic layout and design in Photoshop and went directly to the spray booth. I’m working on some other designs using my own drawings for the next decks. I really wanted to paint something right now and skateboards take days to paint compared to garage kits that take me months.

Sorry for the crappy photos; I’ll take some decent ones when I’m done.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/red_rage/06_1109x2.jpg
My initial idea sketched out in Photoshop

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/red_rage/PICT1305crop.jpg
Work in progress of deck

Hope you enjoy.

[Masa]

What does that have to do with Japanese Garage Kits? Probably nothing.

Of course if I didn’t build garage kits I probably wouldn’t have had the desire to do this illustration in the first place.

Dude, that looks sweet ::thumb

I always thought of us as a group of artists first, just with some overlap in the figure kits area. Not to mention... paint actually passed through your airbrush... whereas mine is filled with crusty spiders and cobwebs from years of neglect :sweat: I always wanted to try and airbrush a snowboard or maybe a bike helmet, maybe sometime soon. I do have a guitar to strip and paint someday... hmm... an anime design would be pretty cool looking... :devil:

Glad to hear that you are feeling better and can't wait to see the finished results :)

Please fill us in on the nitty gritty details too - like where did you get the blank deck, what kind of paint, special treatments, what type of sealers, etc.

[Dr.H]

Red that skateoard kicks ass!:rockon: As someone who spent most of his highschool years skating/boarding I really think thats a cool idea. It reminds me of the hook-ups boards http://www.hookupsskateboards.com/ their style has changed a bit but they use to make real sexy anime boards and shirts. :wub:
I'm glad your feeling better and it's a great thing you put your art into a variety of things. ;)

[FilmMkr]

William, its great to see you posting, my friend. Please don't be such a stranger, and by all means, post progress on your deck!

MH

[redrage]

Thanks for all the kind compliments guys. (BTW: Great link Dr.)

I got a little more work done and I may start pin striping it tonight if I still feel up to it.

The deck is a Powell “mini-logo” deck; K-12 Hella concave model. I like all things extreme and this board should really pop if it ever comes down off my studio wall. I thought having a wicked curve would look cool but I never stopped to think about how that would effect masking and layout. The whole board is a continuous compound curve and coming from an illustration board background, that has been a challenge for me. Hey, learning is good right?!

I’m doing this one “old school” with spray can primer and cheap artist acrylics. I have some House of Kolor Lacquers but I want to jam one out first, evaluate mistakes in my technique and try to improve on the next. This is just a baseline effort and most importantly it’s strictly for fun.

I’m using low-tack illustration frisket film along with onion paper and artist tape to mask things. I base coated the fades using my old single action “H” model (remember this is a HUGE subject compared to a GK) and I’m using my Iwata top feed DA for the clouds and the figure.

There will be no shading on this one because I wanted a high impact graphic look. That also influenced my color decisions; everything in the foreground is a primary color, black or white.

Till next time, cheers…

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/red_rage/crop_0334.jpg

[redrage]

Slowly getting there...

(This is my first humble attempt at pinstriping and I have gained an even greater respect for Von Dutch and "Tommy the Greek"! :bow: )

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/red_rage/crop_0338.jpg

[Joa]

Sure is nice to see you posting again, and sorry to hear about your hard times.

And as Masa put it; we're all artists here no matter the subject... ;)

[redrage]

Done and moving on to the next one...

http://www.gkjapan.com/gallery/files/7/crop_0344.jpg

[Dr.H]

Now that is COOL!! It looks like a pro board!

[FilmMkr]

Very nice, indeed! What's next for the pro board painter?

[Masa]

Very nice, indeed! What's next for the pro board painter?

Guitar :D