Sometimes its difficult to make that decision with such a poor image and only 1 angle...this happens so often in Hotrod/Custom...1 pic wonders...if we're lucky...I kinda feel as you do but would fence sit on a firm yes or no...
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-origin-of-flaming-hot-rods.1209290/#post-13798874 History is a beautiful thing...Inspiration is a big part of the Culture...not saying Lee saw these but putting twists on designs is many times a tip of the hat to past excellence...I love the diverse evolution of the licks of go fast...it's hard to decide what's perfect...there were so many that fit the bill...
Notice in Post #4 I liked Lee Pratts version. The Vette Ryan wrote about is fugly, I'll stick by my take on that. And I like almost EVERY OTHER car in this thread. If you apply my first post out of context one would think I do not like flames.................. But, I do.
I totally read your post and noted your liking Pratts flames on the A...just saying IF there were better pics perhaps you might think differently thats all...again not suggesting you hate flames at all...
I have to admit that I am somewhat of a flame snob as well. Although I definitely appreciate some of the early flame jobs on historic cars, I will likely never paint any that look like them. I somewhat came up with a style I liked back when I was painting flames on custom trucks and Harley’s that I really like. But, I also see this whole deal as about as subjective as anything when it comes to style. I would consider my flames a traditional style although not in the sense of comparison to some of the first ones. Isn’t this a cool hobby where we can all have our own taste even though some folks have better taste than others?
This statement blows my mind. How in every possible fuck is this car borderline to "HAMB era?" I'd bet 99.87241% of the membership would disagree, including mods and our founder. A fuckin standard if ever there was one. quick edit; not trying to flame or create ill will, but damn...
...Flames can get the temperature rising...so much a firetruck might need called in...see...funny it's one of those mods that crosses both Hotrod and Custom but seems equally hated by both camps right up there with www's...
To me they're like grandchildren. Fun, but nice to see them go home as well. I like doing flames, but I don't want any on my stuff cuz I'd get sick of it.
Another Favorite, I did a rough rendering for my friend Steve (See attached pic below) My cousin Ruben, painted the flames. When I did the rendering, I didn't have a good marker "blender" and just tried to fade the colors with markers. They thought I meant to paint the streaks and liked the look, so my cousin got the air brush an added the streaks! I believe the Merc is in Australia now??
That can be said of so many details on Hotrods...It's a personal decision...most Hotrods are as visually striking as a Flame Job without them...Flames just embolden that not unlike the fall colors as you drive into a thicket of color...they as is said add a POP/Wow to the Wow already present...
Not a huge fan of flames but I do love some seaweed flames sometimes. Got bored with my ‘54 a few years back and here’s my crack at it. Still not sure if they’ll stay or not.
Short, thick, crab claw flames look like a bag full of ass. They always look like a grammar school art project. Seaweed flames are the pinnacle of flame art and imho require the most talent to make. The use of accenting colors at the edges of flames is just so much more aesthetically eye catching. I remember reading in a book about customs that they used to paint layers of different colors and then they would sand down through the layers to blend them together. Seems like a lot of work but if it true then it paid off.
This is basically the style that I like to paint. I have never heard of sanding through layers for blending. I just shoot all the colors and clear.
Cal Tanaka's 33....I think? Always liked the flames on this one. The road rash, an added bonus, it's a driver! Kudos to Tombo.
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