Folks Of Interest Artists,pinstripers,sign painters gather round'.

Hey yall.
I would like to hear your stories of the first time you painted a sign,pinstriped a car,or had a customer order a print or a rendering of their car/truck/hot rod.
I mean,the first official job you did.
Were you scared??
Were you confident??
Did the customer like it? hated it?
Did you ever had to re-do a job???

Please tell us a little background too,like:
when/how did you decided you were going to do this for a living?
This topic interests me a lot because I would be scared shirtless to screw up a perfect,expensive paint job.

I guess a rendering wouldn't be as bad but A sign on the door or some pin striping has to be done right or the customer wont be happy.

One more thing for those artist who work on their car/truck/hot rod:
Are you scared of accidents on your hands,fingers especially???
Or you just dont think about it.
I enjoy drawing,playing a little music,painting etc and would be devastated if I lost the ability to do any of those.
I been close to slicing my fingers with saws,cut off wheels,etc.
Please enlighten us

 

not one?

 

Does this count? I have not pulled lines for two years so today I got out the 1shot and swords and started over again. My five year old daughter grabbed one and went to town. I was a proud papa!!! She didn't do so bad at all and made me very proud!!! Just like any sport....start them young.

 

here is some of my real early stuff, both done in the 70's. the sign was given to me a while back by the owners son.and the old camaro is mine.i lost the sight in my left eye in the late 80's and i'm still sling'n paint..........i do have all my fingers!

 

more recent stuff.

 

One of the first cars I striped was the Lil Deuce coupe when it was first started and in white prime (1957).
I never made a living pinstriping, I made damn good money every once in a while.

 

The first time I striped someone else's car was for one of the guys in my club (well, the other guy in our two man club). It was a '64 Coupe deVille that we chopped the roof off of. He made me clean it off and redo it at least 10 times... The first time I striped a car for "payment" was at Billetproof when I was a freshmen in highschool. I was so nervous I couldnt hardly keep my hands from shaking... Luckily the car was only in primer and the owner was kool. I traded a cheeseburger and a lemonade for that job!! LOL

 

This is my 39 and I did this for practice never really pulled any lines before it. I figure I should practice on my stuff first

 

I am just starting out. I have a set of Macks that need initiation. I guess I'll practice on my '51. Been drawing cars all of my life and figure I have some neat ideas but I am just starting to try out full size, full color renderings. I love the work of Thom Taylor, Steve Stanford, Chip Foose and the like and they have influenced me a great deal, but I hope to develop my own style. I think Jeff Norwell sure has an awesome style all his own. I have a lot of 40's advertising and cartoon influences.

 

The first full color design I did as a commission piece was for Gibbon's. this was in around 1985 and was for
their F-100 line, a few years before Jr. opened the big place down in Virginia. I was scared but confident.
In truth, I was in over my head though they were happy with how it turned out, I think.
That is why I would consider my first true commission to be the off topic, '68 Charger R/T I did a few years
back. A woman hired me to illustrate it for her Husband's birthday. Again, I was nervous but confident. He has
used it to display with his beautifully restored 440 R/T for several years now.
It is appx. 11 x 17, and is color pencil and marker on bristol board.

warning: OT




The next one was the very first one I did for a member of the HAMB and was the opposite scenario
and this time it was for the wife. It is always scary drawing other's family members. It is very, very
scary drawing someone else's spouse, especially if they want it in Pin-Up style, because you can't take
it back if you screw up royally and you always feel you might screw up royally. Now, to top it off, he
wanted his little girl in it too.
That actually helped with deciding how 'pin-up' like I'd have to be. The client like it tho I'm still not
happy how the little girl turned out. It was an early digitally colored piece and I learned a lot by doing it.
I have come a long way since that one. I have worked on fixing the girl and hope to get him a revised
version some day.... if he wants ...

It is printed out on 11 X 14 HQ low glare photograph paper.

 

My first pinstriping job on a vehicle was a neighbor's 1950 Mercury. I was 13 years old and it was 1957.It was an August day and there was no shade.The car was black and I was using Red Devil white enamel thinned with turpentine and a Grumbacher 1010 striper. The car was parked on a slight angle and I painted the design on the hood and trunk straight up and down.Couldn't wipe off my mistakes because the enamel base paint was fresh.Actually had blisters on my hands from laying them on the surface of the car. Customer still liked it but not as much as I did. I was officially a pinstriper!

Had way too many fun experiences over the years. Laying on a beach chair under a lift striping the underside of a T roadster for most of the night that was being photographed for Hot Rod magazine the next day(my first car in print)in 1961.

Painting a set of artificial arms for a friend of my son who lost them in a horrific electrical accident(7600 volts through his body;burned his arms so badly they had to be amputated just below the elbows).

Lettering and striping an Indy 500 winner(1972) that was being refreshed for a museum in Arizona. Also a 1966 Ford GT-40 MkII that is in the Indy museum.

I've had a couple people over the years that weren't satisfied with what I had done on their cars and honestly I don't think anyone could have satisfied them.

I'm currently working on a book about my experiences in the business so you'll just have to wait and read it when it is finished.

 

dam some nice work..

 

My first paid lettering job was on a gl*** entrance door to an Irish bar in lower Manhattan. I was nervous as hell. The bar is a block from the famous Wall Street Bull so there was a ton of foot traffic and people stopping to watch me as I worked. An older guy watched for a while and puffed on a cigar. He said he hadn't seen anyone letter by hand in years and it was nice to know there were still some real artists out there. I thanked him and it helped me shake off the jitters. Didn't think I was much of an artist then and still don't now but I kept one of the 20's I got paid with. It's still sitting in my tool box as memento from my first "real" paying job. Now if I only had the balls to get a few more...

 

My first true commissioned piece would be this stainless steel vase and flowers. It was something that was on the clients mind after she had seen a similar one I did for an art show that featured 27 pieces of mine back in 2009. They wanted the one that was displayed buit it had already been sold within the first 20 minutes of the show. To me it is difficult in some ways to do comissioned pieces because you are kind of at the mercy of the client. Rather than that of your own free spirit but it sometimes is very cool because they can help you to bring out some hidden potential within. At least thats what I have found to happen. As far as being nervous I get that way with all my art if it is for me or someone else.

 

Sorry it don't fit the lettering painting or pinstriping

 

It fits the artistic type...

Btw thats an awesome piece,that was a lot of polishing.


Checkrdpast:I was wondering who would be the first to mention the first "bill" they made.

OK GUYS:It dont have to be stripers,sign painters and designers.
It could be your first paint job on a car or your first shirt,photo shoot???
thanks

 

Here's a ditty I did on the roof of a oval track antique race car, and a oil portrait of a vintage cl***ic for a customer.

 

Holy ****.was that your first commissioned job??
I bet they were real happy/..

 

No, it wasn't my first, but I can't find any old pictures. LOL

 

Iwanaflattie

About 4 years ago i started striping, about 2 years ago started to do sign work and just bought an airbrush. Learnt from books and talking to stripers. I did and still do stripe anything i can, whenever i'm in the mood. It wasn't too soon that someone asked me for some striping on an old helmet. I came up with some designs and did the job at home. Came out great, guy loved it but i hated doing it. Next was a dashboard for a friend and again it came out great but i hated doing it, even more so when you have someone over your shoulder, yapping in your ear and watching your every move. There is a big differenece between doing work in your garage at your pace, nice and relaxed and being at someone's place with 5 patch wearing bikers watching you!!!!!
I have done 6-7 small paid jobs, never had any issues and great feedback but I soon realised that doing striping to make money wasn't for me. I tend to practice on old bottles, gl***es, picture frames, anything really and have sold a few of those off and done some as presents for mates. I love it as a hobby, thats why i started and enjoy doing my own stuff but the pressure doing paid work kind of took the glow out of doing it. I only stripe when the mood takes me. If i'm not relaxed and into it i can see it in my lines and it's time to put the brushes away.

Dan

 

My first flame job, 1974 done on the 'ol mans 8N ford. Newspaper and rattle cans and even a little bit of lace work and some hand lettering. He wasent even pissed, even though I forgot to ask before I did it. anyway, after that I was hooked! ****ed ever since!

 

By '75 I had gotten my hands on an $8 Badger bottom feed air brush and was really going to town. Fades, fogs, fish scales!! base coat was metal flake spray can, I charged $40 bucks for the whole job....The dirty S.O.B. still owes me 20 bucks on it. My first lession in being self employed!

I always just jumped in and did things that I'd never done before (paint wise). It wasent till later when people told me "You can't do that" that I started second guessing myself.

 

I picked my brushes back up a few years ago after retiring from the fire dept. I had worked as an apprentice sign painter years back, but when cheap vinyl lettering hit the scene big business got slow and I moved on.

Anyway, I was doing panels, work for my friends, etc. but not working at it 'professionally' - till one day at a show I was striping a friend's car - a guy walks up and says "Are you the pinstriper?" I said, 'yeah, I guess so' He told me he wanted me to stripe his car - a really nice '32. I was nervous but it came out fine - that was my first 'for pay' job. I don't really do it full time but I have had cars with my work on them in several mags and even a Coker tire ad.

I've only had one guy come back and complain. I striped his '56 F100 and he left happy. Next day he calls and says "Hey Gator, I need you to fix the striping on my truck" I asked what was wrong with it, figuring it got bugs in it on the way home or smudged it. Nope - he says "it's crooked" I told him it didn't look crooked when he left, but if he wasn't happy to bring it back and I'd fix it.

Next day he comes back. I look the truck up and down and can't see where it's 'crooked' When I finally ask him to show me where it's crooked, he tells me the center line of the main design on the hood is "almost 1/8th inch off center". I say 'You're ****ting me, right?" "Nope" he says - "I didn't even notice it till my wife pointed it out" Turns out she was so mad about him spending HER money on the truck she went over it till she found something wrong with it. Like Ray said I don't think ANYONE would have made her happy.

Had another guy once wanted a witch doctor/tiki painted on the tailgate of his Falcon 'surf wagon' I striped. Then he wanted 'freaky tiki' painted on it. Then he wanted palm trees and bongo drums. I told him it was getting kinda busy on there, I thought it was too much - but if he was sure...OK.

Next day he calls me and says it's too much stuff and how can he take some of it off.

 

Big Nik1959 that is awesome,flames on a tractor.
Gator cool story,1/8"?" ha ha women.

 

My first paying gig was a 1927 Ford. The owner wanted the dashboard pinstriped. His wife liked the work so everybody was happy ;-)

 

It all started for me back in 1967 when I signed up for the Sign Arts cl*** at Pasadena City College ( CA). I had watched a guy stripe a T-bucket for a buddy and I asked how he learned how to do that , and ha told me about the cl*** at PCC. What he did'nt tell me , was that the cl*** was 5 days a week, 4 hours a day ! So, I spent the next two years learning letter form ,poster and oil paints , silk screening and gold leaf work. It was a very hands on cl*** , and after my two year education , I was pretty proficiant with a brush . I then entered the work force moving around various sign and silkscreen shops until landing a job with JC Penny in their westcoast advertising dept . While I was at JCP , I would do an occasional lettering or striping job for friends or referrals . After a while and tiring of the corperate political games , I decided to leave for something totally differant ,, construction ! The construction trade was good to me for a while but the inconsistincy of jobs and weather were taking their toll , I needed something a little more steady . Thru a referral form an old girlfriend I went to work in a van conversion shop doing striping and lettering for them and whatever work I could pick up on my own . This was in the heyday of the van craze , so I stayed real busy ! The van shop eventually went out of business due to poor management and I was out door . This is when My friend Dennis Jones , who had a shop doing striping and lettering said " why don't you just open your own shop". So in 1973 I started my own business and have never stopped to this day . When I first started all I did was hand lettering and pinstriping , however in the 39 years since I've learned how to do several additional related crafts that have served me well. My shop now does custom paint work in several styles and techniques on a wide variety of vehicles , All types of handlettering and pinstriping , gold leaf , airbrush , woodgraining and grafic design . I've been featured in countless magazine features throughout the years and several auto related TV shows . I've been fortunate to have worked on some really great racecars , hotrods , customs , boats and some of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet . All in all , it's been a great career , and I would'nt change a thing .

 

I guess I should post a few pics of my shop work to go with the above .

 

wow you guys rule..
Say anyone mess up in the middle of a job???

 

Hey guys.
I am bumpin this thread to ask a question.
I want to make sharp crisp lines with a brush,about 1/4" inch,what is a good brush for this application???
This is for small letters and outlining stuff,or'''
Is there a KIT from a company I could buy??
any tricks to get nice crisp and sharp outlines??

 

Perhaps a #3 Mack brush. There's no way around tons of practice by free hand. Your other option is masking the line with green 3M 233+ tape.