Learn Academy LIVE!! – 6/28/06Airbrush Technique – PART I Mike started a new lesson today that we will follow until he is done. The subject matter is perspective and reflection, and he has created a sketch and a file that has many elements that will help demonstrate both of these important subjects. Notice How this […]Read More
HOW TO: Bullet Holes
This is a quick video detailing how to create super-realistic bullet holes in metal – both “innies” and “outies”. Mike explains the process from beginning to end.
SPOTLIGHT: Jackson D.O.C Guitar Series
Mike has often been given the freedom to create ideas for the Jackson Custom Shop “Short Runs”. This concept, Jackson Department of Corrections is an example. Mike came up with the idea of prison stripes and chains and even designed the chain link inlays to wrap the design from the body up through the fingerboard! […]Read More
Them’s Fighting Words
I want to address the “technology enhanced vs. all ‘freehand/old school’ airbrushing” controversy that is lingering around the modern art industry. Many of you know my stance on the issue, but maybe not the basis. Here it is. You have 2 choices in life. You can be the hammer, or you can be a nail. […]Read More
HOW TO: Godzilla UNLEASHED
This particular customer asked for a Godzilla themed guitar that would be in an old 70-80’s Movie Poster style. Fun!! I started by creating a photo composite from a variety of images and vector drawings. When the customer approved my idea, I went on to create a vector mask for the composition. You can see how the layout […]Read More
How To: Tales of Terror
This piece is the first in a series of Horror Classics that I had wanted to do for awhile. I have always loved the old movie posters for the Vincent Price horrors. I created the mock up for this piece based upon 2 different movie ads for “Tales of Terror” I really liked the contrast in the […]Read More
How To: Pirate On Kandy Blue: A Study in Core Shadow
This customer requested a pirate theme for his paint work and really left the details of the job up to me. I really like to work with core shadow as a basis for building a composition and as a basis for exemplifying how light sources affect an image. The basic idea for the image came […]Read More
How To: HELKEN Corporal Punishment
Album Cover Art This project was for a band out of California. As I do with all Album Cover assignments, I started by listening to the music. They play a really hard core thrash metal and were looking for an image that reflected their style. They also wanted to make some sort of political statement, though exactly what, […]Read More
How To: 300 Brass Helmet/Shield Effect
If you haven’t seen the movie 300 – WOW! All I can say is, you HAVE to take the time! As with any graphically intense, popular movie, not long after its release, people started requesting this type of theme on bikes, cars, skateboards, whatever you can paint. We thought it would be timely and well […]Read More
Hot Rod Flames for A Hot Rod Air Scoop
A Lesson In Simple Pinstriping This project is for one of our neighbors who is finishing up a ….. project that he has been working on for quite awhile. The Hot Rod flames on this air scoop is the finishing touch to a gloss black beauty. I have chosen to use a One Shot Process […]Read More
How To: Flag Helmet
German – American Flag Helmet with Rips, Tears, Brains and Bones Well, we thought we would do something a little different with this How To. This is a helmet that I did for one of my repeat customers. He is German and wanted a racing helmet that depicted both the German and American flag, split […]Read More
HOW TO: Bevel Tribal Graphics
We have had a lot of requests for a How To on beveled tribal graphics. The following technique is a really simple way to go about it. The tribal graphics were created in CorelDRAW. Once the shape was finessed, an 1/8″ contour was added and the file printed. For this project, we first painted the […]Read More