Airbrush Action 1985-07-08 PDF

ER EDI'f1ON 1985
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IEEHAND AIRBRUSH
PORTRAIT BY
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A New Name in
Excellence
PREDICTABLE
PRECISE
DUAL ACTION
GRAVITY FEED
The intricately advanced noulelneedle combination means exceptional balance, smoothness, and
control from start to finish.
Olympos manufactures a full line of gravity and siphon feed airbrushes, accessories, and adapters
to meet every professional need.
Manufactured by. Olyrnpos Co., Ltd.
D~stnbutedby.
Art
Allendale Park
Allendale, NJ 07401
(201) 825-8686
Dealer lnqulnes ~nv~ted
Inc.
QLYMPQS
AIRBRUSHES
can be purchased at the following leading art material stores:
ALABAMA
Koenig Art Emporium

Fort Myers
North Miami
Plantation
Pompano
Neena Art 6 Frame
West Hollywood
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Orlando
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Dade
Miami
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Binders Art Center

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ARIZONA
The Flax Co.

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CALIFORNIA
The Fine Art Store

San Diego
Flax, lnc.
Los Angeles
Flax's Artists Materials
San Francisco
Sunnyvale
PAS Graphics, Inc.
Pasadena
Sterling Art
Tustin
University Art Center
Palo Alto
San Francisco
San Jose
Santa Clara
World Supply, Inc.
Hollywood
Hawaiian Graphics Corp.

Honolulu
COLORADO
ILLINOIS
GEORGIA
Binders Art Center

Atlanta
Crest Art, Inc.
Atlanta
Sam flax, Inc.
Atlanta
HAWAII
Art Hardware
Boulder
Colorado Springs
Fort Collins
H.R. Meininger Co.
Denver
The Flax Co.

Chicago
The Graphic Store
Addison
Pyramld Artists' Materials
Champaign
Urbana
CONNECTICUT
INDIANA
Kanig Art Emporium

Bridgeport
Danbury
Oarien
Fairfield
Farmington
Greenwich
Hartford
Milford
Old Saybrook
Southbury
Stamford
Trumbull
Waterford
West Hartford
Kanig Artist Supplies, Inc.
Milford
Ki Koenig Clearance Center
ramden
Bates, Inc.
Indianapolis
IOWA
Art World
Council Bluffs
Lind Art World
Iowa City
KANSAS
Art World
Overland Park
Keith Coldsnow, Ltd.
Overland Park
Color King, Inc.
Witchita
MARYLAND
Visual Systems Co., Inc.

Rockville
MASSACHUSETTS
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
E.J. Ardon Co., Inc.

Boston
Koenig Art Emporium
Boston
Needham
Springfield
Watertown
Westboro

Washington
FLORIDA
Arteriors
Miami
Art Mart
West Palm Beach
Sam Flax, ~nc.
Tampa
The Frame Up Gallery
North Miami Beach
MICHIGAN
DM1 Industries, Inc.

Ann Arbor
Oearborn
LYMDQ S
AIRBRUSHES
Madison Heights
Royal Oak
MINNESOTA
Artsign Materials Co.

Burnsville
Edina
Minneapolis
Minnetonka
Roseville
St. Paul
MlSSOURl
Art World
Kansas City
Bader's Art Supply
Clayton
St. Louis
Keith Coldsnow, Ltd.
Kansas City
NEBRASKA
Art World
Lincoln
Omaha
Standard
Lincoln Blueprint Company
Omaha
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Kanig Art Emporium

Newington
NEW JERSEY
Dupont Graphic Arts, Inc.

Cinnaminson
Parsippany
Koenig Art Emporium
Lawrenceville
Short Hills
Wayne
Woodbridge
NEW MEXICO
ArtisanlSanta Fe, Inc.

Santa Fe
NEW YORK
Adene's Artist Materials

Albany
Sam Flax, Inc.
New York City
Grand Central Artists Materials
New York City
Hyatt's Art 6 Craft Store
Williamsville
Hyatt's Graphic Supply Co., Inc.
Buffalo
Clarence
Rochester
Kanig Art Emporium
Mt. Kisco
Nanuet
White Plains
Yorktown
Lee's Art Shop, Inc.
New York City
New York Central Art Supply, Inc.
New York City
Orange ~ m n Paint
t
supply, lnc.
Bethpage
Hempstead
North Babylon
Parsons Art Supply

New York City
Syracuse Blue Print Co., Inc.
Syracuse
NORTH CAROLINA
Binden Art Center

Charlotte
NORTH DAKOTA
Dunahey's Art Media

Bismarck
OHIO
Long's Art Supply

Columbus
Ken McCallister, Inc.
Dayton
The Morse Graphic Art Supply Co.
Cleveland
Parma Heights
Woodmere
Prince Reproductions, Inc.
Cincinnati
PENNSYLVANIA
Kanig Art Empodum

King of Prussia
North Wales
Willowgrove
TENNESSEE
Art Center Supply Store, Inc.

Memphis
GrlfRn Supply Co.
Nashville
TEXAS
Artsign Materlals Co.

Dallas
The Rush Company
Dallas
UTAH
Reuel's Art 6 Engineering

Salt Lake City
Reuel's Art 6 Frame
Salt Lake City
Reuel's Photo Blue Co.
Salt Lake City
VIRGINIA

Falls Church
WASHINGTON
Graphic Supply Center

Seattle
Spokane Art Supply, Inc.
Spokane
CANADA
Omer DaSems Canada, Inc.

Montreal, Quebec
Grafix M B, Inc.
Toronto, Ontario
Maxwell's Artists' Materials, Ltd.
Vancouver, B.C.
Please contact our corporate

office directly if there is no
dealer in your area.
N a t i o n a l Art Industries, Inc.

Allendale Park, Allendale, N.J. 07401
Telephone: (201) 825-8686
Telex: 837268
Clifford S. Stieglitz
Art Director
Cheryl Mirkin
Copy Editor
B.F. Emmer
WE WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THE COMMENTS FROM SOME CUSTOMERS:
Contributing Editors
Ferris Butler
Jeffrey Ressner
Great Ink
Without a doubt the best paint I have ever used.
Great color selection and overall the best textile paint I have ever used.
HIGH TECHNOLOGY COLOR "We Put I t Together For You"
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GRAPHIC ARTISTS
GUILD HANDBOOK
//
"REVISED AND
ENLARGED"
Production Managers
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Phyllis Ross
Consultant/Contributing Editors
Robert Anderson
Richard M. Nusser
Pricing & Ethical Guidelines-5th Edition

Advertising Director
Cliff Ross
THE DEFINITIVE RESOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATORS,

DESIGNERS AND ART BUYERS.
Thii bestselling book is the only book that compiles prices,
business practices, contmcts and trade customs in an easyto-use, practical format. It is the essential reference book
on budgeting and pricing for artists and their clients. And,
it's the only book that keeps current on rights, business
standards and the law. 228 pages, almost twice the length
of the 4th edition, this book includes a new section on
computer graphics as well as graphic design, book design, textiles, advertising and illustration, cartooning and
animation. A glossary of frequently used trade terms is
included for ready reference. This book is a must for any
individual, corporation or institution that deals in these
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Contents copyright 01985 by Airbrush Action. All
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AIRBRUSH ACTIONIJULY-AUGUST, 1985
About the Cover

This month's cover, done by our featured artist DICKRAN PALULIAN in
1979 for Penthouse, greatly enhances the launch of our new AIRBRUSH ACTION logo designed by
JOEL JAY WEISSMAN
Airwush Cleaning Basics

How to extend the life of your airbrush with quick
and easy steps for cleaning by Dave Malone.
Color Theory
The importance of understanding the principles of
color theory by renowned artist Robert Anderson.
Making Money in T-shirt

Airbrushing
T-shirt airbrushing is fun, in strong demand, and
offers high profits at a very low initial investment.
Dickran Palulian
Profile of celebrated and concerned artist. A man
well versed in the creative and business aspects of
commercial illustration.
T-SHIRT AIRBRUSH MECCA

THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE
The Miracle Strip
This is where the first colony of T-shirt airbrushers
originated. There is much talent as well as
competitive tension among these artists.
Panama Citv Beach is known for its sun. fun, and

world's largest, tightly knit, zany T-shirt airbrush
community.
DEPARTMENTS
Hot Air-Publisher's Message
Q and A
11
Gallery
20
New Products
Wear the Air
JULY-AUGUST, 1985lAIRBRUSH ACTION
-%I-
521 Metallic Gold
Airbrush
Formulated
Fabric Paint
4 AIRBRUSH ACTIONIJULY-AUGUST, 1985
--
.r.c
MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER

The debut of our premiere issue in May was met
with great excitement, especially at the National Art
Materials Trade Association Show in Montreal. The
art retailing community, aware of strong demand
for airbrushing products, voiced overwhelming
enthusiasm for AIRBRUSH ACTION.
As reader or advertiser, you are part of this
publication. You have the right to offer feedback and
suggestions at anytime, by phone or mail. We want
to provide the airbrush world with a forum it has
too long been without.
Some of the issues that need airing are tackled in
this issue. Dickran Palulian, a Graphic Artist Guild
member and a staunch fighter for artists' rights, has
taken an admirable stand against work-for-hire
agreements that deprive artists of proprietary interest
in their own work. Our interview with Palulian
begins on page 22.
Another topic of importance is the airbrush "caste
system'' whereby T-shirt artists find themselves
relegated to the lowest rank. The truth is that many
T-shirt airbrushers are as well trained as other artists
in the medium but have simply discovered that the
T-shirt trade could keep them from starving on
the highly competitive battlefield of commercial
illustration and fine art. Insights begin on page 14.
We hope you'll bring to our attention other issues
you'd like to see examined in the pages of
BRUSH UP ON OUR
SUMMERTIME SAVINGS
ATLANTA AIRBRUSH has been waiting for summer all year long. While
everyone is shedding their winter sweaters for T-shirts, shorts, visors and
bikinis, we're stripping our everyday low prices t o the bare essentials.
Order extra for the beach.

Perhaps you need a new brush. Or t o increase your speed, order several
airbrushes and keep them filled with your popular colors. Stock up on
paint and other accessories while prices are slashed. Order now by calling
ATLANTA AIRBRUSH Toll Free. 1-800-241-3242, for quick and dependable
service.
HP-SP-B
PAASCHE VL3L
MP-2WB
There's no finer equipment made. An advanced nozzlelneedle guarantees
precise control. The angled gravity-feed color cup and adjustable needle
Shaft assure a smooth flow for hairlines or normal spray patterns.
Recommended for dves, Inks. watercolors and retouch colors. Double
action, push button control;'2mm tip size; % oz.
(Code G) List Price $275.00 ............................ Our Price $171.95
ACETATE 6075
Used t o make stencils for airbrush patterns. Preferred over frisket because
the edges may vary from soft t o razor sharp with user discretion. Cuts like
frisket. To hold acetate in place, use Shlva, a repositional adhesive, which
you'll receive free with your order, a $2.89 value (6 02.).
(Code B) 5 Shts. 25" X 40" ........................................ 517.46
HP-102B
The trigger control adds extra smoothness. Fine and thick spray patterns
are easily controlled by the adjustable needle shaft. The siphon-feed
removable 1oz. cup is recommended for dyes, inks, watercolor, retouch
colors, lacquer and acrylics.
(Code H) List Price $150.00 .............................
AQUA FLOW A i r b r u s h Colors

The ultra fine pigments have been formulated
primarily for airbrush use on 100%cotton and
polyester blends, as well as absorbent illustration
surfaces. AII colors are intermixable and permanent.
The transparent and opaque colors deliver clean
brilliance. The fluorescent or Hot Colors are very
lightfast.
(Code C) Primary Set
5 colorslList Price $13.50 ........... Our Price 511.47
(Code D) Secondary Set
10 colorslList Price $27.00 .......... Our Prlce 522.95
COM-ART T r a n s p a r e n t and
O p a q u e A i r b r u s h Colors
Fine ground pigments allow for a very smooth spray
through airbrushes. Colors are water Soluble,
llghtfast, permanent, leadfree and non-toxic.
Excellent 4-color separation quality. colors come in
ready-to-useIoz. plastic, spout top bottles. Includes
concentrated cleaner that dissolves dry COM-ART paint.
Opaque Set List Price $22.95 ........ Our Price $15.30
Transparent Set List Price $19.95 ... .Our Prlce $13.95
FREE "T"
(Code I)
FRISKFILM Masking
- Film
AIR FORCE II
Become an ATLANTA AIRBRUSHER. You'll receive Our

ATLANTA AIRBRUSH T-shirt absolutely free with your $50
or more order. These Hanes T-shirts are silver grey with
black imprint. Specify Medium or Large when ordering.
(Olymposparts available)
The ultra-fine spray nozzle (.18mm) reduces air stream blow back, allowing
the artist t o zero in on the artwork surface. The adiustable needle shaft is
regulated by a dial for the most accurate control of line widths and spray
patterns. Recommended for inks, watercolors and retouch colors. Double
action. Push button; % oz.
(Code F) List Price $195.00 ............................ Our Prlce $121.95
ers who work with a range of

mediums, the VL3L is versatile and easy t o use. The
plated brass body ensures a good balanced feel and
will last for years. For use with practically any type
paint, but especially good with enamels. Brush only-no accessories.
tcode A) List Price $55.50 .............................. Our Prlce 536.71
The best source for silent, portable air, precise

airflow control and reliable performance. With
I Is
a four airbrush capacity, the AIR FORCE 1
perfect for T-shlrt palntlng. Features include
adjustable air regulator, auto onloff pressure
lever, llne and tank gauges, safety rellef valve
and outside check valve cieaning. Fully
guaranteed for service and parts.
SPECIFICATIONS: w HP @ 3500 RPM,115vr6o~zthermal protected,
154 watts/1.99 AMPS, PSI starts @ 88lstops at 120,s liter tank,
99.999%-.OI
micro mini filter, 48 ~bs.
(Code E) List Price $550.00 .....................Our Prlce $399.95
OLYMPOS AIRBRUSHES
This special formulated, low tack adhesive grips securely, and leaves no
residue on the surface when peeled off. Easyto cut and highly
transparent. Matte finish will accept pencil. Specify matte or gloss.
(Code J) 24" x 10 yds./List price $38.25.. ................ Our Prlce 524.86
1-800-241 -3242
iW?UbH P.O. BOX 53097

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AA08
Atlanta, GA 30355
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AIRBRUSH CLEANING BASICS

BY DAVE MALONE
Why does my airbrush spit? I've

heard this question literally a thousand times over the past few years.
Since the airbrush reached the artist's hands, frustration caused by unwanted spray patterns and other
strange surprises has plagued both
beginner and pro alike. Artists have
been known to change airbrushes,
paint, air sources, and even life styles,
trying to discover the magic combination that eliminates undesirable
spitting, stippling, and blobbing. It
is not true that each manufacturer
sabotages every brush simply to drive
artists insane. Sometimes related
equipment is the culprit. Inadequate
moisture separators, faulty air regulators, bent needles, split nozzles, or
improperly thinned paint can be villains. But the number one problem
that I have seen is simply a dirty airbrush. Of course, some artists believe that if they let their airbrush sit
long enough, it will clean itself. Not
true. I have also heard artists say that
cleaning will take away from the
character of the brush. I used to throw
my brush against the wall occasionally, hoping to beat it into submission. But once I discovered that
keeping my brush constantly clean
was not a capital crime nor reason
to worry about my artist's license
being revoked, my life became much
less frustrating.
The first trick to maintaining a clean
IGURE 1
brush is to find the proper cleaner.

Different paints require different
cleaners. When I started airbrushing, most artists did not even know
what paint to spray through an airbrush, let alone what cleaner to use.
But thanks to our trusty airbrush
manufacturers' coming to our rescue, we may now choose from a variety of paints and cleaners specially
formulated for the airbrush artist.
However, certain myths still exist.
Many artists believe that if they are
using a water-soluble paint, water is
the perfect cleaner. I once thought
that I never had to iron permanentpress shirts. But after leaving them
in the dryer for a day or two, the
permanent disappeared from the
press. The same goes for water-soluble paints. If the paint stays in the
brush too long, the paint just chuckles when water is poured in, much
like the snickering directed toward
me and the not-so-permanently
pressed shirt I proudly wore.
So paint manufacturers have produced cleaners that work well with
their own brand of paint. But, as I
have discovered, cleaning one brand
of paint with another brand of cleaner
does not always lead to a clean brush.
It is often best to stick with like
brands, but experimenting a bit does
not hurt. Some of the better cleaners
on the market include COM-ART
cleaner, Badger acrylic cleaner, and
Shiva Kleen (Figure 1). The Badger

and Shiva cleaners come ready to
use; the COM-ART cleaner is a concentrate, diluted three or four parts
water to one part cleaner.
There are essentially two ways to
clean an airbrush. The most frequent
occurs between colors. The quickest
and easiest method that I have found
for cleaning between color switches
is as follows:
ONE: Pour out any unused paint into

a paint collection jar or into the garbage (Figure 2).
TWO: Pour in like-brand cleaner, stir

it around the color cup and spray for
two or three seconds (Figure 3).
THREE: Pour out the cleaner (Figure

4). It is not necessary to spray through
the airbrush all of the cleaner poured
into the cup. Two or three seconds
is sufficient. Besides, longer spraying fills the air with cleaner, creating
an unpleasant working environment.
FOUR: Rinse the cup with water and

spray for four or five seconds (Figure
5). Failing to rinse the cleaner from
the cup and brush thoroughly can
create two problems. First, the remaining cleaner might react chemically with the new paint, causing a
change of color. Second, the re-
maining cleaner, when sprayed onto

the artwork, could bleach out what
has been previously sprayed.
FIVE: Pour out excess water (Figure

6).
SIX: Wipe out cup and spray until
IGURE 4
no more water sprays out (Figure 7).

This entire cleaning process should
take only about thirty seconds. Some
artists believe that the needle should
be pulled back during cleaning while
spraying (Figure 8). However, doing
so often draws paint into the piston
area, clogging it up and causing the
button and piston to stick. Also noteworthy, for color switch cleaning,
gravity-fed airbrushes are easier to
clean than siphon-fed brushes. In fact,
gravity-fed brushes clog less than siphon-fed brushes in the first place.
The second and more thorough
cleaning method, of course, is to tear
down the airbrush and soak the parts
in cleaner.
Figures 9 and 10 show a Badger
and an lwata airbrush broken down
as far as necessary for complete
cleaning. I do not recommend use
of an ultrasonic cleaner for airbrush
cleaning. In fact, in many cases such
methods will damage the finely machined threads and loosen internal
parts of the brush, causing leaks and
throwing the needle and nozzle out
of alignment.
The steps that I employ for complete cleaning are as follows:
.
i
f
IGURE 9
ONE: Tear down the airbrush, place

the parts in either a metal or porcelain pan and soak them for ten to
twenty minutes (Figure 11).
TWO: When the paint has broken

free from the brush, rinse the parts
thoroughly with water inside and out
(Figure 12).
THREE: Dry the needle and nozzle
'GURE 7
completely. Take care not to bend

the tip of the needle (Figure 13).
FOUR: Reassemble the brush properly. Refer to the owner's manual for
the correct procedure. I suggest tearing down and putting the airbrush
back together a couple of times prior
to the first cleaning to ensure proper
reassembly.
I have learned either to remove my
permanent press shirts from the dryer
before the drum ceases spinning or
to heat up the old iron. If you follow
the simple steps for cleaning your
airbrush outlined in this article, you
will experience hours of trouble-free
spraying-no spit, no clog, no blob.
I G U R E 12
I G U R E 13
FOR
AIRBRUSH
TECHNIQUE
BY ROBERT ANDERSON
Color theory and the interaction of color
are relevant to media that are applied as
a spray as well as to those that are applied
by brush. There are some differences
however in the way the color is perceived.
Basic color theory begins with the principle that color is light. It is light that carries color, not paint or pigment. The visible spectrum that we call light is only a
small portion of the range of electronic or
radiant energy. Above and below visible
light on the electromagnetic scale are bands
of energy that we can not see, such as
ultraviolet, infrared and x-rays. If light is
passed through a prism it will separate into
its pigments in a paint or colorant absorb
certain colors from white light and reflect
others. This reflected light is perceived by
the viewer as a color, for example, red.
But how is this red differentiated from other
reds? Paint manufacturers sometimes assign arbitrary or pigment related names to
the colors, such as deep brilliant red or
burnt umber. The artist however must be
more specific in identifying color to insure
color continuity and accuracy.
Hue, value and chroma are the attributes used to classify color. Every color
can be accurately described within this
system. Hue refers to the name of the color.
This does not mean the name of the dye
or pigment used to make the color, such
8 AIRBRUSH ACTIONIJULY-AUGUST,1985
as cadmium red, but a generic name such

as red, yellow or blue. Value refers to the
lightness or darkness of a color or its relative position on a scale between black
and white. The brightness or intensity of
a color is referred to as chroma. A specific
color, therefore can be light and bright (or
dull) or dark and bright (or dull). For example, the color known as cadmium yellow light is a very bright (Chroma) and
very light (Value), yellow (hue). Raw Umber is also a yellow hue, but is low in
chroma and value. Dark, dull yellows and
yellow-reds are collectively referred to as
browns.
Many color systems are used to describe hue and chroma graphically. The
most basic of these is the three-primary
system. This basic system is constructed
as an equal-sided triangle within a circle,
(see Fig. 1). Three primary hues-red, yellow and blue--are located at the points of
the triangle. Theoretically, all other colors
can be approximated through mixtures of
these three. Mixtures of two primary colors
(such as yellow and blue) result in a secondary color (green) and mixtures of primary and secondary colors result in intermediate colors. A primary blue added to
a secondary green for example will produce a blue-green. Colors that are near
each other on the wheel are called anal-
Figure 2
agous and will generally yield pleasing
mixtures and harmonious relationships. As
the distances between colors on the wheel
increase however, they become more
reactive producing visual tension. The most
reactive combinations of colors are known
as complements and are located directly
across from one another on the color
wheel. When swatches of bright complementary colors are placed side by side they
seem to visually vibrate, each enhancing
the intensity of the other. This area of color
theory played an important role in the work
of the OP or optical artists of the 1960's.
The chroma of a color i s represented
within the color wheel. At the center of
the circle is a neutral or grey area where
all colors tend to converge. As a line is
followed out from the center to a hue position on the outer rim, that hue becomes
more intense. A bright fire engine red, for
example, will be located towards the outside rim of the circle whereas a duller brick
red may be located Y4 of the way in towards the center. The brightest forms of
all colors are commercially manufactured
as they can not be mixed. In their brightest
state, these hues can be used as is or reduced in intensity as required. This is done
by mixing in small quantities of the complementary color. As the complement is
added, the resulting mixture begins to grey
and its position on the color wheel moves
in toward the center. Continuing to add
the complement will result in a mixture
with little or no color intensity. As this
process continues, the position of the mixture will move through the center and begin to take on characteristics of the complement.
The color dimension of value can not
be indicated on a flat color wheel. For
Figure :
this, the color model must be made

3-dimensional or spherical, (see Fig.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE SHOW
2). This color sphere will have a pole
running through the center, representing black at the south pole and
white at the north. The pole is then
divided into 10 equal segments. Each
of these segments indicates a value
level. A color wheel is attached to
each segment, with the value pole
running through the center. When
the model is completed, there will
be 10 parallel color wheels, each
representing the color spectrum at
that value. Color hue and chroma
are still indicated in the same manner as on the flat wheel. The difference now is that they are represented at each value level.
Intense color occurs in nature at
value levels that are specific to that
Pasadena Convention Center
hue. Bright yellows, for example are
October 4, 5 and 6,1985
those that are light or high in value.
Blues, on the other hand, are most
intense in their lower value ranges.
The color model, therefore, will not
HOPS
be a perfect sphere. Its outer shape
will vary with the maximum intenINTENSIFIED EDUCATION
sity available at that specific hue and
value level.
LEARN SHOPS intensified educational
The discussion thus far concerns
workshops are designed to be a learnmore
than just color theory. It is the
ing experience. Structured by a staff of
theory that points out the relationprofessional artists and teachers,
ships of color and demonstrates its
courses are presented in a consistent
and concise hands-on format that
structure. Color structure is an orthoroughly explains and demonstrates
derly sequence that shows how one
the subjects being addressed. LEARN
color relates to another. By being
SHOPS stress the how, when, and
aware of color structure, the artist
where of the use of art media, tools,
can
use relationships that seem to be
and techniques in a logical and commore harmonious, balanced and
prehensible manneL LEARN SHOPS
pleasing to most people. There are
are all-inclusive; one tuition covers
materials, equipment, exercise matemany ways to use color structure,
rial and instruction.
but as color choice is somewhat personal, some of them may be more
Airbrush I-Basic Airbrush Technique
to your taste than others.
Instructor: Peter West
One such use of color structure is
Airbrush Il-Intermediate Airbrush
to
be aware of its psychological imTechnique
pact. The color wheel is divided into
Instructor: Robert Anderson
two parts with a line that runs through
Introductionto Photographic
green and purple. All of the reds,
Retouching With Emphasis on
oranges and yellows are in the warm
Airbrush
half. These colors are associated with
Instructor: At Grove
the sun, heat and excitement and tend
Basic Technical Illustration
to advance when used in a 2-dimenWith Emphasis on Airbrush
Instructor: Al Grove
sional space. The other half of the
color wheel contains the cool blues
Concept, Composition, and Color
and greens. They are associated with
Drawing for the 80's
ice, cold and serenity and tend to
recede in the 2-dimensional plane.
Another way to use color structure
Advanced limited
Only
is through color relativitv. Color does
not exi; in and of itself.'lt is the most
for further information contact,
relative medium in art, as it is deTOOLS OF THE TRADE SHOW
pendent on its environment. A color
P.O. Box 876, Temecula CA 92390
(714) 676-5566
of a certain hue, value and chroma
will change in appearance if its
1I
background or surrounding colors are

changed. This is significant in airbrush or spray technique since color
combinations are made optically instead of physically when sprayed.
Even though the color is mixed before loading it in the airbrush, the
final mixing takes place on the
painting surface and ultimately in the
eye of the viewer. This is because it
is tiny dots of color that are actually
being applied. As in a color television ~ i c t u r etube where thousands
of dot; of colored light combine to
make a picture on the screen, the
airbrush lavs down dots of color.
When the& dots are applied next to
and over dots of other colors, the
viewer will tend to see a mixture of
these colors rather than individual
dots. This phenomena, as well as the
relative nature of color, may produce some unexpected and surprising results.
It was a similar approach that interested the French painter Georges
Seurat (1859-91). His painting system was variously known as NeoImpressionism, Divisionism and
Pointalism. Seurat applied tiny strokes
of brilliant colors to the canvas expecting them to merge in the viewer's eye, producing intermediary tints
more luminous than those mixed on
a palette. The dots were too large
however, and the visual mixing was
incomplete with the paintings taking
on a sort of mosaic amearance. The
size of the dots p r o d k e d by an airbrush however, are smal l enough so
that this i s not a ~ r o b l e m .Dots Droduced by a spra); gun can be m'uch
larger and interfere with visual mixing as in the work of New York artist
H. N. Han, (see Fig. 3). Han uses
the size of the dots to his advantage
in establishing them as a motif. Other
factors that effect the visual mixing
of colors in airbrush technique are
the relative opacityltransparency and
viscosity of the medium, as well as
the texture of the surface or ground.
This is just an introductory look at
color and its relationships. Experience, as usual, will be the best
teacher. There are however, many
color maps and mixing guides on the
market to help you learn and feel
more confident with color. For further technical information on color
consult A COLOR NOTATION by
A.H. Munsell, Munsell Color Co.,
Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1971 and THE
INTERACTION OF COLOR, Joseph
Albers, Yale University Press, New
a
Haven, CT, 1963.
Mystudio situation is
such that it's impossible

for me to have good
ventilatlon. Even though I
wear a mask, I am
concerned about the
palnt particles In the air
from spraying. Do have
any suggestions?
telephones, computers, etc.) The ions

attach an electrical charge to dust
particles which are then attracted out
of the air. The electronic precipitator
circulates air through a series of alternately charged plates. The dust
particles are electromagnetically
pulled out of the air and deposited
on the plates which can be removed
for periodic cleaning.
H o w do I remove a
build up of acrylic paint
on airbrush parts?
Soak the parts in denatured alcohol
for a few minutes and wipe clean.
Protect yourself with adequate ventilation and by using rubber gloves.
Air cleaners will be helpful in your

situation and are a good idea for any
airbrush studio. Avoid the replace
able filter type and use one or both
of the following types. The ion generator cleans the air (of particles as
small as .001 microns) by releasing
a steady stream of ions. (They should
not be placed near electronic equipment such as calculators, electronic
----------The Airbrush T-shirt set contains all you

need to turn the ordinary into the
EXTRAORDINARY. A little time - a little
practice - and you can do it, too.
No talent required.
1 Paasche VL
#3 Airbrush
1 6' Air Hose
18-color Set of
Fabric Paint
8 quickconnect caps
1 Stencil Burner
1 Package of
Acetate
1 Compressor
1 Easel Box
1 Shirt Board
And Complete
Instructions
ORDER FORM
Yes, I'm ready to be extraordinary!
I
1
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II
Please send me s
You may order toll-fres
1-800-435-7245
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OR
Mail order to:
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s at $265.50 per set.
Name
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Exp. Date
Check or Money Order
enclosed for $
Please send complete UTLEY Catalog FREE!
Price includes all Shipping 8 Handling.

Prices good until January 1. 1986.
11
T-SHIRT AIRBRUSHING: STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Shirt airbrushing is a dependable and surefire plus to anyone interested in starting a new busin&
inexpensively and making a fast buck. On the scene in some markets for decades, its appeal and
attraction hasn't washed out or faded in the consumer's eye. As a medium for customizing shirts
and other garments, airbrushing remains ideal.
Still, for the novice, airbrushing can be a frightening proposition. The mystique and
surrounding airbrushing still plague the layman who hasn't tried it. "I'm not an artist," he whines.
"I can't draw stick figures. Where will f find one? And what about my customers?Will they like
an airbrushed design? And will they pay more for the service?"
The truth is, with a little guidance, practice and positive reinforcement, practically anyone is
just an airbrush away from entering a whole new market. This article will attempt to clear up
some of the mystery tied up with garment airbrushing by presenting the facts about the process,
the costs and the appeal.
Airbrushing carries with it a large
profit margin, low initial cost, fast
return on investment, a true competitive edge and virtually unlimited
custom possibilities. That spells smart
business.
Customization of any kind is almost always a high ticket item. This
is especially true with T-shirt airbrushing. Depending on design
complexity and the time required to
do the design, pricing can range from
$10 to $75 or more per shirt.
Before setting prices, however,
make sure your market will bear the
burden. Since pricing is an arbitrary
consideration, standard floor and
ceiling limits can only be established after a brief period of trial and
error.
Listing my personal guidelines
might be misleading because each
region of the country warrants different price schedules. For example,
a popular rainbow design on a basic
T-shirt may sell for $20 in New York
City and $14-1 6 in New Jersey.
That same design probably would
command only $8 or less in Florida;
the saturation of airbrushers in parts
Size
Infant
6-8
of Florida has created an arena of

stiff competition, forcing prices down.
(Not to worry: The competitive situation in Florida is an isolated case.
On a national, collective scale, airbrushers comprise a small lot.)
However, it is safe to suggest a
$15 average for standard displayed
art, and about $20-30 for custom
designs, taking no longer than 45
minutes to produce (cars, pets, cornpany identification, etc.). Art work
requiring more time should be priced
higher.
Fortunately, most sales are generated from the designs you and your
artist are familiar with (rainbows,
tropical settings, two names in a
heart, etc.). These designs should not
take longer than 15 minutes to brush.
LOW Entrance Cost

The barrier to entering airbrushing, in terms of investment, is relatively low compared with other
businesses. Considering you already
have a storefront, shirt stock and a
heat press, the addition of airbrushing will cost roughly $250 to $1,500.
Investment i s contingent on the
!:", ;s
quality and type of equipment you

buy. An airbrush, air compressor,
easels, textile paints, shirt boards,
stenciling equipment, opaque projector (optional), and miscellaneous
accessories encompass the scope of
requisite accoutrements.
But the main attraction and real
punch line is that T-shirt airbrushing
holds the potential of returning your
investment in one day. A concessionnaire I know averages about $700
a day, with a personal best of $2,000.
That's impressive and easier to accomplish than one might expect. The
variables contributing to this success
are an attractive display, fast production capability, high foot-trafficked location and always keeping
the "boards" busy.
Airbrushing also gives the store
owner a sharp competitive edge. As
a crowd drawer and pleaser-particularly in malls and at fairs-airbrushing can't be beat as a means to
upstage business rivals. Airbrushing
provides a fascinating show of brilliant colors almost magically taking
form as a design.
What amazes people about air-
Lg-XL
XXL-XXXL
.I-L
12
Board
"
Length 9vX~3v 1 ~ ~ 1 6 1117 ~ ~ 1 8 19tx20
AIRBRUSH ACTIONtJULY-AUGUST, 1985
21wx22tI
23"x24
brushing is that the airbrush never

touches the surface it's painting on.
And one never sees the paint flow
from the brush. Also mysterious to
audiences is the ease with which the
airbrush artist controls line thickness, brush aim and general spray
coverage.
The attraction and strong demand
for unlimited shirt customization
speaks for itself. For those who want
a one-of-a-kind shirt, without bearing the possible expense of screen
printing, there isn't a better medium.
Let's take a more in-depth look at
several areas of airbrushing-the
materials and costs, finding and paying artists, and designs that sell.
Materials and Costs

The primary components of any
airbrush svstem are airbrushes, an air
compressbr and textile paint. The
secondary units, which really should
be considered necessities if you are
at all serious about getting into airbrushing, are color bottles, an air
hose, easels, shirt boards and soft vine
charcoal. Another option to consider is having an opaque projector
to facilitate otherwise tedious custom production.
Airbrushes. The two basic types

of airbrushes are double and single
action. The distinction is that double-action airbrushes offer complete
control of line thickness or range by
moving the finger lever located at the
top of the airbrush back and forth.
The farther back the lever is pulled,
the wider the spray, and vice versa.
The single-action airbrush limits
line control in that the lever can only
function in an up-and-down "single
action" way. Single-action airbrushes are generally used for broad
spray applications where detail and
line variation are not critical.
Although double-action airbrushes require more skill and practice to master, the advantages in
having the more versatile airbrushes
far outweigh the disadvantages.
Air Compressors.
In my research, I have found the ideal air

compressor to be compact, lightweight, portable, silent and one that
offers a 40-or-more-pound tank output.
Textile Paints. Good textile paints

are smooth-flowing (to enable faster
coverage), have color brilliance or
vibrancy and require little-to-no
thinning. Visit your local art store or

review the advertisers in this magazine for more information.
Color Bottles. For efficient production, having a different bottle for

every color is highly recommended.
Color bottles easily attach and remove for fast color changing. Plastic
bottles are preferred over glass because they are lighter and shatterproof.
Air Hose. The air hose connects
the airbrush to the compressor for
the air supply required to shoot paint
from the airbrush. Hoses come in
different lengths and are nylonbraided and unbraided, coiled and
uncoiled. Nylon-braided, 10 feet in
length and uncoiled are the author's
preference.
AIRBRUSH
OUTLET
omplete "Starter" Kit ..... $99
best whlte palnt available,
ng soon from the alrbrush
Shirt Boards.
Shirts should be
stretched onto boards to provide a
smooth surface on which to airbrush. Wood, cardboard, corrugated, foam core and other rigid mediums are satisfactory.
Double-wall corrugated boards are
advisable because they are inexpensive, lightweight, durable and easy
to work with. (Figure 1 suggests shirt
board dimensions.) For the sake of
efficiency, cut each board to accommodate two sizes.
Vine Charcoal.
This is the perfect medium for sketching onto shirts

before airbrushing. Any line mistakes on fabric can be blown out with
the airbrush. Even the most experienced airbrushers use vine charcoal
regularly.
Spray BOX.
To avoid breathing
unnecessary pigment dust from paint,
a spray box is a handy device when
changing colors. A previous color
should be sprayed clean from the
airbrush before using new colors.
Respirators should also be seriously
considered.
Stenciling Equipment. stencils

play an integral role in airbrushing
to help produce standard effects such
as clouds, palm trees, moons, suns,
lettering, and so on. The most innovative hand-stenci ling technique
to date is the use of a hand-held
burner that simply glides through
acetate to produce even the most
complex stencils in minutes.
This method is time-efficient, easy
to do and eliminates the need and
tedium of the dreaded cutting knife.
write to:
P 0. Box 9301
we shlp
anywhere C 0 D
Opaque Projector.
The hot
ticket in airbrushing is in reproducing a customer's car, pet, portrait,
logo, etc., onto a shirt. An opaque
projector enables you to sketch custom designs in minutes by projecting
the photo or artwork onto a shirt in
perfect scale and size.
The image on the shirt is traced
with vine charcoal and then airbrushed. This technique is equally
suited for the non-artist and the artist, who is anxious to cut valuable
working and production time in half.
Materials Checklist
Double-action . . . . . . . . . . $52.45-1 10
Air Compressor.. . . . . . . . . . $1 00-650
Textile paint . . . . . . . $4-1 8 per bottle
(depending on size)
Color bottles.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3-5
Air hose.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7.55-1 8.50
Easels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8.50-400
Shirt boards.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ .75-10
Vine charcoal.. . . . . . . . . . $3.50-8.50
(box of 25)
Spray container.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3-1 0
Stenciling set-up.. . . . . . . . . . . . $14-45
Opaque projector . . . . . . $1 65-1,500
JULY-AUGUST, 1985IAIRBRUSH ACTION
13
ruu curl pay a lot more lor a~rbrusn

colors. But you can't get a more waterresistant, lightfast or workable medium
for airbrush art than Dr. Ph. Martin's new j
SPECTRALITEacrylics.
1
I
The best medium. SPECTRALITE

gives you all of the advantages of
water-soluble acrylics. Durable, lightfast
color. Quick-drying application. New
SPECTRALITE acrylics are specifically
designed for airbrush. Noncloggingand ready to use
right from the plastic squeeze bottle without the
bother of mixing and thinning tube colors. Easy
clean-up. And no build-up will get in the way of you
and your work.
For more information, call 305-921-6971 or write:

Salis International, Inc.
4093 North 28th Way, Hollywood, FL 33020 U.S.A.
Telex: 441608 salis ui cable: Salis Hollywood
full spectrum-not just a few colors.

Water-resistant. Absolutely no fixative
orprotecti'ue coating is needed. And
for commercial illustrations, you can
depend on SPECTRALITE to deliver -_
clean 4-color separations with no loss '?
of color.
The best price. You don't have to pay

a premium for Dr. Ph. Martin's superior quality. In fact,
SPECTRALITE, in multi-color&packs, actually costs
less, ounce for ounce, than brands which do not even
come close in water-resistance or color quality.
Now that you can afford the best, why settle for
anythingless?
The best performance. All 30 SPECTRALITE

colors-both opaques and transparents-are made
The Professional's
Palette
rra I rhe tinest artist pigments. ~ a d e

to e, color-fast and lightfast across the
airbrush art depends on which artist

you ask. Airbrushers agree on little,
including how much they earn, the
stated range all the way from $10,000
a season to $100,000 a year. Rush
says $100,000 "isn't too far out and
might be low," when you consider
a name Los Angeles illustrator might
receive $30,000 for one airbrushed
movie poster. That income for an
airbrush T-shirter, however, is more
fantasy than fact to Rush.
Airbrushers stick together, as

professionals forming a tightly knit
social community. Paradoxically,
they aren't above calling each other
"jerks," a favorite Rush word, and
dismissing competitors as fugitives
from the twilight zone.
It is common nonetheless to hear
along The Miracle Mile that Mark
Rush invented airbrushing and Micky
Harris perfected it. Harris is too demurring to comment on what peers
contend, but Rush hardly comes

across as shy. "That might be a
beautiful statement," says Rush.
"Micky doesn't have to do volume
(in the No. 1 seller, T-shirtsthe gets
paid very well to do a car. I've never
told anyone I'm an artist; I'm a capitalist. Micky tells people he's an artist and he is. In that context, I agree
that I started airbrushing here and he
perfected it. He's a much better artist than I am, but I'm a much better
capitalist."
Rush also moves around more than
Harris, who grew tired of the airbrusher's nomadic life and settled
with wife and child in Okaloosa
County, a Northwest Florida territory of sharp contrasts, with the cosmopolites oriented toward high-tech
research and development at Eglin
Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field,
the crackers growing soybeans and
raising Brahman crossbreeds, and the
rest of the non-military commercial
sector in heady competition for the
tourists.
Fort Walton Beach is sun 'n' fun,
moderate surf and pearl-white (no
hype, honestly) sand. Thanks to the
Gulf Islands National Seashore and
U.S. Air Force preserves, about 10
miles of sugar beach will remain undeveloped, nothing but gently undulating dunes and golden seaoats
between the highway and the emerald-azure sea that draws ultraviolet ray worshippers by the thousands on any weekend between
Spring Break and Labor Day.
The highway is U.S. 98, named
The Miracle Strip from Pensacola
through Panama City Beach. The
Miracle Mile is downtown Fort Walton Beach. Like any strip in any town,
this one glitters, a garish, gaudy, irresistible come-on come summertime when shopkeepers catering to
"Buyers don't want just

any T or related souvenir,
they demand the distinctive
touch of an airbrusher"
the monied teens and twenties, as

opposed to the older conservative
Canadians and Miami Beach refugees, hang out the AIRBRUSH signs,
each bigger, bolder, brassier than the
one before. Spunky Monkey, Prissy
Tailed Bunny, Big Daddy Rabbit,
Shirt Tail, Get Your Shirtogether and
just plain o l d Jimmy's Souvenirs . . . Entrepreneurs tied to prethirty tourism either play one-upsman-ship in the name game or stick
with the standard as if in disdain of
clever upstarts.
Names seem of scant consequence to shoppers who line up for
merchandise. Young buyers want the
Ts and shirt shopkeepers are out to
sell them, as well as such products
as personalized license plates, sun
visors, baseball caps and beer can
insulation wraps. Airbrushers such
as Rush also paint bodies, those of
bathing-suited girls and boys, as well
as Mustangs and Fieros.
Buyers don't want just any T or
related souvenir, they demand the
distinctive touch of an airbrusher. The
market is so hot this year that 34 artists work just one block of The Strip
in downtown Fort Walton Beach.
That block contains Fountain Square,
a Spanish-influenced, two-story
stucco and tile complex built more
than 10 years ago to house boutiques and cafes. Today the dozen
spaces are devoted to airbrushing, a
sandwich shop and an ice cream bar
the only enterprises not capitalizing
directly on the craving for "art shirts."
Harris holds court at Treasure Island, a souvenir-packed emporium
that dominates T-block sizewise and
maintains sufficient diverse inventory to stay open year-around, unlike many smaller places that shut
the doors on autumn's first chill, reopening (often under new manage-
ment) when Easter resurrects vacation season.

Rush's latest domaine is Destin and
The Gazebo, a trendy, toney boutique more Bloomingdale's than typical of the T trade. But then, the city
is Destin, the heart of Northwest
Florida's condominium industry and
separated from Fort Walton Beach
by more than six miles of Gulf-front
preserves. Destin is to Fort Walton
what the Catskills are to Coney Island. The luxury leisure crowd cavorts in Destin, until seven years ago
a sleepy fishingvillage and today the
second, third or fourth residence of
investors who think $1.5 million for
a penthouse reasonable if the resort
package includes a pamper parlour,
or what developers used to call a spa.
Trust Rush to be in the vanguard.
Until this year, Fort Walton Beach
had cornered the airbrush market, but
a sign by The Gazebo indicates the
kind of season airbrushers in the two
cities will experience. "Why cross
the bridge?," it reads in reference to
the congested East Pass divide that
must be braved to reach one city from
the other. "We have 2,000 shirts."
Still, that's fewer shirts than Rush
claims designs. "I have thousands,"
he boasts, and so it seems, for every
scene from the de riguer sun setting
on palmetto to a samuri ready to hack
off a head. The samuri will cost you
about $40, but average range for airbrushing throughout Okaloosa runs
about $8 to $1 5, with several shops
offering such simple designs as a single flower with one's name as low
as $5.
Designs run the stock to schlock
to sensational gamet, the majority
concentration, of course, on what
sells. Customers want the folks back
home to know they've been to the
beach-the tan fades, but CE and
Tide won't wear away a surfer riding

waves that incorporate the loops of
the letters that spell Fort Walton
Beach and Destin.
Most airbrushers work in windows, center stage surrounded by a
backdrop of available designs that at
an earlier time would have been described as psychedelic. Day-glo is
passe. Glitter is in. Ditto for the purest of pigments, with colors a more
brilliant shade than Van Gogh envisioned.
Palm trees don't grow in Northwest Florida. Developers import them
and most die after the season, but as
tourists don't know that, they want
to wear palm trees a-wave in the
breeze on their chests. They want
purple moonlight on sailboat silhouettes, magenta sun over black
seaoats, sunbronzed muscle boys
pulled by scarlet cigarette boats over
a turquoise sea, golden lasses in cerise striking bikinis under umbrellas
flashier than a Barnum and Bailey
tent. Buyers also go for balloon bouquets, strawberry sundaes, golden
unicorns, rainbows, and, thanks to
television's Miami vice squad show,
the ubiquitous pink flamingo.
Airbrushers pride themselves on
originality. La Somchitch at Get Your
Shirtogether meticulously brushes a
mauve and sapphire beach scene into
a butterfly's ruby outline. Debbie
Dagwell at The Shirt Tail pleases the
flyboys with silver Air Force jets
streaming across an ultramarine sky.
Tess Stevens at Rainbow T-shirts includes a drowsy fat pelican and a
modern Madonna i n abstract
impressionism among her repertoire.
In the main, however, variation on
the popular seaside resort theme
characterizes the airbrushed T-shirt
trade and artists openly steal from
1
17
for the discriminati

artist endcraftsma
each other. Copyrights cost $100

each and at the rate the airbrushers
churn out designs, no one has the
time to protect an image, much less
afford to cover a collection that
numbers in the hundreds, if not
Rush's thousands.
"This is called the most prostituted art in the world," says Rush.
"You won't see a lot of variety because a lot of people do beach
scenes. That's where the money is.
A few artists can do anything and
hate beach scenes, but. . ."
Money is one reason why 14-yearold Keely Hall spends spare time
studying La at work in the shop
owned by her mother, Beverly Barbarisi, and Sharron Land. The girl says
she admires La's artistry, but admits
attraction to a profession that gives
the employee economic advantage
over the owner.
Neither airbrushers nor owners
who employ them will divulge dollar specifics, but the ratio of what
the artist keeps per illustrated item
goes as high as 85-15. The owner
worries about overhead, a condition
of doing business foreign to most airbrushers who can pack up the $1,000
to $3,000 in airbrush equipment and
walk down the street or move across
the continent with the business carried in a bag.
It seemed an ideal trade to La who
found a natural inclination toward
art in high school. A Laotian immigrant still slightly reticent to communicate in English, La learned airbrushing the same way artists of
antiquity acquired facility by studying at masters' studios. La watched
the early experts along The Strip in
18 AIRBRUSH ACTION/JULY-AUGUST, 1985
the late 1970s. He's back this season

after a four-year hiatus to major in
computer sc'ience, and his a; isn't
rusty.
La's style reflects his EuropeanOriental influence, but don't confuse him or his art with Vietnamese
culture. Ordinarily quiet, the softspoken Laotian firmly informs the
uninitiated that during the Communist invasion of his country, the family was relocated possessions intact.
"We were what they called first-class
immigrants," he says, "not like the
Vietnamese who were just shipped
over here by the boat loads."
Many are the avenues traveled by
the airbrushers.
Stevens, an airbrusher for five
years, hails from the Cajun country
of Tibideaux. Louisiana: Fort Walton Beach, i" her opinion, the best
port for her product. Vicki Blass
picked Destin when she moved this
year from Biloxi, Mississippi to open
Little Brick Shirthouse in a former real
estate office. Her mother, Linda, established Brick Shirthouse on the
wave of success washed in by her
Rainbow shop in Fort Walton Beach.
The Air Force brought Dagwell's
family to Fort Walton Beach where
her father retired and became her
partner in The Shirt Tail. Dagwell's
other partner i s another airbrusherher ex-husband, Scott. The profession evidently transcends personal
friction. Says Dagwell with a broad
smile, "We're still able to be business partners without any problem."
Casey Jones, a petite blonde "big
mama" of airbrushers at age 35, lost
her partner in the Me and Ms. Jones
T-shirt venture when marriage to a
high-ranking Fort Walton Beach police officer ended. They remain amiable and Ms. Jones this summer signs
on with Sun Hot Shirts of Fountain
Square.
Singlehood opened vistas for Jones
who says she was working on MGM's
Grand Hotel in Las Vegas during the
infamous fire. Her piece de resistance at M G M Grand was not the
airbrushed wearable, but a lighted
T, for which she found few buyers
in Fort Walton Beach. Here, the white
jeans and walking shorts are topped
by Ts, but the clothes conscious
consider airbrushing sufficiently
bright without lightbulbs.
Casey Jones rolls with the market.
She spent 18 months at Fort Hood,
Texas, where the soldiers cared more
for cars than clothes and commissioned her to airbrush the likes of
Corvettes and TransAms. Christmas

1984 found her airbrushing everything with a blank surface at one of
the world's largest malls, San Jacinto
at Baytown, outside Houston, where
she plans to return when the beach
season winds down.
Rush, like most of his colleagues,
also subscribes to the motto, "Have
airbrush, will travel." You might find
him at Orlando's DisneyWorld or
Anaheim's Disney Land, at Sea World
or Busch Gardens further sourth in
Florida, on Key West or Hawaii or
St. Thomas, in Colorado this winter
and Beach Mountain, North Carolina, next summer.
The gypsy life an airbrusher must
live, he says. "You can't stay here
all the time and make any money."
Harris thinks differently, but then
Harris is marketing airbrushed prints
of the Columbia at lift-off through
NASA as Kennedy Space Center
souvenirs and garnering media publicity by presenting straight flatwork
to such dignitaries as U.S. Senator
Paula Hawkins of Florida.
Not that Rush is a slouch about
business. He says he's design consultant to other airbrushers and such
companies as Magna Graphics and
Air Nouveau. He also consults on
equipment design and assesses items
not yet in production. Primarily,
however, Rush by his own description is his own person, the quintessence of the imaginative maverick.
Tracking him down for this article
was as tricky as finding the Panhandle official who years back decided
to deposit county funds in a Belize
account.
"I've been partying to get ready
for the season," Rush nonchalantly
explains.
No doubt about it, airbrushers are
different, but not necessarily deserving of the reputation the three-piece
suit crowd would give them as more
high on coke than creativity.
"Look at Ernest Hemingway, anybody who writes books or paints or
composes music," Rush advises.
"You could say they were or are all
doing drugs or booze. But, 'Amadeus' is a perfect example: You don't
have to do drugs, you can be crazy
in other ways. Being crazy helps you
survive. As an airbrusher, you don't
have to be a multi-personality person, but you need insight into the
person buying your design to give
him his money's worth."
Daisy would say you don't glean
that insight in the suburbs.
Cor
TI.>
Colors.
1mix.
."..""
-
To create airbrush magic, you need just the right chemistry: Dyes that won't fade. Opaques that won't clog.
And colors that separate true and mix with traditional media.
Com-Arttransparent dyes are permanent, pigmented, and absolutely non-fading. They can be
sprayed over or mixed with Com-Art opaques for spectacular color effects.
Com-Art's innovative dyes and opaques are so versatile they actually stabilize
and enhance the flow of acrylics.
lated to meet the specific requirements of airbrush profession, Com-Art colors combine the finest-ground
exclusive hydrocarbon base - a natural resin that's
non-toxic and environmentally safe.
The chemistry is just right. The results are
dynamic. Com-Art colors are everyL
thing you always wanted in air"
brush paints. And then some.
-.a
lrCr
RICHARD
ROMEO
The Relaxation
Machine;
12V2 x 19;
1980;
Courtesy:
Broward Magazine.
Discus Fish;
15 x 24;
1981;
Gouache;
Courtesy:
New Florida
Magazine.
Romeo's illustrations have appeared throughout the country in all

areas of business, including: advertising, publishing, television,
packaging, pharmaceuticals, fashion, medical and cartooning.
He is extremely versatile, and works in a broad range of media
and techniques.
ESQUIRE
VARGA GIRL
CALENDAR
In 1940, Esquire presented the Varga Girl--a vibrantly
sensual airbrushed painting by Peruvian artist Alberto
Vargas. Shortly thereafter, the magazine began printing
Varga Girl calendars in answer to unprecedented
demand. The 1945 and 1946 calendars each sold nearly
3 million copies. For soldiers, especially, the Varga
Girl represented the ultimate daydream, the perfect
-contrast to life at war.
Now Esquire, in conjunction with Harry N. Abrams, 1nc.-internationally known for its fine
art reproductions-is pleased to reintroduce the Varga Girl in a beautifully crafted replica of the
1946 calendar. The calendar, sure to become a collector's item, features 13 of Vargas' best paintings.
Viewed with contemporary sensibilities, these paintings
a-,
1
Send to AIRBRUSH ACTION
have multi-faceted value. They're highly aesthetic. They
P.O. Box 73, Lakewood, NI 08701
convey an understated eroticism. They're funny (each
being accompanied by light verse) and they're nostalgic.
Please send me -copy(ies) of the
The calendar will make a perfect gift, whether for
Esquire Varga Cirl Calendar 1986 at
someone with a new-found appreciation for popular
$7.95 each
art from the '40s or for a World War I1 veteran who
Check enclosed
fondly remembers hanging the
Please add $2.00 per order for postage
original calendars by his bunk.
And it will be a fascinating
and handling
conversation piece and a visual ! -, . ,
delight throughout the year.
1
Name
--- I
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1
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SIZE: 11x 14%" $7.95

To Order By Phone Toll Free
1-800-232-7874
(NJ Residents 1-201-364-2111)
Full Refind if not completely satisfied
i Address
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State -Zip (NJ residents add 6% sales tax) VCOl
L,----------J
JULY-AUGUST, 1985/AIRBRUSH ACTION
21
IA
Fm-
A-L-J
Palulian
Commercial illustrator
Dickran Palulian, 46, has
used an airbrush exclusively
in his work for the last
fourteen years. Palulian
(his name is Armenian)
was born in Pontiac, Mich.,
and grew up in Detroit.
Palulian's studio is on
the upper floor of the
home he shares with
his wife and twelve-yearold daughter in Rowayton,
Conn., a town he describes
as "just a tiny community
in southern Fairfield
County, which is about
as close to New York
as you can get and still
be in Connecticut."
Palulian's homeistudio
is just a block from Long
Island Sound, close enough
for casual strolls on
the nearby beach.
22
AIRBRUSH ACTIONIIULY-AUGUST, 1985
observe
thinas that
hiwpvpen to
me, that
reflect my
life, I try to
incorporate
that growth
in some
way in
what I am
ABA: Dick, how has your style

evolved?
Palulian: Back in the sixties, music
had a great influence on what was
going on in the art world. Pushpin
Graphics started to influence the way
people looked at art. The more traditional forms of illustration, which
we would probably categorize as
boy-girl or pocketbook, like the ladies' magazines and the pocketbook
art, seems almost nostalgic, even
though some terrific illustrators are

still doing this. The whole Woodstock thing-the
music, the way
people were, the clothing, the freedom, and, of course, the Viet Nam
war protests4 think artwork started
to reflect that. Dyes were very popular then, Dr. Martin's, preform
shapes a la Glaser, Alcorn, and other
artists, but everyone was influenced
in some way. Even I was doing things
with some very acid colors. But a
1974
Unpublished
JULY-AUGUST, 1985lAIRBRUSH ACTION 23
decade after that, the mid-seventies,

we hit a new stride in technology.
Things were happening in the world.
Computer's came into our lives.
Technically reproduced music. As I
observe things that happen to me,
that reflect my life, I try to incorporate that growth in some way in what
I'm doing.
ABA: In terms of education, what is
your background in art?
Palulian: I only had two years of art
school in Detroit. At that time I was
a very serious painter, but I wanted
to try out commercial areas, so after
two years I thought I had learned all
I could under tutelage, and I wanted
to get out and paint and also get into
the business. My painting eventually
suffered because I got very involved
with the career. In Detroit my career
started as a car stuffer and a background painter. In those days I
worked primarily on car catalogs.

Every year they would pick an illustrator and do backgrounds for a
catalog and he would do the figures
standing around the cars and of
course stuffing the cars with happy
people. All I can say about that part
of my career is that I learned a lot of
discipline, I learned how to use a
camera, which I'm thankful for, and
I learned how to work with models.
ABA: So your background is in fine
arts. Where did you learn to use the
airbrush?
Palulian: In the Detroit studios in the
sixties. I was experimenting with
washes then. For years I had worked
with some of the best car illustrators
in the country. I used to disdain the
airbrush, they did too, because they
felt that laying down washes with a
brush was the way to do it. Later,
though, as3ignments interfered, and
they couldn't take the time. With the

airbrush, they could more rapidly put
in a hood, a side, the wheels, whatever. Eventually, the airbrush was
kind of like a shotgun to car illustrators; each had one at his board. I just
started picking it up and using it in
conjunction with the washes I was
doing, maybe making a flat background and incorporating some
clouds. And more and more I kept
using it.
ABA: Can you be any more specific
about why they didn't want to use
the airbrush?
Palulian: They considered it a crutch.
ABA: The fine arts community always looked down at airbrush as a
commercial artist's tool, but now you
tell me that certain commercial artists look down on airbrush as a
crutch.
Palulian: To me it didn't seem logical. If a person works in pen and ink
and happens to use a double-zero
Rapidograph instead of a crow-quill
pen, how could someone knock the
use of that pen? I mean, the end result i s what we're after. Even though
you're using an airbrush, you're simply using it as a tool.
ABA: Did you have someone there
at the studio teaching you?
Palulian: No, I just picked it up. Just
experimenting with it, saying, "Wow,
I can do things with this. I can blow
a whole sky". There was a lot of trial
and error involved. I don't know how
to count the things that you can learn:
getting an airbrush too close to the
board, using too much air pressure,
especially when you're two-thirds
through with a piece and you load
up the gun too much and it spits.
Anybody who uses an airbrush knows
what I'm talking about. At the end
of the sixties I came to New York,
and I was working almost exclusively with an airbrush.
ABA: And your move here was because of the market?
Palulian: Yes. I really was frustrated
as an illustrator, and let's face it,
anybody who's serious about a career wants to try and make it in the
Apple. I always wanted to come east
anyway.
I
1 1983
h
Unpublished
I
ABA: What artists influenced your
ABA: Do you spend a long time
career?
thinking and planning?

Palulian: Yes. Generally, when I get
an assignment, I sit and visualize the
piece'as done with the colors I want
to use. I see it completely finished,
and I try to match that on the board
when I render it.
ABA: It doesn't always come up to
expectations?
Palulian: No, it doesn't but I've been
fairly successful as far as getting the
color balance I want and also the
mood. The mood is important. "isualizing this specific assignment and
what it's going to say, the color is
very important. Of course, the concept is number one, and then the
composition. I really lean on concept. I believe that the way an idea
is presented is fifty percent of a good
illustration. I think the rendering i s
secondary. If it's a terrible idea, even
a great rendering won't save it.
ABA: Suppose that after you've gone
through the research, the photogra-
Palulian: There aren't too many peo-
ple around who haven't been somewhat influenced by Charlie White.

He was a pioneer in using the
airbrush commercially. I've always
liked his stuff. Of course, Salvador
Dali still looms as my greatest influence, both cerebally and technically.
ABA: Whom do you get your assignments from? An art rep?
Palulian: Some come in through my
reputation.
ABA: SO people do call YOU directly?
Palulian: Yes. Clients that I have
worked with for years, certain magazines that know what I do. They
call me when they know they have
an assignment. Other assignments
come in through an ad in one of the
talent directories. Very few assignments come in through direct contacting-going out and chasing down
a job, showing your book. I don't
generally get work like that, although it does happen.
ABA: How many years did it take
you to reach this point?
Palulian: I would say seven or eight
years.
ABA: What would you say was your
first significant job, your breakthrough job?
Palulian: It was with Sports Illustrated, a two-color job on hockey.
At that time I was doing nostalgiatype period pieces-you know, deco
borders and things-but I was able
to use a stylized format. Even though
the figures had to look like specific
hockey players, I was able to stylize
the dress. That was my first bigmoney job.
ABA: And it was national exposure?
Palulian: Yes. But I don't know what
I got out of that.
ABA: It's hard to attribute your success to one particular piece?
Palulian: That's right. I don't think I
could attribute it to one assignment.
ABA: How big a part does color play
in the planning of the illustration?
Palulian: A third of the illustration is
the color.
1980
Client: NEC Electronics
11
coricept
is numher
one, and then
the composition\\
-
I
JULY-AUGUST, 1985/AIRBRUSH ACTION
25
the same
canvas
with oil
would take
me much
too long to
complete.\\
ble. He did not. He felt that what I

had submitted were simply doodles.
But they were my ideas, and they
took a certain amount of time.
ABA: How was it resolved?
Palulian: I settled. I didn't get what
I wanted. He absolutely refused to
pay me what I wanted.
ABA: Did you ever have to go to
court over something like that?
Palulian: No.
ABA: Are client conflicts a constant
problem?
Palulian: It's not a constant problem, but it's there. Also, sometimes
there are misunderstandings on the
client's part when you state that your
artwork must be returned. It's usually stated on the invoice and made
very clear that the artwork must be
returned.
ABA: Is there a term for one-time
specific use?
Palulian: Well, it's just that-onetime specific use. The agreement
should be specified on the purchase
order.
ABA: Are you paid less for one-time
use than you are for a work-for-hire
piece?
Palulian: I do not accept work-forhire assignments. I am very committed to artist's rights and a workfor-hire arrangement negates a creator's rights.
ABA: After the art director agrees to
a sketch, do vou have him sign
- the
sketch?
Palulian: No, it's kind of a gentlemen's agreement with a client once
the sketch is approved.
ABA: Do your sketches include any
color?
Palulian: I don't do color sketches.
I get asked from time to time, but
due to the nature of the technique,
if they require color sketches there's
an additional fee because I literally
have to do it on the board with an
airbrush and frisket.
ABA: Is it almost like doing a finished illustration?
Palulian: Yes.
ABA: Can you give me a general idea
of how you price a job?
phy, the hours of involvement, the

sketches, the client decides that they
don't seem to be able to get out of
you what they're looking for. Do they
offer you a token payment, or do you
bill them? How does that work generally?
Palulian: Generally, I think you have
to ask for it. They're not going to pay
you unless you insist.
ABA: How do you figure out what
to bill?
Palulian: That's difficult, because
there are extenuating circumstances. I'll use a specific example.
I was called in to do a cover for a
major national magazine to submit
ideas that I would be paid for. At
that time they just assumed, and so
did I, that one of my ideas was going
to be picked to go to finish. The
sketches and the finished illustration
would be covered by one price. What
happened was that none of the
sketches were acceptable to the editor and the art director. The assignment was terminated. But the art director felt that what I was asking for
was too much money. What I took
into consideration was that thinking
that this job would evolve as a finished piece of artwork, I had turned
down two other assignments. So I
was out not only the assignment I
was working on, but the other two
as well. 1 felt that the compensation
of a thousand dollars was accepta-
I
26 AIRBRUSH ACTIONIJULY-AUGUST,1985
g g t : Availco
Palulian: Generally, with magazines, you almost always have to

work within the budget of the magazine. Of course, this varies from
Sports Illustrated to Time to Newsweek. Time pays a specific price for
its covers. You work for that price or
you don't work for Time, but you
have to take into consideration the
exposure that Time will give you, if
it's the right assignment for you.
ABA: What is that price-are you at
liberty to say?
Palulian: I think Time is still paying
between three and four thousand
dollars for a cover.
ABA: What about for an inside illustration?
Palulian: I don't know.
ABA: Have you done a cover for
Time?
Palulian: I really hate talking about

this. It was for a magazine that's no
longer in business, New Times: a
cover John F. Kennedy riding in the
motorcade as the second bullet hit
his head. When I accepted this assignment, it was not supposed to go
beyond a certain point. I did a graphic
portrait of Kennedy, but the art director and the editor felt that there
was not enough blood in it. The art
director came to my house and
waited for me to put in more blood.
I'd come down from the studio and
he'd say, "I want more here," and
I'd go back up to the studio and put
in more. I was so angry I was doing
this that at one point I wanted to break
the painting over my leg. I kept asking myself over and over again, why
did I take this assignment? I didn't
ABA: What would your advice be to

an up-and-coming artist who doesn't
really like a project that is being offered?
Palulian: It is very tough for anyone
who is starting out, trying to build a
portfolio and make a living without
selling his or her soul. Everyone has
to find their own way. I would say
that the first thing to consider when
offered an assignment is that it's a
business. If you want to be a commercial artist, the word commercial
means it's a business, and you've got
to remember that. There are two
questions of importance: "Am I going
to make a living on this?" and "Am
I going to look good on this?" If the
answer to either is clearly no, you
should turn the assignment down. I
know it's very tough, especially when
assignment, too. If it's a gorgeous assignment, you can make a cost adjustment. I do not mean that you
should cut your price in half, but you
can make an adjustment.
ABA: What about an editorial illus-
Palulian: I would say probably a twopage spread would be twenty-five

hundred to three thousand, a single
ABA: Have you ever won any art
Palulian: A regional award when I
lived in Detroit, but I exhibit in just
about every annual there is. I haven't
won any golds or silvers in the Society of Illustrators show. But I've
exhibited Graphis and CA.
ABA: What was the most controversial painting you've ever done?
Client: Penthouse
Client: Litton, Inc.
do it, some other artist will. These

young artists subsidize these magazines. If a magazine can't pay a fair
rate, it shouldn't be in business. And
it shouldn't make money off of you.
You enhance the magazine; you
make the magazine look good.
ABA: So, your advice is to be discriminating without overstepping
principles.
Palulian: That's right. But everyone
has to find their own way. 1 don't
know of any artist who hasn't gone
through this kind of tempering and
learning how to price themselves to
make a living and do something
good. A good rep can circumvent
that trial.
ABA: How do you find a good rep?
Palulian: I wish someone could tell
me, (laughs).
ABA: How do you find a rep, good
or bad?
Palulian: Talent directories andlor the
Society of Photographer's and Artist's Representatives. (Editor's Note:
Society of Photographer's and Art-
ist's Representatives, 1123 Broadway, Room 914, New York, New

York, 10010, 212-924-6012). Or,
you can even ask other artists. I don't
know many artists that have not gone
through several reps, Ultimately it's
a marriage; either it works or it
doesn't. A rep has to understand what
you're doing and what you want to
do. The merger also has to be profitable.
ABA: What's the usual commission
arrangement?
Palulian: Generally between twentyfive and thirty percent. If you are out
of town, the rep will usually require
thirty percent because of the costs of
doing business by phone and expediting artwork.
ABA: Do you feel the commission is
justified?
Palulian: Oh yes. My wife has been
an artist's representative for the past
seven years or so. But I've been able
to see how much work she does,
sending portfolios out to agencies and
designers across the country. Some-
times the portfolios aren't returned

when they should be, and follow-up
phone calls are necessary. Yes, the
reps fee is justified. Reps do work
hard.
One more good thing about reps:
There are many artists who are not
good at showing their own work.
They don't know how to negotiate.
They might have a price in mind,
but when an art director or account
rep comes in and says, "This is all
we havew-which may or may not
be true--if the artist is not a good
negotiator, he's his own worst enemy. A good rep will of course negotiate for the highest price.
ABA: Do they negotiate more than
just price?
Palulii: Yes, negotiating usage rights
is as important as negotiating the
price. Most agency assignments involve buyout+the artwork and the
reproduction rights.
ABA: Does a buyout cost more?
Palulian: Usually double. It always
seems to be a shocker when you
double your price, but you explain
to them that it really is a bargain because they have both physical ownership of the original art and all reproduction rights.
ABA: Are buyouts common?
Palulian: More so than you might
think. A lot of artists just do an assignment and don't worry whether
they're going to get the piece back
or not.
ABA: The client has possession of
the piece and keeps it.
Palulian: Exactly. Once a work-forhire purchase order is signed, the
piece is gone. Since the inception of
the Graphic Artists Guild has there
been more interest in artists' retaining usage rights and their artwork.
Also in the last ten years, there's been
a great interest in illustration itself,
in the collecting of illustrative art
going back to J.C. Leyendecker,
Norman Rockwell, and JamesMontgomery Flagg.
ABA: How do you get your work
back?Writing on the back that you
request its return? Do you have it
written in your contract?
1982
Client: HoffmanLa Roche Laboratories
Palulian: Both. But many times you

have to follow through, call the art
director, ask if it's back from the engraver and if you can pick it up or
have it sent. You have to stay in touch
with artwork that hasn't been returned to you, if that's in fact what
is supposed to happen.
ABA: Who pays for its return? Do
you?
Palulian: Generally, yes. Or I would
arrange to have it picked up. The
longer it stays out there, the more
chances there are for it to disappear.
ABA: You mentioned the Graphic
Artists Guild before. What is it?
Palulian: Several years ago, a number of artists and illustrators with national reputations met in New York
and decided that artists really needed
some sort of guild that would give
them recognition and clout in negotiating with agencies concerning
usage rights and ownership of their
artwork and would also lobby to
make these rights law. The guild also
publishes ethical guidelines and
pricing structures. (Editor's Noteaddress of Graphic Artists Guild is
30 East 20th Street, New York, New
York 10003, 21 2-777-7353.).
ABA: I see. So if you run into a problem that you can't resolve . . .
Palulian: . . . they can refer you to
an attorney, or you can take your
grievance to their joint ethics committee.
ABA: In other words, they are the
Better Business Bureau for the graphic
arts industry. How about the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts? Do you
use their services?
Palulian: I haven't, but I do know of
their existence. I do retain an attorney who is well versed in dealing
with specific problems that confront
artists. He understands that artists
aren't just people who sit around in
their attics and paint because they
love to paint, at least in a business
sense.
ABA: What's your daily schedule
like? Is it set?
Palulian: No, I'm really terrible when
it comes to discipline. I'm very loose.
If I'm busy, I like to be in the studio
ABA: I notice you have a respirator.
by nine-thirty and generally work

until about noon. I like to go for a
five-mile run, come back with my
head full of oxygen and take a
shower, and work until maybe fivethirty. If the schedule demands it,
then I might work a couple of hours
at night.
ABA: What about weekends?
Palulian: I'm generally on a sevenday schedule unless my wife and
daughter have something planned.
ABA: What's the most time you ever
put into a painting?
Palulian: I think about two and a half
to three weeks.
ABA: What's the average time?
Palulian: Ten to twelve days.
ABA: How do you deliver these
pieces? Are they shipped, or do you
hand-deliver them?
Palulian: They're shipped to out-oftown clients. To nearby clients, my
wifelrep hand-delivers them. Messengers make her nervous, but in a
pinch we'll use a local company.
ABA: How do you advise artists to
send their work?
Palulian: Federal Express is one of
the best at expediting and getting
there on time. I've used everybody.
How often do you use it and when:
Palulian: I generally use a mask when

I'm laying down large expanses of
color, because of the dust. I should
really have an exhaust fan, but I
don't. In fact, anyone who uses an
airbrush should have an exhaust fan.
ABA: You use gouache, and you mix
it on a white porcelain tray. Why do
you use a porcelain tray, rather than
color cups?
Palulian: I think it's easier, especially when you're using small
amounts of color. Even if it's dry, I
can just use a little water to rewet it.
ABA: You always load it into your
airbrush with a brush?
Palulian: Yes.
ABA: And you use CO, tanks rather
than a small compressor. Why?
Palulian: I keep thinking I'm going
to get a compressor, but I don't. The
tanks have become a habit.
ABA: I see you use a spray box, a
cardboard box with a hole in it to
spray into when cleaning the airbrush. Is that something of your own
design?
Palulian: Some of the car men in
Detroit use that. I picked it up from
1984
Client: Discover Magazine
I
then it goes out the window because

a printer can't match it. I've been
accused I don't know how many
times by printers of using an acid or
a Day-Glo color. I don't use any artificial brighteners or anything. i use
a mixture of tones to get that brightness. For example, when I wanted
an intense red, I put a pale tone of
, cadmium yellow under it and then
went back over it very lightly with
plain red or scarlet. This gave me a
very intense red. Well, they couldn't
match it. They couldn't bring it out.
But that's what happens with printers. You just have to look the other
way. Younger artists who are trying
to get their stuff in print to build a
portfolio ought to know this. They
get their proofs, then they get the
magazine and look at the tearsheet,
and say "what happened?"
ABA: They should stand and mourn
then?
Palulian: No, it's a fact of life. You
them. It works. You can hang a rag have to realize that you're dealing
in there and then throw the rag out with someone in a different area altogether. He's not concerned that
when its saturated.
ABA: That's a good idea. Do you much with reproduction. He has a
clean your airbrush just by dunking contract to print x number of magit in a bowl of water and spraying it azines. Some of them might come
through?
out good. Some of them come out
Palulian: Yes. I try to put about two bad. Most of the time they come out
cups of water through it before I'm not so good.
going to hang it up. If it's really ABA: What's so special about the
clogged, I'll run some acetone airbrush to you? You use it almost
through it.
exclusively.
ABA: Your lighting-l notice you Palulian: Yes, I do use it exclusively.
have a mixture of flourescent tubes I think it's because as a tool it can
here. Is this specific lighting?
do things for me that I couldn't do
Palulian: Yes. It's warm and cool. It otherwise. To get the same feeling
will give you about the best mix. You on canvas with oil would take me
take your work out in the light and much too long to complete. Most asit's going to look different. 1 would signments allow you only two weeks
love to be able to say I care about from sketch to finish.
what it looks like in natural light, but ABA: So among other things, it's a
that's not where ,lople see it. Peo- time saver?
ple look at it in , : , office.
Palulian: Yes. I think I would say
ABA: What abet,, ,~hotomechanical that's number one, because if you're
reproduction?
going to make a living in a realistic
Palulian: They could use quartz, or style and work within the boundait could be studio strobes. Strobe is ries of the advertising business, time
balanced to daylight. You don't know is essential. Clients will not give you
if they're using it so the best thing is two or three months to complete a
to look at a chrome after it's been painting. The airbrush affords me the
shot, and compare. If there's a var- luxury of doing a slick piece of work
iance of more than ten percent, we've in ten to fourteen days, and that's
important.
got problems.
ABA: Where do you compare it? ABA: I noticed you work with an air
Here? Under these lights?
eraser. How do you use it?
Palulian: Usually on a light box. The Palulian: I use it not for mistakes but
frustrating thing about reproduction usually to highlight certain areas ini s that you work so hard to get a spe- stead of using a zinc white. Zinc
cific tone or color to a piece, and white--in fact all whites I've used,
keep a
pretty good
scrap file.
I'm a'mad
even the most intense opaques-affects the color around it. If you want
a hot spot, you're going to cloud the
area around it, and you're going to
get a different cast. But the air eraser
will give you the surface of the board;
it will give you a more realistic burnout if it's on chrome. However, it's
messy because it sprays an abrasive
powder and it's terrible to breath.
ABA: How do you protect yourself
when you do use that?
Palulian: I use the mask, and I try to
vacuum right after. But I would recommend anybody using it to have a
booth and an exhaust fan. Everyone
should have an exhaust fan.
ABA: Dick, how many airbrushes do
you have?What kinds are they?
Palulian: I have a total of six airbrushes. I still lean to the Thayer &
Chandler Model A, but I am trying
the Olympos out, and I have two
Paasche's. I have the AB, which is
probably one of the finest on the
market, but I'm not happy using it.
I really look for a versatile brush that
has a certain amount of fineness to
it but also lets me open it up and
cover a broader expanse. I'm really
terrible about changing things over
and moving from one brush to the
other. I'm lazy when it comes to that.
I want to spend all my time on the
particular piece I'm working on and
not experimenting with brushes.
ABA: Do you generally spray at
twenty-five to thirty pounds pressure?
Palulian: Right.
ABA: Do you have any equipment
horror stories, things that went wrong?
Palulian: Yes, probably the worst
thing for me since I use CO, tanks
was leaving a valve open on Saturday night and discovering the leak
whtn I came up to finish the piece
on Sunday. Luckily, I was able to
borrow a tank from a friend and finish the piece by the Monday morning deadline.
ABA: What mechanical problems
have you had with airbrushes and
airbrushing? And what solutions to
these problems have you come up
with?
Palulian: Well, the first thing is to
keep your airbrush clean. All you
need do is rinse it out every time you
use it and pay attention to cleaning:
take the needle out and take a very,
very fins-say, quadruple-zersteel-wool pad and just run it along
the needle to get any of the excess
Palulian's
Studio
INTENSIFIED EDUCATION
IS PLEASED TO OFFER
off. If you use acrylics or gouache

like I do, it's mandatory. You
shouldn't have too many problems,
but, of course, airbrushes do wear,
and from time to time you have to
replace the nozzle. As a safety valve,
I always keep one good airbrush in
the wings in case one quits on me.
ABA: And a spare CO, tank?
Palulian: And a CO, tank, right.
ABA: Can you tell us what you know
about working with friskets and stencils? Cutting and removing them?
Palulian: I make my own friskets. I
use a medium frisket paper on which
I put probably five or six very thin
watery coats of rubber cement. I let
one dry and put the next one on. I
brush it on using a wide brush, and
if there is any residue I can always
gently pick it up with a rubber cement pickup. The only hazard in using a frisket that you prepare yourself is that if you've got a crucial area
that you have frisketed off and you're
blowing in a rather heavy or dense
background, you've got to seal the
frisket with the rubber cement and
apply a thinner with cotton around
the edges. Otherwise it will bleed
and cause problems. You will find
yourself opaquing the edges.
ABA: Is the frisket paper you use like
glassine paper?
Palulian: Yes.
ABA: Is it translucent?
Palulian: Semitranslucent.
ABA: What kind of frisket knife do
you use?
Palulian: I use just the average XActo knife, number eleven.
ABA: Do you use a swivel?
Palulian: No, I hate the swivel. It just
doesn't work for me for some reason. But the templates I use are generally mat acetate, which I cut.
ABA: And you hold it down with
weights?
Palulian: No, I generally tape it to
the top and lift it. If I want a soft
edge. I will lift it and blow so that
some of the pigment will drift underneath. But you have to be careful
of the pressure and the amount of
paint that is coming out of the nozzle so you don't get too much of a
soft edge. In other words, you can
get a duplicate edge.
ABA: How much do you pay attention to edges? Very often airbrushed
work has that frisketed appearance.
Palulian: 1 pay a lot of attention to
edges because that is one of the pitfalls of the technique.
ABA: I am glad to hear you say that.
I have always thought that if you don't
pay enough attention to those edges,
it ruins the impact.
Palulian: Exactly. It does look like
it's been frisketed and something has
been blown either in back of it or in
front of it. I think that's what some-
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times gives art directors a negative

feeling about the technique. It looks
as if it were airbrushed.
ABA: Do you keep your edges atmospheric?
Palulian: Yes, even if I have to go in
and very carefully touch the lines up
with a little opaque or whatever.
ABA: With a small brush? Like a
triple-zero?
Palulian: Right, exactly. I think it's
very important. I think that young
artists using the airbrush have a
tendency to overlook this, and ultimately it shows in the work. Cleanness is what we are really after.
ABA: Do you use an opaque projector?
Palulian: Yes, but sparingly. I like to
draw most of my images. I will use
it in a pinch, and to do a loose underlay, and then I will do several
other drawings from it. When drawing a hand, I will start with a photograph, a very tight photograph. I
try to get a hand with long thin fingers because a normal hand is going
to look.stubby, and even then I have
to stretch the fingers even longer to
get the feeling so I will use a projector to sketch the hand out the size I
want it. Then I will make several
drawings from it, improving it further.
ABA: Do you keep an idea file?
Palulian: Not really a file. I do keep
tissues of ideas that I want to use. It
has happened that an idea rejected
by me or by an art director has been
perfect for a later assignment. I do
keep a pretty good scrap file. I'm a
mad clipper. Everything ends up in
a pile on the floor. Months later I
will spend a whole day looking for
something I know is in there!
ABA: Is it well advised for people to
catalog their ideas?
Palulian: Absolutely.
ABA: In what size do you generally
work and why?
Palulian: It depends on the subject.
I don't like to work super large. If I
work super, super large, I'm going
to have to put in more detail than I
normally would, so I try to work in
a comfortable area. A rule of thumb
is probably anywhere from one-third
to one-half up from reproduction.
Only a subject that really needs a lot
of detail would I blow up 100 percent. If it doesn't require as much
detail, perhaps 50 percent up.
ABA: What can you tell us about the
kind of creative process involved in
working out the concept?

Palulian: If my rep hands me a layout and says, "Here it is. Call the
guy tomorr?~", I have the luxury of
thinking about the piece for several
hours. I can ask myself, Can I make
this look good? Would I be happy
with this? Would I be happy signing
this piece when I'm through with it?
On the other hand, when an art director calls and says, "I have this assignment, this is what it is, I really
need to know pretty quick", you've
really got to think quickly.
ABA: If you say you're interested,
does the art director furnish you with
a general concept as a sketch?
Palulian: Yes. But I think most people prefer the freedom of coming up
with their own piece, their concept.
The ideal situation i s to have an art
director call you and say, "I have a
manuscript, would you read it, tell
me what you think about it, and if
you like the story would you like to
do a couple of sketches and then we'll
talk about it." That's the way I like
to work. Unfortunately, that doesn't
happen as often as it should, and most
of the time you get a call for a spe-
mately
it's a
marrage;
either it
works or
it doesn't.
\\
JULY-AUGUST, 19851AIRBRUSH ACTION 33
American Showcase?
Palulian: Unfortunately, it seems that
this has become the only game in
town as a way to attract new clients
or tell people where you are. In one
way it is great for new talent to be
able to buy an ad and get their faces
out into the buying community.
ABA: Should up-and-coming artists
invest in self-promotional materials,
and what should those self-prornotional materials be comprised of?
Palulian: If you're not ready, you
shouldn't be taking an ad in a talent
directory really. You should be very
selective. If you're thinking about
taking a page and you don't think
you have the right pieces, wait another year. Keep working. I've seen
artists jump in and put a page together and find that the page has done
more harm than good in the long run.
If they'd waited maybe another year,
their style and the subject matter
would have had a little more polish
to it. That would have meant putting
a better foot forward. Once you're
out on that page, good or bad, you're
letting it all hang out.
ABA: How does an artist know when
he's ready to make that move?
Palulian: If you're fortunate enough.
to have a rep, the two of you together should be able to work that
out. Also, it doesn't hurt to talk to
other artists who are working. I know
probably some younger artists will
be reluctant to call someone that they
think is a "star", but if you respect
someone's work, don't be hesitant.
If you're not afraid of what they're
going to say, send a book of slides
to them and ask what they think. That
will give you an indication.
ABA: That's a good gauge.
Palulian: It sure is.
aysport a beachscene,lushwith palmtreesand

sea g r a s s . q m a y feature a custom car, pain
detailed, duplicated exactly from a color photo.
be a tattered, faded relic from another year, the wellworn, well-loved victim of too much sun and soapsuds.
' is the essential souvenir, the irrefutable proof
I
that the wearer toured PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA.

36 AIRBRUSH ACTION/JULY-AUGUST,1985
or the teenagers, that airbrushed T-shirt is as much a

part of the Beach trip as the
pyramid of beer cans carefully stacked in the hotel room
and the broken flip-flops
abandoned in the sand. For a
scrappy colony of artists, that T-shirt
is a living.
At Panama City Beach, high-rise
condominiums spring up beside
faded mini golf courses, and homey
mom-and-pop souvenir shops vie
with new clusters of trendy boutiques. The skyline is changing; the
apparel is not.
In 1974, two lone airbrush artists
held off hordes of teenagers at one
Beach shop. Now, between 250 and
300 artists ply their trade at about 60
locations here. Some are housed in
large shops with endless racks of
shirts, neon-laced displays, and bustling helpers. Others operate in openair shacks that spring up overnight,
peering around colorful shirts that flap
in the breeze.
Sprawling beside the white sand
and shimmering waters of the Gulf
of Mexico, the Beach welcomes a
healthy dose of tourists from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisi-
ana, and Kentucky. Less exotic than

its name, Panama City Beach has
long been dubbed the Redneck Riviera, to the chagrin of local tourist
officials, who tout the condo lifestyle and neon lights. Regardless of
image, the ranks swell, from 1.3
million visitors in 1980 to an estimated 2.5 million people this summer.
Those tourists are particularly loyal
to the airbrush art found on every
corner. While custom-airbrushed Tshirts were a late-1970s fad that came
and went in other tourist meccas,
artists find a haven here during the
90-day summer season.
The continuing popularity of the
airbrushed designs is a mystery even
to the artists. Chris Timm has spent
11 years airbrushing at Panama City
Beach but has never believed the
boom i s real. "I'm still amazed that
all this is still here," Timm admits.
The neon-lit aura is one attraction.
"One reason is the sheer momentum," Timm says. "People see 200
or so signs for airbrush, and they start
to think this is something they might
want."
The ever-increasing number of
airbrush artists is both an asset and
liability, artist Chris Kopko agrees.

"There's an excitement generated by
the competition." Other artists find
that tradition tugs their customers,
southerners with strong roots, back
to the airbrush booths. "We're getting kids whose parents got a shirt
when they were young," says artist
Pat Gaines. "We get college kids who
saw their older brothers get an airbrushed shirt on their spring break,
so they go ahead and do it too."
Still, artists fear that the increasing
competition could drive them all out.
"Just because of the quantity, you
naturally see a lot that's not very
good," says Tim Mitchell of Airbrush Attic. "People buy from them
and it gives airbrush a bad name.
Airbrush comes to mean a rip-off."
To battle that, artists continually
seek new designs and new ways to
present their wares. The explosion
of New Wave designs several years
ago gave new life to the traditional
beach scenes. The sharp triangles and
checkerboard designs incorporate the
waves-and-sunset scenes, while other
graffitti-influenceddesigns strike more
original ground.
Timm, a popular artist at the Surf
Shak, accents hi- ' -- - - - - ' - I - - ' -
summer sun.
mark housing a restaurant and radio station. Behind the tower
is Miracle Strip Amusement Park. About every third
building on the Beach features an airbrush artist's booth.
(Left) Airbrush artists i n Panama City Beach will decorate
most anything a tourist could desire. Here, a typical Beach
design on a T-shirt.
Airbrush artist Pat Caines

whips out tourist-oriented
designs in Trader Rick's,
a Panama City Beach shop.
Craffitti and beach scenes are
the hottest items this summer.
display with neon and flanks the

booth with televisions pulsing with
music videos. The appreciative young
audience bobs along with the beat,
watching Timm transform a basic T
into a custom creation. One lithe
young creature suggests that the wait
would be sweetened by a Budweiser. "Hmm, how about an AirBrew shop?: Timm muses, only half
kidding. "Sip a beer, buy a shirt. Innovation will keep the market
strong," says the artist. "To keep airbrush alive in this area, you've got
to keep it changing, keep it current."
The past and the present are both
dominated by visionary airbrush
painter Kenn Allbright. Allbright was
the pied piper, urging his friends toward the opportunities on the Gulf
Coast in the mid-1970s' and his influence remains in the work of those
who followed him there.
The scene began at the Surf Hut,
a Beach landmark with weatherbeaten surfboards atop the roof and
sand, not linoleum, underfoot. "That
place had a kind of tradition, even
then," says airbrush artist Mark
McLaughlin. "It was a place to hang
around, trade ideas, talk." McLaughlin, a Cincinnati native, was
lured to the coast by Allbright and
faced the first horrifying Alabama
Education Association week at the
Surf Hut. During AEA, all high school
and college students in Alabama are
38
AIRBRUSH ACTIONIJULY-AUGUST,1985
Airbrush artist
Chris Kopko works on two
designs at Trader Rick's in
Panama City Beach. Kopko's
specialty is New Wave graphics, a
wild new trend i n Beach T-shirts.
set free, and tens of thousands race cepted by the Beach businessmen.
to Panama City Beach in desperate "At first, you couldn't talk people into
putting them in a store," Mcsearch of fun.
"I was 19 and airbrushing at Surf Laughlin says. "Airbrush artists were
Hut," he remembers, "and I'd look transients. Now, it's become a traout and there would be a sea of kids, dition. You have to have one in your
just waves of 'em coming at me. We store. "You're important to the store.
were the only ones airbrushing, I've had store owners come to my
then." Timm was at his side. "Peo- door and get me up in the morning
ple were so unfamiliar with air- to go to work."
The artists add a personal touch,
brush, they'd just hand, you $5 or
$10 and say, 'Paint me a shirt,' " he not only to a shirt but to the store
says with a laugh. "They had noth- itself. "A lot of times, people buy
from you because they like you,"
ing to compare it to."
Rob Oakes was also 19, a car- Timm says. But the customer contoonist recently booted from art tact can be frustrating. "A lot of peoschool, when McLaughlin dragged ple make fun of tourists," he conhim to the Surf Hut. "He told the fesses. "But I've been a tourist." Still,
owner I was a bit rusty," Oakes "they'll come up and point to a dislaughed. "I'd never done airbrush play and say, 'Well, that shirt has
before. It was trial by fire, basic Diane written on it. Can I put my
training." A disc jockey broadcast- name on it instead?' and I have to
ing live from the store coined the wonder if I ever say things that are
nickname, Robo, that has remained so . . . ,"Timm trails off with a rueful laugh.
with Oakes for ten years.
Oakes, a friendly, funny man, chats
The artists continued trickling in,
two or three at a time, with their vans, with customers to dispel any awkcampers, and airbrushes. Facing a wardness the conservative southern
short tourist season, many of the art- tourists feel about his long, unkempt
ists traveled south in the winter, hair. But the conversation is not an
catching tourist seasons in Key West effort. "They're happy, they're on
and the islands. At Panama City vacation," Robo says. "You're seeing
Beach, artists hopped from one store people at their best." His thatched
to another. McLaughlin, who has booth at Shipwreck Shirts is inworked at ten locations in ten years, tended to foster that mood. "They're
introduces another artist as "the most looking for 'Floridaness,' " Oakes
says, waving at the Gilligan's Island
hired and fired man on the Beach."
The free spirits weren't always ac- decor. "It's not like going to the mall
Illustrated by Keith Harmer using the
NTAVE: FRANKLIN PARK,IL6

Distin Canadaby:
IOOXF
?$~5"'-
(Top) Artist Rob "Robo"

Oakes displays his work
at his shop. The
bamboo and thatch
booth, set inside
a typical tourist
souvenir shop, i s
designed to give
visitors a relaxed
tropical feeling,
Oakes said.
(Center) Along this
colorful tourist
strip is Trader
Rick's, where artists
ply their trade
during the 90-day
summer season.
(Bottom) "Robo" Oakes
advertises his
trade with an eyecatching sign outside
Shipwreck Shirts
on Panama City Beach.
Many of the artists
are given free rein
to decorate the
shops that they
work in.
of the T-shirts, and the artists make

their money by keeping between 70
and 80 percent or the cost of the airbrush work. While some artists realize $1,000 weeks during the peak
tourist season, the average is $10 to
$50 per day. With most designs
costing $4 to $6, that income comes
from steady work. A custom shirt
featuring a portrait, car, or other detailed art will bring about $50 but
will take two to three hours. Ten
minutes, a quick artist can produce
three beach scenes for the same
amount of money. "You like to do
custom work, and try to give it your
best shot, to show how good you
are," Mitchell explains, "but the time
it takes and the griping about the price
make you shy away from it."
The relaxed Gulf Coast atmosphere has led to a less competitive
climate in Panama City Beach, artists say. The secretive, designhoarding attitude is seldom seen here.
"Everybody gets along so well,"
Timm says. "There's plenty for
everybody, so nobody feels threatened." The give-and-take of ideas
leads to a better product for all the
artists, Gaines feels. "We share our
ideas and techniques," he says.
"That's why the airbrush here is better than in other towns."
Early designs were closer to the
work typically performed at carnivals-cartoons, bubble letters, cars,
trucks. "We did quick, bright, colorful designs," says Oakes. Looking
over his display, a spread ranging
from funky cartoons to Japanese-style
minimalist patterns, Oakes recalls the
design pinnacle in the early years.
"The most exotic display on the
beach would have a day scene and
a night scene," he said.
For inspiration, artists check magazines, fashions, music videos, and
each others' work. "If anybody thinks
people are plagiarizing, they're kidding themselves," Kopko offers.
"Ultimately, it's two palm trees, a
boat, and a bird." By requesting
combinations of various design elements, customers also create new
designs.
Kopko and Gaines share space and
ideas at Trader Rick's. "We work off
one another," Kopko says. "Sometimes I'll do a design and Pat will
work off of it. It's not a set process."
Kopko and Gaines put a twist on the
traditional; for example, they feature
beach scenes with small squares
falling off. "You can add all the New

Wave graphics," Kopko says, "but
for making money there's nothing like
the beach scenes."
Most Beach artists use a combination of stencils and freehand
drawing. "Freehand is time-consuming, and that means money,"
Gaines says. "It might look great, but
if it costs too much and takes too
long, it's no good. I could do all these
little things to make it look better,
but then I'd turn around and they'd
be going nuts waiting for me to finish. They want to get out to the
beach." And tourists still want the
tropical scenes. Mac Bibby, of Airbrush Attack, spreads his arms wide,
aiming imaginary arcs of paint at an
unsuspecting shirt. "I could give you
a work of art. But there's no call for
that. That's not what people want."
During the winter, Bibby designs silkscreened shirts for a local firm. "I'm
the epitome of an artist's dream," he
says. "I work with art all year."
As a hedge against the day that
people decide they no longer want
airbrush art, some artists have begun
investing in other projects. With his
long ponytail, beret and goatee, and
paint-spattered clothes, McLaughlin
scarcely looks like a budding businessman, but his airbrush equipment supply company flourishes yearround in a cartoon-bedecked Beach
shop. Four years ago, he noted the
explosion of artists and a lack of local suppliers and began The Airbrush Outlet. Expanding into catalog sales, McLaughlin combined
good business sense with a sense of
humor. The low prices are advertised nationally, but Oakes is given
free rein with the catalog. The result
is steady sales and goofy drawings
featuring the antics of Artie, a berettopped artist.
McLaughlin now paints at a small
shop, the Party Shak. "I'm tired of
dealing with families at those big
stores," he says. "You try to be
friendly to the tourists, but it's a highpressure job. I like to go for the small
place now." Without the assemblyline shirt painting ahead of him,
McLaughlin can step back, take time,
and contemplate art. "I'm a painter
and I can get creative," he says. "You
could call it art; you could call it folk
art. Just because it only costs fifteen
dollars doesn't mean anything. Hey,
even a teenager should be able to
buy a piece of art and wear it home."
Timm seeks art in a variety of arenas. During the winter he works on
commercial art and advertising

projects and designs and paints signs.
Even as the summer season began to
heat up, he was working on a poster
and a calendar. "There's so much
opportunity here, so many avenues," Timm says. "Airbrush is just
another thing I do. It's opened doors
for me, time after time after time."
Timm has perhaps perfected the
skill of painting a dozen designs at
once, starting with dark colors and
working toward the white highlights. He talked one afternoon as he
simultaneously painted four T-shirts,
two sun visors, a sand dollar, and a
velcro-clasp cooler. But he strives for
quality as well as quantity. "I hate a
hack attitude," Timm professes. "It's
a business, but you have to hit a

happy medium."
Kopko, a 29-year-old California
native, echoes the sentiment. "You
have to strike a balance between
seeking an aesthetic effect and making a living." Up until the past winter, Kopko traveled in the winter,
working ten-day gigs in malls and Tshirt shops. A relative newcomer to
the scene, Kopko has made his mark
with modern designs in the past five
years. "Personally, I'm a New Wave
enthusiast," Kopko says. "Some of
my better creations are in the New
Wave realm." Working on custom
designs from people who want an
exact copy of a photo, Kopko says
continued on page 44
Airbrush artists provide a free show, as well as a

personalized T-shirt, to Panama City Beach tourists.
The artists at Trader Rick's enhance their booths with
neon, music and benches for weary shoppers.
JULY-AUGUST, 1985fAIRBRUSH ACTION 41
Meet a Professional:
The best!
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2P-F
AIRBRUSH
KIT
The finest line, the finest spray, the smoothest
control. The artist's airbrush. The Model "A"
A complete line of airbrushes.

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42
The Utley Company, a

supplier of quality art and
drafting supplies, is embarking on a program supporting fund raising campaigns.
The 2P-F airbrush kit,
manufactured by Paasche
Airbrush Company, will be
offered at a 20 percent
savings to fund-raising organizations. Sponsors of
this program can realize a
$7.00 profit per unit.
The 2P-F includes a
model H single-action airbrush, two color bottles,
two cans of airbrush propellant, and more. With
this kit, organizations can
promote the use of the airbrush for cake decorating,
nursery and bathroom
stencilling, T-shirt painting, and other hobby applications. For further information contact Utley
Company, Inc., 215 South
Highway 23, Genoa, IL
601 35.
DUAL
BRUSH-PEN
American Tombow, Inc.
announces the DUAL
BRUSH-PEN featuring a
nylon fibre flexible brush
and a hard nylon sketching point. A single ink reservoir feeds both tips to
deliver a perfect color
match. Pens are available
in 72 brilliant colors, including 15 shades of gray.
Colors are water-base ink,
odorless and non-bleed.
For more information contact: American Tombow,
Inc., 5352 Sterling Center
Drive, Westlake Village,
CA 91361.
OMNICROM
COPIER
OMNICROM introduces
the OMNICROM 2000, a
product that transforms
regular plain paper copier
copies into whichever color
you select. The list of applications for such a product are almost unlimited.
Commercial artists, print-
ers, quick printers, offices,

schools, sign shops, in fact
anyone with a plain paper
copier can now transform
regular black copies into
single or multiple colored
images quickly and
economicallv. For more
information 'contact OMNICROM Systems Corporation, 261 11 Brush Avenue, Cleveland, O H
t132; 216-261-0066.
'
offers its second

generation Fold-away
Portable Drawing Table,
the Fold-away II. It sports
a sleek new look reminiscent of European-designed
tables, but this table is
American-designed and
American-manufactured.
The Fold-away II offers
optimum versatility. It's an
easy-to-carry compact unit
that folds to a mere 4" thin
when closed, and a stable
4-post drawing table when
oDen. It unfolds to a starting height of 29" and
reaches a full 45" high
when completely extended. The board is Stator's Two-In-One, an easyto-clean plastic laminate
that's white on one side
and black on the other.
Mount with either side as
the working surface. The
board is easily adjusted to
the most comfortable angle for you, from 0" to 40,
and is available in 2 sizes:
30" x 42", and 38" x 48".
The Fold-away II base is
available in four colors:
red, white, black, and blue.
. ~ _
For full-color information,

write to Stacor Corporation, (a subsidiary of Visual Electronics Corporation), 285 Emmet Street,
Newark, N.J. 071 14.
Dick Blick d.
CLASSIFIED
Portable, lightweight, economical source of compressed air.
Airbrush anywhere. Recharge
almost anywhere. No electricity
required to airbrush. Send for
details plus price list of airbrushes and supplies. Bob Sox,
Air Show, 5885 Shades Run
Lane, Bessemer, AL 35023.
CLASSES: AIRBRUSH PAINTING, PHOTO-RETOUCHING,
PHOTO-RESTORATION
Don't waste your money and time
on "WEAK-end" seminars, we
offer concentrated, 40 Hr week .
long seminars. It takes time to
develop airbrush techniques. Our
small classes, 16 seats, affords
individualized hands on training
from experienced instructors.
Approved by the Illinois State
Board of Education. Call or write
for your FREE COURSE CATALOG, SCHOOL OF AIRBRUSH
ARTS, 1330 S. Villa Ave., Villa
Park, IL 60181 (312) 834-7333
AIRBRUSH ACTION is seeking
photographs of your studio for an
upcoming pictorial. Sloppy or
neat, we don't care! All contributors will receive a free AIRBRUSH ACTION T-shirt (specify
size--small, medium, or large).
Slides, black and white prints or
4 x 5's only. Your name will be
published unless otherwise
specified. Mail to: AIRBRUSH
ACTION MAGAZINE, 317 Cross
Street, Lakewood, NJ 08701.
Have something to sell or announce concerning the world of
the airbrush? AIRBRUSH ACTION'Sclassified section is open
to offer a forum for airbrush business. Call 1-800-232-7874 to
place an order for an airbrush
classified ad. One inch ad is only
$54. Estimate a column inch as
30 characters per line. 8 lines per
inch.
Dept. AB
Box 1267
Galesburg, IL 61401
------------------------Enclosed is $2.00 for the 1985 catalog.

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CANADA
ART COMPETITION
Pasadena, California
October 4,5,6
The International Society for Airbrush
Arts would like to announce their
first Western States Airbrush
Art Competition. Artwork will be
displayed at the Tools of the Trade
Show in Pasadena, California
October 4, 5, and 6, 1985. Winning
entries will also be printed in the
NovemberIDecember Issue of
AIRBRUSH ACTION Magazine.
A jury of distinguished airbrush artists
will judge entries in September, 1985.
Judges are Robert Anderson, Barbara
Rodgers, Dave Willardson, Dave
Malone, Paula Kretschmer and David
Kimble. Cash prizes will be given
to lst, 2nd, and 3rd place winning
entries in each category. Categories
are commercial illustration, technical
illustration, and fine art. States of
eligibility are Washington, Oregon,
California, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming,
Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona,
New Mexico and Hawaii. Deadline
for entries is August 31, 1985.
Work being submitted must be
completed after 1980. See sponsoring
dealers for entry form or write to
International Society for Airbrush
Arts, Dept. ABA, P.O. Box
69309, Portland, Oregon 97201.
44
continued from page 4 1

the challenge is trying to
avoid too strong a style.
"You paint like you see
things, or as you'd like to
see things," he says.
Oakes's best work, like
his humor, are just slightly
off-kilter. "Cartooning is
my forte," he admits. His
cartoon characters grace
many signs on the Beach,
and he also chronicles his
friends' adventures in witty,
good-natured cartoons.
Oakes, 29, came to Panama City with $200 and an
old pink car with big fins
that wouldn't take him
back to Memphis even if
he'd wanted to return. He
remained o n the G u l f
Coast, and his loyalty stuck
w i t h striking autos-he
now drives a black 1963
Cadillac.
Gaines, 30, was seduced from the Ringling
School of Art in Sarasota,
Florida, by the quick airbrushing money of the
early Panama City Beach
days. He learned that the
craft was not as easy as it
seemed. "The first five or
six shirts came back in my
face," he confesses. "At the
end of the day, I'd made
$50. That first summer, my
stuff had to be terrible, but
all of us were awful, so it
didn't matter." Last winter, Gaines began working
in Colorado, with contracts in two Vail shops and
a Breckenridge store. "It's
a parallel season," he explains. Instead of beach

scenes, I ' m d o i n g ski
slopes. An airbrush artist
can stay busy if he'll
travel." Gaines has an eye
to the profit margin. "This
business is a dream: five
hundred dollars' worth of
materials can last you all
summer and make you
eighty thousand dollars."
After ten years of airbrushing, Tim Mitchell, 26,
is also watching his ledger.
Mitchell learned the art
from his uncle, Beach airbrush artist Lamar Mitchell. Along with the stock
beach scenes, M i t c h e l l
displays a wide variety of
cartoon characters misbehaving at the beach.
M i t c h e l l finds that by
working nearly 80 hours
per week during the season, he doesn't necessarily
have to work in the winter.
He often heads for the
winter tourist resorts, and
he has investments i n
Beach real estate and a
motel. "I don't think airbrush will die," he says.
"After eleven years, it's still
going strong. If I'm wrong,
I've got other things going."
Rumblings about legalizing casino gambling in
Florida could give the
business a whole new look.
Mitchell laughs. "We'd
start new designs-roulette wheels with palm
trees."
SUBSCRIBE
N O W
CALL TOLL FREE

1-800-232-7874
TO
a;
Rainbow frames at
down to earth prices.
-
Call toll-free:1-800
information.In New York
AIR
1 Parmelee Welles Tollcan:

The CATS' Meow!
BY KATE SEAGO
There is, indeed, more than one way to skin a
cat-and one way is to paint it on with an
airbrush. The elaborate costume "skins" of the
characters in the Broadway musical "CATS'are
really made of Miliskin, a Spandex/nylon mix
often used for bathing suits. The white
unitards are painted with fibre-reactive
silkscreen dye, using a variety of methods
including airbrush. The "CATS'costumes
were created by designer John Napier, who
drew them in pencil. Most sketches were
colored in with colored pencils or fine line
felt markers, but for Rum Tum Tugger
(based on singer Mick Jagger) Napier
~ s e dan airbrush. To capture the essence
of Napier's original drawings, costume
painter Parmelee Welles Tolkan
airbrushed the dye, thinned with water,
onto the white costume base with a
DeVilbiss touchup brush. Each
character has two costumes, which are
washed after each performance.
Together, the costumes last about
seven months; they become damaged
from the stress of a very active
three-hour performance each night,
and are subject to perspiration
breakdown. Both Tugger costumes
are fitted in the same session, where
Tolkan marks the stripes, spots and
highlights directly on the costume as the actor wears
it. The shape of the leopard spots and bib are changed to suit the
body type of the specific actor, and highlights are sketched in for the upper
arms and thighs, buttocks and crotch. Once the markings are drafted the costumes
are disassembled and attached to plywood sheets. The actual spraying of both
costumes takes about 2% hours; Tolkan sprays the thinned dye at 15 to 20 Ibs.
pressure. "I used to spray it much heavier, but I fmd I have much more control at
lower pressure," she comments. Tugger first is sprayed with a black-brown base, and
highlights are applied with lighter colors. Tolkan has found that simply spraying a
lighter density to get a lighter color doesn't work with these dyes; she mixes a
lighter tone and sprays at a consistent density. Tugger is sprayed with two shades of
green-gold, a warm gold, brown, buff-brown,grey and black The dye dries in about
20 minutes with the use of fans. The costume is turned over, and the black areas are
sprayed from the back to intensify the colors. After painting, the costumes are
steamed and washed to set the color, which becomes permanent. "The costume
wears out before the color," Tolkan says. Working with the silkscreen dye has some
interesting problems, according to Tolkan. She creates test swatches before working
on a costume, but says it is still very difficult to judge how dark the finished product
will be as she paints. The general rule of thumb, Tolkan says, is that the colors
'
Original sketch
of the Rum Tum
Tugger costume
Color photos of CATS
cast courtesy of
Martha Swope
Photography, Inc.
46
become "lighter and brighter, and yellow comes up." Yet, each costume is
individual because it is created by hand. Another problem is that, because the
fabric is stretched on plywood for painting, it does not have the same surface
appearance as it will when it is worn. "When the fabric is relaxed you don't
really see the highlights," Tolkan says. "It has to be on a body-and preferably
the one you drew it on." Tugger is the only "CATS" costume with extensive
airbrushing. Other costumes are created with traditional brush or wax-resist
techniques, using the same dye. Tugger's bib is highlighted with a squeeze bottle.
as using the DeVilbiss touchup brush for the

stumes as well. Tolkan and her staff of eight
squeeze bottle or traditional brush other

than washing her hands after
contact. "But when I'm spraying it, I
wear a respirator and try to deal
with ventilation. It's very hard, because
none of the costume shops are set up
to deal with spraying." Tolkan has
painted costumes for the New York and
Los Angeles companies of "CATS". She
says it takes about a month to complete
the seven sets of costumes she is assigned.
Designer Napier recently sent her to Vienna
to teach her methods there: because of her
work, the spectacular productions of "CATS"
are certainly the cats' meow.
(above)
Tugger's bib ready
to be sprayed
The 'CATS Cast
1
JULY-AUGUST, 1985fAIRBRUSH ACTION 47
BUSINESS. IT'S OUR

ONLY BUSINESS.'"
E ZIP
TELEPHONE 1-(
VISA
MASTER CARD
ORDER INFORMATION
WE SHIP ALL ORDERS WITHIN 48 HOURS VIA
UPS OR FIRST CLASS MAlL MAlL CHECK
OR MONEY ORDER TO PACIFIC AIRBRUSH,
SHIPPING a HANDLING
coming
AIRBRUSHING AND THE
COMPUTER-Can the computer
match the effect of an airbrush?
A new hybrid medium?
DAVE KIMBLE-His perspective on
illustration as a fine art and some
insight into his sought-after
technique.
WAYS THE AIRBRUSH ARTIST
CAN MAKE MONEY-Part I.
PAPER SURFACES-Robert
provides an overview.
Paschal
THE GRAPHIC ARTISTS GUILDWhat you must know!
48
ext Lssue
Insist on F&!c.
Frisk introduce CS-10 and CS-2 illustration board to America.
.E
'Unusually fine and durable surface for our multi-media
b.S- years.
painting. I've been looking for this exact finish for eighteen
Thank you:'
Dave Willardson
'I
3
"1 have tried many illustratim boards in my time and 1 have to

say Frisk board is the best that h have ever used for airbrush
work.
I
It is extremely durable undek Frisket cutting and is so white
it helps make the colors vibrant, it's great!"
H Charles White I11
L~mltedEdlt~onPrlnt
W Dave Malone
'
for airbrush work

and have been quite
amazed at its unique
properties. For pen
and ink work that
takes from 500 to
1,000hours to complete like the fisherman, the board is
incredible.
The ability to
scratch off ink lines
without damaging
the surface and then
being able to work
back into the drawing has added to the
CSlO a versatility
that is hard to find in
other boards:
"I have never really been picky about illustration boards

before, but 1now specify Frisk CS-2 for all of my airbrush work.
I like the versatility of being able to use a regular brush and
the airbrush without having to worry about consistent qwli~y!'
H Cam DeLeon
For more information contact your local art supply dealer or write Frisk.
48% ~ o r t h
Royal Atlanta Drive, s i t e 304, Tucker, Georgia 30084
Frisks'CS-10 and CS-2 are the most asked for

illustration boards in the world.
Now American illustrators can insist on Frisk.
imta
ProfessionalAirbrushes
Medes Trsding Co., inc.

13585 NE Whitaker Way
Portland*OR 97230
5031253-7308
Telex: 360-223
In Canada:
A/RiSRBZf trn&Wiy' '

Model No.:
H'@&
, .-%
<>T
.*,
11,
Illustrator:
S t a m Art & Drafting
SuppiieS, inc.
7270 Torbram Rd., Unit 14
Ontario L4T 3Y7
%
-:! 819
i-
Project:
Scale:
PAVE

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ER EDI'f1ON 1985

Koenig Art Emporium

Binders Art Center

The Flax Co.

The Fine Art Store

Hawaiian Graphics Corp.

Binders Art Center

The Flax Co.

Kanig Art Emporium

Visual Systems Co., Inc.

E.J. Ardon Co., Inc.

Visual Systems Co., Inc.

DM1 Industries, Inc.

Artsign Materials Co.

Kanig Art Emporium

Dupont Graphic Arts, Inc.

ArtisanlSanta Fe, Inc.

Adene's Artist Materials

Parsons Art Supply

Binden Art Center

Dunahey's Art Media

Long's Art Supply

Kanig Art Empodum

Art Center Supply Store, Inc.

Artsign Materlals Co.

Reuel's Art 6 Engineering

Visual Systems Co., Inc.

Graphic Supply Center

Omer DaSems Canada, Inc.

Please contact our corporate

N a t i o n a l Art Industries, Inc.

West Coast Correspondent

Carrollton. Georgia 30117

phone: 1-800-334-2249To Ship U.P.S. C.O.D. for $19.00

Pricing & Ethical Guidelines-5th Edition

THE DEFINITIVE RESOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATORS,

Editorial offices: 31 7 Cross Street, Lakewood, N j

To order by phone 1-800-232-7874 Full refund if not completely satisfied

AIRBRUSH ACTIONIJULY-AUGUST, 1985

About the Cover

Airwush Cleaning Basics

Making Money in T-shirt

T-SHIRT AIRBRUSH MECCA

Panama Citv Beach is known for its sun. fun, and

JULY-AUGUST, 1985lAIRBRUSH ACTION

521 Metallic Gold

4 AIRBRUSH ACTIONIJULY-AUGUST, 1985

MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER

Order extra for the beach.

AQUA FLOW A i r b r u s h Colors

Become an ATLANTA AIRBRUSHER. You'll receive Our

ers who work with a range of

The best source for silent, portable air, precise

iW?UbH P.O. BOX 53097

Check 0VISA D MASTERCARD

AIRBRUSH CLEANING BASICS

Why does my airbrush spit? I've

brush is to find the proper cleaner.

Shiva Kleen (Figure 1). The Badger

ONE: Pour out any unused paint into

TWO: Pour in like-brand cleaner, stir

THREE: Pour out the cleaner (Figure

FOUR: Rinse the cup with water and