Air Affair in SLC 2009

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2008 SEMA Recap - A pleasant surprise!

They said attendance was going to be down this year at SEMA. I was told on the first day of the show that they only had about 80,000 pre-registered, compared to 130,000 last year. We took a larger space than in the past and moved back into the central hall. Also, we were going to be doing things in the booth differently and a new presentation for this market. I was concerned as the first day of the show opened at 9:00am, wondering if anyone would come by to visit us.



Our objective at this years SEMA was to inspire visitors to think about creating. We know the market for "mural" custom paint and other typical airbrush related custom paint is soft this year. We tried to send the message that you can do so much more with airbrush other than custom painting bikes and cars. Coincidental, House of Kolor echoed this theme also as their booth featured all sorts of painted objects other than cars including; a Guitar Hero guitar, a mix-master blender, skateboards and a margarita machine!



For our display this year we had a stage fabricated and created a blank wall made of Clayboard as the backdrop. We masked the word CREATE on the wall with Ultramask. Famous Artists including Mark Remmling, Steve Driscoll, Craig Fraser, Pamela Shanteau, Mike Lavallee, Fonzy, Ron Gibbs, Brian Poppa, Yvonne Machelis, Franco, Gerald Mendez, Deb Mahan, Daniel Power, and Lynette Orzlowski all volunteered their time to contribute art to the wall. By the end of the show, SEMA had turned out to be a huge success! We were really busy for almost the entire show. We had crowds in our booth almost all day and people returned again and again throughout the show to see the progress on our CREATE wall!



A special thank you goes out to everyone who helped; the Artists who contributed their time and talent, Anest Iwata USA (our sister company in Cincinnati), Artool Products, ASET (our automotive distributor), Kevin Overturf (provided the Piracy Bike), Cliff from Karajen and of course Coast Airbrush.



What would SEMA be without the Airbrush Confidential IV (renamed to Kustom Confidential) party? This year's party was once again a huge success and a good time was had by all!. Look for pics in my next post!

Air Affair 2007 - Salt Lake City

Airbrush fever in Utah!

The Ultimate Air Affair is a fantasy land for anyone interested in airbrush technique. Held yearly at our distributor's headquarters (ASET in Salt Lake City, Utah), is a 3-day running workshop program featuring instruction by some of the worlds top airbrush artists. Not only do attendees get the opportunity to learn from a great team of artists, (and get a first hand test-drive of Iwata Airbrushes and Artool Templates) they can also gawk and ogle at all the eye candy of work featured in the art gallery. This years artist roster at the Air Affair included:

• Craig Fraser
• Deborah Mahan
• Fonzy
• Abel
• Dean Loucks
• Bob Soroka
• Gerald Mendez
• Bones
• Steve Vandemon
• Jason Doll
• Ron Gibbs
• Ryno Templeton
• Mike Lavallee
• Dennis Mathewson
• Steve Driscoll
• Paul Quinn
• Pamela Shanteau
• 

Sherri Candland of ASET does a fantastic job of organizing the event. Even though the focal point of Air Affair is the learning and interaction with the artists themselves, Sherri also puts out quite the food and beverages spread coupled with her own special blend of down-home hospitality. There are also various vendor booths and freebies available to attendees! But the grand finale at at the end of the Air Affair ,is the raffle featuring some killer donations by both vendors and artist instructors. In my opinion, one of the best raffle prizes is a custom painted and signed panel by all of the artist instructors! Definitely a one of a kind collectible.

I highly recommend anyone interested in learning more valuable airbrush techniques, no matter what the discipline, to attend Air Affair East or Air Affair Salt Lake in 2008. If you want to plan on attending at one of next years events, call Sherri direct at ASET 800-628-5449. You will not be disappointed.

Here's some pics to wet your appetite for next year! Some of these pics are courtesy of Donn and Pamela Shanteau.


Check out this killer Monkey's guitar by Ron Gibbs!

Myself with Ryno of Trick My Truck and Mark Hebbeler from Anest Iwata USA.

A ultra-kewl hand-carved tiki by Dennis Mathewson

Craig Fraser, and his new short hair, gives the new Triple Action Handle a test spin!

Artist in Residence, Literally

We here at Iwata Medea are a very fortunate bunch.

In our minds, we get to live in one of the most beautiful places in the country in Portland, Oregon; our local basketball team [Trail Blazers] just got Greg Oden; and we have the best airbrush products in the world to promote and distribute in Iwata. However, one of the most fortunate situations that we currently enjoy is having a respected and distinguished airbrush expert right here in our building!

Kirk Lybecker is one of America’s foremost and successful fine-artists. He is represented in galleries locally and nationally and has won numerous prestigious awards. He specializes in hyper-realism and most of his subject matter is flowers and exotic plants, (typically in watercolor), and architectural [urban] imagery, (typically in oil paints). As you can see, his painting style is beautifully matched with the capabilities of the airbrush.

As an educator he has also taught many classes on airbrush technique across the country. As a requirement, new employees are indoctrinated into the world of airbrush by getting to “spend a day with Kirk” on their first day of job. Having a first-hand understanding about our airbrushes and compressors is a vital for all employees regardless of their title or position. Besides, spending a day with Kirk is like spending the day with any “guru”. You hear the passion in his voice for the airbrush and its many splendors and you’ll be able to see the pain in his face as he talks about the carnage he occasionally endures if someone returns abused or mistreated airbrushes for repair. Alas, there is no land for Misfit airbrushes.

Kirk is also our in-house Technical Advisor and Airbrush Specialist here at Iwata Medea. His gallery and studio is in our building as well. On any given day Kirk is often seen by our staff meandering around the office discussing the finer points of “relative airbrush theory” or listening to his newly favorite audio book while working on his next masterpiece. Imagine this, for us having Kirk in our midst is like having Mario Batali as the Chef at your local family restaurant or Mario Andretti instructing at your local driving school. Here are five questions from a discussion I had with Kirk and his replies.

How did you first get introduced to airbrush technique?
A. I first saw an airbrush being used in graduate school. There was an artist who was doing some things with an airbrush that I really was impressed by. When we graduated I bought his whole rig, paint, brush, and compressor. I was doing oil paint at the time and having quite a problem keeping the brush clean. About then I took over a watercolor class for a year and found that the airbrush was much more useful with the watercolor than in the oil paint.

As an artist, what motivated you to include the airbrush as a tool in your own work?
A. Simply put, I am lazy. Or shall I say I am not an advocate of unnecessary work. The airbrush can do things that are difficult if not impossible to do any other way. So either learn how to make even transparent washes or use an airbrush. Artists through out history have been of the mind that if a tool works for a particular job, that is the tool to use.

What airbrush in your stable of airbrushes is your “secret weapon”?
A. I find that the Custom Micron series of brushes tends to be my main tool. It is one for the high end details, the things that make a painting pop. I also like the Eclipse CS. When it first came out I didn’t think much of it but I am now a believer. It is my brush for most of the general shading of things. I also use it on the oil paintings as I can use the .5mm nozzle. This is an easy brush to clean and does not seem to be bothered by thicker paint. I also am a big fan of the LPH 50 because it will cover a large area and put down a drop-dead flat wash.

Who are some of your favorite artists that use airbrush?
A. Audrey Flack, John Salt, Don Eddy and Daniel Tennant. Keep in mind that the best airbrush work will never let you see it.

What is ONE IMPORTANT piece of advice you can give to a new airbrush user?
A. Take a class. There are so many things and tricks that will make your experience better. The airbrush is not a particularly intuitive tool. (I know this because I had to teach myself and I can’t say I care to learn things that way) A good teacher will show you how to clean and maintain your brush. This will make your life much easier.

Fast facts about Kirk Lybecker

* He personally does the repairs on each airbrush that is sent in for repair. Fortunately there aren’t many, so he spends good quality time on those he does get.
* Although Anest Iwata in Japan tests every airbrush prior to delivery to Portland, Kirk personally inspects and re-tests every Iwata Custom Micron a second time prior to shipment to our customers. See for yourself!

* Kirk tests all new products prior to it going to market. You’ll often here him say “Ah a new toy for me to try?”
* He loves to golf almost as much as he loves to paint.
* Kirk’s wife is also an artist

Check out Kirk at www.lybeckerstudios.com or maybe call him here at the office!

Sneak Peak: A new book by Pamela Shanteau

I can honestly say that we are really excited about the publishing of our first very first book, Custom Automotive & Motorcycle Airbrushing 101 written by Pamela Shanteau. This new hard-cover book is 160 color pages and is sure to grace the library of artists all over the world. The foreword is by none-other than the guru of Kustom himself, Craig Fraser.

While this is our first publishing attempt, it is Pamela's second published book. Her first book the Ultimate Airbrush Handbook continues to be a huge success and inspire new airbrushers around the world. I've decided to dedicate this post to a bit of the dialogs I've had with Pam and her husband Donn in regards to this new book. Enjoy!

Pamela Shanteau Reflections

The upcoming release of my second book gives me occasion to pause and reflect on my profession and how I arrived at this point in my career. After twenty five years of airbrushing professionally, I was asked to write my first book “The Ultimate Airbrush Handbook”. It gave me the opportunity to share the “in person” Pamela Shanteau class experience with readers worldwide. I was aided in this Endeavour by a cadre of great airbrush artists that specialized in some of the airbrush disciplines that I do not practice. Their intimate knowledge of their areas of expertise greatly enhanced the content of the book.

"The Ultimate Airbrush Handbook" also afforded me the chance to demonstrate why I chose the tools and materials that I use. An artist is only as good as his or her tools. I prefer to paint with the finest materials available because they enhance my art and help make it the best that it can be. Iwata airbrushes and spray-guns play a big part in my successes. They perform at the highest level and they offer an air-gun or airbrush to match all my painting needs. I know that I can count on their quality and their long lasting performance because they are built with the finest materials and manufactured to the tightest tolerances.

Airbrushing in the automotive arena requires more than just a dependable airbrush. The paints that I use are some of the finest available in the world. RM brands (BASF) such as Carizzma, Diamont and Extreme give me the flexibility to get the effects that I am seeking. Their formulations enable me to paint efficiently and cost effectively.

When I am called upon to produce art in the fine art or commercial illustration venues, I use many pigment choices depending on what I am painting. Again, I use the finest pigments that I can find. Com-Art paints, Claybord Inks and Holbein Aeroflash colors have always seen me through the toughest assignments and performed perfectly. When metal is not the substrate to be airbrushed, I paint on Claybord. Claybord is a hard board similar to a Masonite panel and is covered with a smooth coating of clay. It was created and intended to be used by fine artists. I have found it to be the best airbrushing surface available in the world. Painting on Claybord has enabled me to push my airbrushing skills and art techniques to the limit. In addition to its superb construction, it has the highest archival rating of any painting substrate available anywhere.

The occasion of writing a second book about automotive airbrushing (which is my favorite airbrush discipline), afforded me the chance to introduce the world to the unique techniques I use to create my airbrushed artwork on vehicles. These are not recycled tricks that have been seen over and over. To my knowledge, they have never been used by any automotive painter before and have never been demonstrated or explained in any automotive painting book or video production. Iwata gave me the chance to finally share these previously secret techniques with airbrush painters across the globe in the new book “Custom Automotive and Motorcycle Airbrushing 101”. As always, Iwata is on the cutting edge of airbrush painting which is where we all want to be, that is why they decided to publish this book.

In addition to exposing my airbrushing secrets where I combine fine art technique with more normal airbrushing methods, I instruct and inform the reader on my methods of rendering art and lettering on metal along with the tools and materials that every airbrush painter needs in their arsenal. As always, Iwata went first class with this book, it features a hardback cover and wonderful color photos. The editing and layout by A.D. Cook and Zookeeper is first rate and the photos by my husband Donn “Too Tall” Shanteau are clean and crisp. Everyone involved with this book should be proud.

I truly have been blessed to have progressive companies like Iwata, Ampersand (Claybord) and BASF (RM paints) in my corner. Their first class products and people inspire me to continually strive to be the best I can be. I am sure that “Custom Automotive and Motorcycle Airbrushing 101" will be well received by the airbrushing and auto painting community and personally I look forward to my future automotive and motorcycle painting exploits while partnering with the greatest companies in the world.

Paint Long and Prosper

Pamela Shanteau

Available NOW! Look for Custom Automotive & Motorcycle Airbrushing 101 at your favorite Iwata & Artool retailers and bookstores!