True Fire And Why It's So Popular

My wife was telling me a story about how she was talking to someone about how I was an airbrush artist. She told this lady, who was at least into her 60's, that I painted on bikes and helmets. What she asked was "does he do fire?" This blew me away! People who aren't even into cars know about True Fire and that made me do some thinking. Why is it so popular and is it just a fad?

Mike Lavallee owns True Fire. He should, he's worked his little hunter's ass off to get there. I recently did a nice trek through the internet looking for any information I could find about the man behind the fire and really didn't find anything too detailed. I remember seeing his special on TLC or Discovery, where he painted a Ford coupe with his then, unique style. What I remember the most from that show was that he talked about the helicopter he'd flamed out. The neighbors thought it was on fire and called the fire department.

Then he was on Monster Garage. Then he got in good with Chip Foose. Then EVERYONE wanted something to do with True Fire. What that meant was Mike couldn't keep up with demand so he started putting out DVD's to teach people how to create his True Fire for themselves. He even got some stencils made by stencil God's Artool to go along with them.

What is odd is that there are some guys out there that do them better, but you'd never know there name. Why? Because Mike Lavallee was smart about it and attached his name to it while he could. He may have stumbled upon it while airbrushing something else, but he knew it wsa going to be hot (seriously, did you not see that coming?). Even when someone mimics his style, people still refer to it as Mike Lavallee True Fire. People still want his fire, because it's HIS fire.

What makes it so unique as custom paint is that, for the most part, it doesn't take any prep. I don't mean that you don't have to prep the surface. What I mean is that you don't have to do any special paint layouts. There is now pounce wheel to get them perfect on both sides like old school flames. You can sketch some basics out, but you don't really have to. After a while, you get a good feel for how they should go and because it's all freehand and shield work, it goes quick. Which makes it a viable technique to master.

I recently read on a Forum site that True Fire is going to die out. The interest hit its peak due to over saturation in the media. But that leads to the main point of this post. True Fire is so popular because it goes with just about anything. Make it green, make it blue, make it hot freaking pink, and it's still True Fire. Have some coming out of a skull's mouth, off a skull's head, put the skull in the fire, it's all gravy. Much likes skulls, they will always be popular. Much like old school flames, they will endure. These are OUR old school flames. When people look back on custom painting they will look at Mike in the same light that people look at Van Dutch. They will see the flames he made popular and the people who were able to make a living with this art technique and say, much like me, "Thanks Mike".

Here is a nice showcase of some True Fire (and some mimics):

The Good Stuff

I don't really know what the good stuff is, but I liked it for a title.

I read that if I was to start and maintain a successful blog that I can't personalize it. Well, luckily I'm not trying to create a successful blog about airbrushing so much as I am trying to chronicle the fact that I made it. I haven't yet, but I will. That, and I hope to do some interviews and showcase some other outstanding airbrushists around. I realized today, also, that using the word airbrushist isn't going to get me anything close to good web optimization since I am probably the only person to use it on a regular basis.

Oh well.

So back to being personal. Today I was supposed to put down some base coat on what will be my friends motorcycle tins. He let me mess around with them so I could put what, hopefully, will be my best custom paint job to date on there. In return, while he is out riding with his biker buddies and going to his many rallys, he will be dropping my card and my name around. Seems like a pretty good trade off if you ask me.

What he wanted (he's been wanting a job on his bike for a while but just couldn't afford it) was the brightest red ever and a flaming eagle on the side with his 100th anniversary emblem (Harley) in or around it's claws. I really liked the idea and I am hoping that I can make some true fire look like fire. I also found a paint called Red Hot Chilli Pepper (which is good, since he used to go by Chilly Willy) and should have my Wicked paints by then.

$50 into this paint and me and my paint guy find out that it has to be catalyzed. Ok, well, fine, we have some of that. Oh, and that it has to be reduced with the special paint reducer. A reducer the first paint sales rep didn't tell us we needed. In fact he told us we could use a totally different one. If my paint guy hadn't called, we would have ruined $50 worth of paint, and possible caused me another weeks worth of work. Not cool when Willy wants the bike before the 19th so he can take it to Cali. I can't miss an opportunity for the bike to be seen by people from here to Cali and at a rally.

But, I'm still high and dry. And the bike is on hold. I'm spraying the thing, so there is still a chance something can go wrong (I'm an airbrushist not a paint guy!). It's what this is all about though, from what I hear. Things happen and you have to be able to make them work. It'll still be done before the 19th and it'll still be the coolest paint job I have done. It'll just be a few days later and I'll have to work twice as hard on it.

But it's going to Cali for a rally with a bunch of other bikers. I couldn't pay for marketing like that. And the fact that I know Willy is going to be speechless when he sees the bike means even more. I'm looking forward to getting this thing done and I'm just antsy.

Just goes to show you can't rely on the sales guys, you have to read those data sheets. You have to do your homework, all the time. This is why guys have a hard time changing paint systems.

The Video of the Post is From Huntington Beach Body Work Skulls, from Kustom Shop

Enjoy!

The Dream

I thought it would be a good idea to talk about what it is I am trying to do here. Not just with the blog, but, like all deep and stuff. Like HERE here. Well, maybe not so deep as that, but deep enough to cover my goals outside of being a really good husband. I'm a creative type. I have interests in all things art related, but I seem to be coming back to this airbrush thing more and more. Something always comes up when I'm doing something else that leads me back here. There's no getting away from the compressors and blow outs for me. At least not for a while. But I also want to be a film maker and an educator and I seem to be filling those roles, at least on a small level, while still focusing on the airbrushing I wish to do.

But that isn't what I really want. Ideally, and I know I'm not the only one, I want to make a living doing what I enjoy. I don't have it in me to be that guy who works a manual labor job for the rest of his life and tells himself 'it's fulfilling work'. Everyone I met that has been doing that type of work counts the days down till retirement like a lifer in prison. Can't do it. Refuse to do it. I, and my growing family, deserve something better.

So I blog, and I forum post, and I make free videos that I post on YouTube, and I talk to people, and I social network with other artists, and I do little interviews with artists, and I... well I airbrush. And I do this so that I can, eventually, make a living at it. I know there are a lot of guys (girls too!!) that want to this sort of thing for a living. They have talent, or at the very least, know how to market themselves. I have some talent and I'm working on the marketing. I keep pushing out the paint and keep posting it wherever I can in the hopes people will see it. And to get people to see it, I talk about it.

But, now I'm noticing that I want to airbrush more than I actually do, and I end up doing more elbow work than I want to do so that I can airbrush. It's quite the conundrum. I need to find that balance if I am going to make it at all in this. I'm not looking for super star status. I don't want to be the best in the entire world. I just want to make enough at it that it's my job. Actually, what I have decided is that I am going to open an airbrush studio that is similar is style to a tattoo shop. Why can't a bunch of airbrushists get together and work out of the same shop? It works for the tattoo guys (and girls too!!!) just fine. I don't even want to be an over seer or some grand designer. I do want a TV show because I don't think we get the recognition that other similar fields do. Why not a Portland Airbrush? I want the whole industry to grow and expand and I want to bring people with me as I grow as an artist.

But ultimately, I just want to pay my bills. I really want to be able to make enough my wife can finish school or stay home with our future babies (if that's what we decide to do. Day care is for the crazy). So yeah, right now I can't make a ton of money doing it, so I'll keep putting my stuff out there. I'll keep teaching what I know. I'll keep at it.

Paint the Planet.

Video of the Post is brought to you by: XZOTICINK and is proof that there are kick ass girl airbrushists out there. Even if they are all the way in New York. Enjoy!

Alberto Ponno

I've been getting involved with some airbrush forums lately. I was cruising around YouTube trying to find myself some airbrush videos to watch in order to get ready to do some realistic flames with Auto Air paint on a motorcycle. I found this video by a guy named Tony D who runs this Airbrush Tricks website. That video really helped me out and I clicked the link to see if I could find out some more information. That's when I found The Airbrush Forum, which may well be one of the better airbrush forums on the internet. I've been doing my part to add whatever helpful information I can while learning a ton in the process.

Not everyone seems to feel that way. For some reason, when something is creative it collects egos. It's like art (all forms) is an ego fly trap and it's difficult to wade through all the garbage. I, myself, can get a little ego now and then, get my little arrogant feathers ruffled, but I'm aware of it and will usually apologize for my idiocy.

What this has to do with the price of Chinese food in China is that, for the most part, that airbrush forum is devoid of ego. Someone will trickle in with some interesting view points (I'm trying to keep this clean people) every now and then, but they don't last long. What will always amaze me, is when they do, and 27 people tell them "Hey, that was pretty douche-baggy what you said", they will still act as if they are perfectly innocent creatures. This sort of "world just doesn't understand me"type of, well, paranoia is a usual trait amongst the doucheetists.

Now, why that is important enough to warrant a blog posting that, for the most part, probably wont be read for a few months by anyone other than my wife, is this: I got an email from Alberto Ponno. Some of you may not know who this is, and that is why his name is all linkified, but some of you do and may be just as amazed as I am. He is, by far, one of the best airbrush artists in the world. I know, there are a lot of guys out there that have their favorites, but I'm serious when I say this again: he is one of the best in the entire world. Take a look at his work, I'll wait. Are you back? Pretty crazy right? Well, here is some more crazy, the man doesn't use anything but an airbrush. No pencil rough sketch, no trace outs, no stencils, no cut outs, no masking, no eraser, all freehand airbrush amazing goodness. He uses lacquer that you aren't legally supposed to spray here and his Passche, but that's it. That's all. Well, and a heap of talent and experience.

So this guy emailed me. At first, I seriously thought it was a joke. I'm just some guy in an apartment that can pull out a pretty nice airbrush painting every once in a while. Who was I to get an email from this guy? Do you know what he said? He thanked me for the kind words I'd said in a forum posting (which means he tracked my email down to write me) and that he liked my work. He, and this is amazing too, was just happy someone looked at his art. His English was a little choppy, but I'd heard worse out of people born here, so it was all good. I emailed him back with the help of Yahoo's Babel Fish, and figured that'd be it. I was humbled and amazed that he wrote, I saw that a great artist doesn't have to have an ego, and I was ready to airbrush the planet.

But then he emailed back. Here I was, all irked at some guy on a forum for being Mr. Ego, and I get another email from Alberto Ponno telling me that if I wanted to learn more about what he does, he'd be happy to share this knowledge. There was no link to a book coming out. There was no $Price$ for admission. This was an artist willing to share what he knows in a positive manner to another artist willing to learn it. One of the best airbrush artists in the world, willing to break it all down for another one.

Amazing.

That really showed me a few things. One: that you really don't need to be better than anyone in this game. Two: Italians are really as nice as people say they are. And Three: someone is your competition only if you make them out to be your competition. There just isn't any room for ego. If you want to be a better "than" artist, well, have at it. I just want to be a better artist.

Video of the Post:

This comes from mohse1971: