I ran into Sam Zamora at the recent ASET Air Affair in Salt Lake City, UT. We were chatting at the pre-workshop party when he mentioned that his son, Miguel, age 5, is also an avid airbrush artist extraordinare, so I immediately thought “like father / like son”.
Miguel could easily be tomorrow’s airbrush future, with Iwata airbrush in hand, and Artool templates at ready, he paints skulls that even Craig Fraser himself would envy.
And while his web is still a couple years off, you can always visit Samz Air Art to see his dad’s online portfolio.
11/25/06 - The newest series of A.D. Cook original paintings were revealed at the OH MY GODARD GALLERY at the Aladdin Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. These new works feature sensual figurative art, airbrushed in automotive urathanes on hand-brushed metal, using a variety of exciting techniques and mixed-media. A.D. Cook is very excited to work with Michael Godard Fine Art to present his newest original works of art.
11/8 through 11/11/06 — If you’re an airbrush artist and desire to learn more about the craft, then the ASET Air Affair is the place to be. What is the Air Affair you ask… only one of the biggest gatherings of airbrush gurus and experts anywhere.
The ASET spray and airbrush facility is world class.
(Photo courtesy of Dennis Mathewson)
Wednesday 11/8/06 — Let the party begin! An Elvis theme prevailed as artists and students mingle. New art in the form of custom painted snowboards - one by each instructor - were on display. Artists painted while guests mingled, taking in art and the experience while tossing back something from the beer and wine department.
These snow boards were so amazing that we thought they warranted a special post. Keep your eyes open and your feed fresh - you’ll want to see what each instructor did with the Elvis theme.
Debra Mahan, Craig Fraser and Steve Vandemon in demonstration mode.
Thursday 11/9/06 — Workshop: day one…. With the party just hours behind us, we were all excited to get an early start. The ASET crew are apparently morning people, as they like to get things rolling at a bright-and-early 8am. A lot was covered today starting with airbrush basics and ending with pinstripe lessons. Along the way, skulls were painted and fire created. These guys share a ton of lessons into a long day, but from what I can see, the knowledge runs rampant here. This is not a house of secrets - every technique imaginable is incorporated into the artists’ itinerary - that along with the paintings in process in the lobby.
8:00am Deborah Mahan and Abel: Beginner Strokes, Pinup Girls and Ultimate Lettering
10:00am Paul Quinn: Chrome, Chrome and Chrome
12:00pm Lunch sponsored by ASET - Base coat class instructed and sponsored by PPG
1:30pm Mike Lavallee and Bob Soroka: Killer Clown, True Fire and Freehand Shields
3:30pm Steve Vandemon: Ultimate Pinstripping with the master
5:00pm End of Day!
Mike Lavallee in the spray booth. He’s about the demonstrate his signature “True Fire” technique.
You’ve got to mix your color before you can create.
And that was only Day One. I can see this post could get very long indeed. There’s still two more action-packed days left to show you. But that’ll have to wait for a couple of days. See you next time here at AirbrushTour.com
11/2/06 — What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Nice slogan, but we’re not buying it. In fact, we’re sharing what happened in Vegas with you. During the SEMA show, we attended the Airbrush Confidential Party — where your hosts; Iwata Medea, Artool, Airbrush Action, Coast Airbrush, 3M, House of Kolor, and ASET came together to play host to the hottest airbrush party Vegas has ever seen. This was a great opportunity to get together and catch up with industry leaders in a fun environment. Kathy and I shared the camera throughout the night, and together we caught up with friends (some old-some new), talked shop, and had a great time.
A.D. and Kathy Cook with Gabe McCubbin from Artool and Mickey Harris.
The triple threat from Iwata Medea; Brook, Joanne and Tony.
A.D. with Ray Odet from ASET.
A.D. with Craig Fraser of Air Syndicate.
A.D. with Satoru Iwata.
A.D. with Tom Prewitt of Monster Garage fame.
Debra Mahan with Simon Evans. And wherever Debra goes, Craig’s not far behind.
Here’s Kari from ASET with Will Naemura from Iwata-Medea - party hosts and airbrush provocateurs.
Our Bartenders at the Hard Rock Hotel - boy did they ever earn their pay!
Carlos Avelar and A.D. Cook.
Wild man Dave Monnig from Coast Airbrush and A.D. Now, Dave is a man of many parties. You’ll want to attend his annual Coast Airbrush party - get the goods on that one right here.
Jon Kosmoski from House of Color flanked by Kathy Cook and Debra Mahan… and Craig’s not far behind.
Mike Lavallee from Killer Paint and his lovely apprentice Nick with A.D.
Party Animals: Ron Gibbs, Kathy Cook, Gary Glass of Medea-Artool and Robert Pascal from AirbrushTalk.com
Did I mention that we had body-painted models? We did, and they were a hit - here’s Gabe enjoying their company, and no doubt contemplating the next set of curves for the Artool product line.
Shin showing off his newest creation “Topp Gunn”. WOW!
Simon Evans enjoying the company of both of our body-painted models, Beverly painted by Shin, and Rachel painted by Pamela Shanteau. Okay, you’re probably thinking: “Why aren’t there more pics of those body painted models?” Good question! Stay tuned for an update, because we captured it all for you - the girls, the paint, the painters, the airbrushes, all on the balcony of one of the fine rooms at the Hard Rock Hotel/Casino. Yeah the whole shebang. But you have to come back for that one. We’ll dedicate a post to it and you’ll not want to miss it!
If you attended the Airbrush Confidential Party and don’t see your picture here, send it to us at the contact link on the right and we’ll add it! We’ll make you famous.
One of the more interesting airbrush projects we had the pleasure to get up close and personal with at SEMA was the (now) famous CNN Warrior One Humvee. Overhaulin’s Chip Foose out-did himself with this one. He managed to pull together a Dream Team of airbrush talent for the project; Mike Lavallee, Mickey Harris and Dru Blair. Additional project talent on the roster included Simon Evans, Terry Steven, Matt Harris, and Mitch Lanzini.
If you happened to catch the Overhaulin’ episode that aired on November 14, you got a chance to witness the magic in action. The artists first created a mock-up Warrior One Humvee out of cardboard in order to comp the designs and plan out which art was to be positioned and airbrushed on different vehicle sections. This was essential since the rig has been since retired from serviec and now lives to share its story and that of its journalistic passengers in Iraq.
First the satellite painting over a background of the world map was painted on the roof of Warrior One.
Then each artist went to work on the panels, painting images inspired by the experiences and stories brought back from the CNN reporters and camera crew that worked in the vehicle throughout their tenure in Iraq.
Their stories are dramatic and hair-raising, and that emotion comes through in each image.
All these masterworks were executed with perfection at Lanzini Body Works in California.
On January 20, 2007, Warrior One will be auctioned off by Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. CNN will donate the proceeds to Fisher House which supports families of injured military personnel. You can learn more about that at CNN’s website.
Among the few talented airbrush artists at SEMA, Dennis Mathewson of Cosmic Airbrush, Honolulu, Hawaii stands out as unique. Known for his cool airbrushed tikis and relaxed style, Dennis creates imagery that is truly different than what is typically seen on the west coast, or anywhere else. Life in Hawaii definately gives him a different perspective, and it really shows in his work. Of course, like many “kustom” airbrush painters, he covers the basics; hot cars and cool bikes, flames and graphics — but he also produces some incredible large mural panels, like the one below - that truely qualify as fine art.
This beautiful bike, aka FUSION, was on display at the Alsa paints display.
Ms. Fusion I presume. This is why mom always said never take drinks from strangers.
Who needs a license plate when you have art like this identify your ride. This bike is so cool that we shot several great pics of her, and we’ll be bringing you those as a seperate post soon.
In the meantime… here’s a great example of his trademark tiki designs.
This cosmic truck was showcased in Alsa Corporation’s outside display at SEMA.
This is what I meant by Hawaiian influence. Dennis paints what’s in his backyard.
Check out the wild art on the driver’s door. This is like nothing you ever see in SoCal.
A beautiful tiger reflects Dennis’ diversity…
… as does this cosmic beetle featuring beautifully airbrushed dolphins.
Here Dennis paints the panel that is to become Iwata Medea’s shirt art.
Dennis at SEMA with his trademark line of paints… Hawaiin Hues available from ALSA Corporation.
For more information, read magazines like Autographics, AutoArt and Airbrush Action, or learn more about Dennis Mathewson at Cosmic Airbrush, and check back at AirbrushTour as Dennis has kindly offered (and we accepted) to share his color knowledge in his article titled “COLOR KULTURE: Color use in automotive systems”. If you’ve ever wondered about color, you’ll want to stay tuned for that one.
Revisit our previous post titled “The SEMA Pre-SEMA Post” to download the Iwata Kustom airbrush brochure featuring Tiki Beach (shown above).
Regardless of who your real daddy is, the Iwata Custom Micron is the MAC Daddy of airbrushes. Each one is hand-tested and hand-adjusted to perfection, and you don’t have to spray with this one long before you realize its allure. All that and the Micro Air Control make this airbrush a technical masterpiece, able to please the most-talented of airbrush aficionados.
I designed the poster above featuring the Custom CM a while back, and have been asked on occassion where one can be had. I asked the powers that be at Iwata Medea if they were cool with us posting it here so it could be downloaded and printed by you to adorn your walls thusly. Our gift to you - click here to download poster PDF (160 kb).
Visit IwataAirbrush.com to learn more about the complete line of Iwata airbrushes.
Kudos to House of Kolor as they celebrate 50 years of quality and innovation in the automotive finishes industry. Today, many of the world’s top painters rely on HoK for their excellence in paints and product knowledge. Much of this can be credited to their founder Jon Kosmoski, who, 50 years ago put everything in place with a vision and dream that has grown to become one of the best finishes manufactures in the world. HoK products are developed for custom painters by Mr. Kosmoski himself, and he should know, since he is also a world-renown painter as well.
We caught up with Jon Kosmoski and the crew of HoK at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. SEMA and all its craziness kept him busy there with camera crews flowing through the HoK booth like paparazzi at a Hollywood wedding.
The crowd was there to check all the great color in their display, and meet the colorful artists who use make use of their finishes. Well known artists and painters Craig Fraser, Steve Vandemon, Deborah Mahan, Mike Willey, Mike Lavallee and a plethora of others were on hand signing calendars and posters, and showing some of their latest work. We’re going to bring you all of it over the next few posts. There is simply far too much to cover in one shot here. We’re talking about a Hamsters custom motorcycles, race cars, guitars, artist panels, and artists pics. I’m sure I missed something here, but no matter, you’ll get all here soon.
Mr. Kosmoski takes pause and give us a hearty thumbs up the first day of SEMA. (pictured above: A.D. Cook and Jon Kosmoski)
Shutterbugs everywhere. The HoK display, with all its color and art proudly showcased, had more than its share of cameras. We were no exception.
Like airbrushed panels? We do. Watch for panels like these, and more in an upcoming post on AirbrushTour. In the meantime, you can download their catalog here — it’s packed full of product info along with some kewl HoK history — see what makes these guys tick and why we expect them to be here another 50 years.
Technically speaking, one of the great perks of going to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas is getting to see cool stuff before it hits the streets. Sometime it’s cars and cool accessories, and sometimes it’s information, slid under the table on an unmarked CD. I guess it kind of makes it feel like inside information or something. Anyway, we received such a disc— except it proudly displays a full color House of Kolor logo on it. No matter. We thought the contents worth sharing. So with a quick click here, or the image below, you too can have the official House of Kolor November 2006 Technical Manual; 64 pages of inside knowledge in a 7MB PDF download. You got to love technology… technically speaking.
Got plans for December 2nd? If you’re like a lot of airheads we’ve chatted with lately, you’re planning on being at the 5th Annual Coast Airbrush Kustom Kulture Show.
I ran into Dave Monnig from Coast Airbrush at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas recently and he expressed that everyone is welcome, so whether you’re an airhead, own a great ride; car, motorcycle or otherwise— or are just a fan, join us for great food, music, vendors, artist displays, artist demos and more! It’s priced right and priceless with no admission fee. All kustom rods and bikes are welcome. This should prove to be a great time with kustom eye candy galore.
Date: December 2nd, 2006 from 10AM to 4PM
Coast Airbrush - 312 N. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, CA 92805
AirbrushTour showcases all types of airbrush talent, along with other creative and artistic disciplines. We also share fun events and the latest happenings in the airbrush community and paint industries. As we travel, we bring talented artists' work and the events of Las Vegas-based artist and photographer A.D. Cook to you.
AirbrushTour also features posts about motorcycles and hot rods, and the events that surround them, and some great travel pics of exciting places from all over the USA, so come along and share with us in America's passion for airbrush art.
AirbrushTour is an ADCook LLC project (702) 875-5676
