A Study in Chrome and Reflected Surfaces
A few posts back, we featured Indian Summer, a painting by A.D. Cook that was done a few years ago, to promote the forthcoming workshops at Pasadena. As a preview, we thought we’d post the entire step-by-step here. More articles can be viewed at ADCookFineArt.com
Size and Surface: 48” x 36” on 100% pure cotton duck stretched canvas. For the purpose of this painting, I’m working on Monet Master Wrap Canvas by Masterpiece Artist Canvas. Additional preparation includes several thinned coats of acrylic matte medium.
• Artograph Projector
• Shark Great White Compressor
• Iwata HP-C Airbrush
• Hand Masker Paper/Tape Dispenser
• Masking Tape - 1/8”, 1/4”, 1/2”, 3/4”, 1-1/2”, 2” and 3” rolls
• 12” Masking Paper (rolls)
• X-Acto Knife with #11 Blades
• Artool Freehand Airbrush Templates
• Mahl Stick
• 4” Chinese Bristle Brush
• Acetate Sheets - 5 mil.
• Canvas
• Golden Matte Medium
• Frisk Canvas Mask
• Com-Art Transparent and Opaque Paints
• 3M ReMount Repositionable Spray Adhesive
• Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating
It started in October on a beautiful Indian summer’s day. In Oregon, those kind of days are rare - especially for autumn. So, I called my buddies at Indian Motorcycle of Portland and asked them if they had a bike I could borrow for the afternoon. They were kind enough to offer me anything on the floor, and a hot red Indian Chief caught my eye. I’ve been wanting to take one of those out for a spin for quite a while, and the day and the opportunity where perfect. The Chief and I made our way to a cool Portland park with a pristine lake. So after shooting a couple good rolls of film, I had reference material for my next painting - the fifth in an ongoing motorcycle series of works.
I prefer to work from my own reference photos because I like knowing the painting is mine from beginning to end, and I enjoy the process of shooting good reference material. The process also helps me to better understand the subject matter at hand. Additionally, I know there won’t be any copyright concerns using my own photos, versus painting from someone else’s images. When I process the film I always order two sets of prints. This allows me to have a backup print in case my reference material gets damaged or lost in the process of working on the painting. You don’t want to be left without your reference photo under a tight deadline and have to wait for new prints to be made.
I start each painting by projecting my reference material onto the canvas and draw it with a 9H drawing pencil. Once the image is drawn, I spray the complete canvas with workable fixative which allows me to work on the piece without smudging the lead. The goal when projecting your image is to simply put enough information on the canvas to work with. Not every bit of detail is necessary in the drawing process, but you will need to draw enough to fully understand what you’re about to paint.
I’ve apply several coats of Golden Matte Medium thinned with distilled water over the drawing. Matte Medium works as translucent ground to prepare support when an opaque gesso is not desired. This process will help to smooth out the canvas’ surface and create a nice surface for spraying. I lay the canvas flat and use my hands to massage the Medium into the surface. By doing this, I’ve also completely sealed my drawing into the painting, which assures me that there is no way to smear the pencil drawing. Allow at least a day for the Medium to dry between coats. This painting required six separate applications of thinned Matte Medium.
Because of the scale of my work I tend to work with masking tape and hand masking units with masking papers. Don’t cut corners on the quality of the masking tape. In my experience, 3M masking tape works best because it doesn’t leave residue on the canvas’ surface. I keep 1/8”, 1/4”, 1/2”, 3/4”, 1-1/2”, 2” and 3” rolls on hand. For masking paper, I prefer 12” wide rolls commonly used by house painters. Additionally, I find painters tape [which is available in 2” and 3” wide rolled paper with a light adhesive on the back] very handy for the quick masking of small areas. All of these tools and materials are available at most hardware stores, sign supply shops and home improvement centers.
I initially start by outlining and masking the shapes with 1/8” and 1/4” tape and other sizes as needed, then fill in larger areas with tape and paper. Burnish down edges of tape everywhere with your fingers, and where they cross over other pieces of tape use your fingernail to burnish the intersections. Burnishing prevents paint from seeping under the tape and which would leave a rough undesirable edge. For highly detailed sections, you can lay down a large piece of masking tape or Frisk Canvas Mask and cut pieces out with an X-Acto knife. Always use a new blade and be extremely careful not to cut into the canvas’ surface.
It’s important to make sure you thoroughly mask and paper over everything that you don’t want overspray to find. Don’t assume that because an area is several inches from where you’re painting that it won’t pick up overspray, as overspray has a tendency to travel quite a distance, especially when painting larger areas.
I start spraying my background with an Iwata HP-C airbrush. Com-Art transparent and opaque airbrush paints will be used for the complete painting. The water background in this painting is actually a murky duck pond, so I’ve started to block-in the water areas with a mixture of Opaque Phthalo Green mixed with Opaque White to create a soft watery green. The darker of my blue-greens is a mixture of Opaque Phthalo Green, opaque Chrome Green, Opaque Cerulean Blue and White. These are only base colors, as I will add many other colors to create a realistic, yet soft-focus background. Additionally, I use a little transparent Forest Green thinned with a couple drops of Transparent Smoke to give the water a murky look. I paint my water with my canvas flipped over so that the top of the canvas is at the bottom. Flipping the image makes it easier for me to see the shapes of the water, rather than what I “think” water should look like. I start by spraying wavy patterns with the blue-greens and blue blends. I lightly spray over the entire area with various blends of White mixed with Opaque Cerulean Blue of the colors to soften the background colors.
Unlike the water, the warm concrete sidewalk ground is painted to look rough. I start with light cream colors, which I’ve made by mixing White, a little Opaque Raw Umber and couple drops of Transparent Black to create a dirty white for the concrete’s base color. For the cast shadows on the ground, I’ve mixed some White, opaque Black, added some blues and a little opaque Orange. Before painting the sidewalk, I copy what I have drawn on the canvas onto acetate. This is important because shadow position will be critical in creating a believable resting place for the motorcycle. Be sure to mark the acetate for position so that it can be accurately repositioned later. I’ve painted the complete sidewalk area first with my lighter colors, and then placed my acetate templates with 3M ReMount Repositionable Adhesive and airbrush the shadows. Next, I use my Iwata HP-C airbrush with the nozzle off and the air pressure set low to add stipple texture in the ground.
Using a stencil burner, I burn several holes of various sizes in a piece of acetate to create a mask for the stones in the concrete. The template I’ve created for this painting is about 8” x 6” with about 30 holes in it. Most of the holes are only about 1/4” in diameter, and other are as large as 3/4”. By making the pattern erratic enough, you can simply rotate the stencil and cover a lot of ground without it looking like a small stencil was used. Using assorted blends of browns and blues, I paint the stones and complete the ground texture. Once the paint is dry you can remove the masking tape and paper. I like to give the painting a least a day before masking over painted areas to make sure that it is thoroughly dry.
I start the motorcycle by painting the tanks and fender first, leaving the chrome for last since all other colors are reflected in the chrome. I like the colors in my reference photo so I’m painting the bike pretty much as I see it - red hot!
In preparation, I mask the areas to be painted in the same way I previously masked for the background areas. I applied 2” wide masking tape over the Indian logo and engine fins, and cut the them out with an X-Acto knife. I prepare clear acetate sheets to define the crisp edges and reflection areas within the masked areas by drawing the shapes onto the pieces I plan on using later with a permanent fine line marker. If I need to create a crisp edge, I can either hinge the piece with some tape or use a little repositionable spray adhesive to hold the masks in place while painting. If your looking for a softer edge, you can simply hold the acetate away from the surface while spraying. It is best to use “real” acetate for this process, because you can cut pieces out easier than using “imitation” acetate. The reason for this is that acetate can be score and cracked to pop the pieces out - other materials don’t necessarily allow you to do that. The advantage is that you can position your acetate where you need it, lightly cut the shape with a sharp blade without actually cutting it out, and bend the acetate to release the piece you need. There is no risk of cutting into your art, and you can create a more detailed piece using this process. Additionally, I use Artool Airbrush Templates and other shields to create quick edges as needed.
Before starting, I mix enough paint to do all the reds and still have some left for the chrome areas and touch-up later. My primary color mixture for the tank and fenders is opaque Deep Red, opaque Toluidine Red, and a little opaque Naphthol Red. I spray the red areas entirely with this color before considering shadows or reflections, which will come later. I’m simply establishing the bike’s base color at this point. I start with horizontal strokes several inches away from the canvas’ surface. I follow those up with vertical strokes and then again with diagonal strokes. Lastly, I apply strokes that follow the bikes lines. Between applications, I rotate the canvas to help assure color evenness - this is a good reason to make sure that the canvas is thoroughly masked to avoid overspray. My goal here is to have solid areas of color without any visible strokes or pattern. I’ve applied about tens coats overall to achieve an even color distribution of the red. Since I’m using opaque colors all of the drawing on the canvas will be covered. That’s why it’s important to transfer this information to acetate before painting in your base colors.
Once the base “hot red” is finished, I carefully mask the tank to isolate it from the fender. Since most of the tank is already masked, I use 1/4” masking tape to outline the edge and use 12” masking paper to protect the fender areas. It’s important here to remember to burnish the edges of the tape down with your fingernail so that the intersections [where one masking tape crosses over another] are crisp.
I mix approximately two parts “hot red” with one part opaque Phthalo Green [creating a deep red] for the dark shadow areas. I’ve used the green for this because it is red’s complimentary color. Many of the larger highlight areas include opaque White mixed with my hot red, and a few drops of opaque Magenta added to brighten it up a little. As I get into lighter and darker areas I adjust the colors as needed. I also use straight white to under-paint some of the hotter areas and glaze over with the other reds. Additionally, the tops of the tanks which get the most light, will receive a light mist of transparent Bright Red to warm it up a bit. Since there is already some Magenta mixed into my opaque Red highlight color, it doesn’t take much to warm it up - I just want to push the white back a little. I slowly building up my colors while painting the shadow and reflections by airbrushing freehand, and with a combination of acetates and hand-held shields - no additional masking is used for these areas.
The hot spots and glows are sprayed with straight opaque White. Often, you’ll see these glows with a little red halo (or glow) around them, but when they’re on red the halo goes unseen, so just using white is sufficient, so long as it’s not overdone. As we get into the chrome areas the red halo will be more obvious.
Once the tanks are done, I allow the paint a day to dry and move on to the fender. Because the fender is further from view than the tanks, I paint the shadows and reflections with a much softer edge. This is done by doing a little more freehand spraying, and when using templates, I keep them away from the surface enough to soften the edges. This can be done by hand-holding the templates or making a loop of masking tape and putting it behind the acetate to hold it away from canvas’ the surface. When doing the later, be sure to spray with low air pressure [under 20 psi], and build colors slow so that the paint doesn’t sneak behind the acetate and leave a shadow of the tape.
Start by masking the upper black parts of the engine. The edges of the cooling fins of the engine are masked for protection since they will be very light and receive very little paint. Once the complete area is initially masked, I take 1/8” tape an go over the fin edges so that I can quickly remove those strips and spray the edges without having to mask the whole area over again. At this point I’m primarily concerned with the engine, so I cover over the spark plugs wire and other items that will be addressed later. I’m also going to paint the tire and a couple of other dark areas at this time so I mask those too.
I start painting the engine areas by spraying few light coats of opaque Black, and continuing until the areas are painted solid. Using a few hand-held templates, I come back and work in the details with a fine stipple spray using opaque Raw Umber, and when that’s complete, I finish the engine’s black areas with some transparent Smoke. When finished, these areas will be pretty dark so that the engine looks black, but still retain some speckle details so that it doesn’t to appear too “graphic”. Once the dark areas of the engine are finished, I remove the 1/8” tape strips I applied earlier and lightly spray the details using transparent Smoke and transparent Ochre.
Because of the soft rubber nature of tires, the shadows and highlight are all sprayed freehand. I’m not looking for any crisp lines within the tire’s shape. I start by creating the general shape of the tire with a few light coats of transparent and opaque Blacks. Highlights are added with a mixture if opaque White mixed with opaque Raw Umber. Next I use opaque Raw Umber darkened with a couple drops of transparent Smoke to give it an earthy feel, and finish the tire off with some straight transparent Smoke and transparent Ochre. The tire’s finishing touches include a touch of transparent Bright Red that is reflected from the motorcycle’s fender.
The rubber parts of grip and shifter peg are painted using opaque and transparent Blacks, transparent Smoke and earth tones I’ve used previously. To create the textured effect I use a 4” Chinese bristle house painting brush and airbrush. I create a stipple texture with the airbrush, and quickly brush the paint with the bristle brush so that the texture wraps around the surface. This process is done with all the colors to visually blend them together.
I mask and paint the brake disc, the motorcycle’s frame, and the rubber strip that divides the fuel tank from the motorcycle’s dash. While these items are completely different in nature, the biggest reason that I’m painting them at the same time is because they are far away from each other so I can maximize my masking efforts.
I start with the brake disc by mixing opaque Raw Umber, White with some transparent Ochre to create a base color. After spraying my base color, I add a little transparent Smoke to the mixed color to define the distressed shapes. I use a small brass wire brush to scrape the disc areas to create small fine scratches in the worn areas of the disc where the brakes would have scratched it. Next, I take my base color and add a little white to create the highlights. The holes in the disk are simply applied using an oval template, first using the darker color I just mixed, and then again with straight transparent Smoke.
Next, I address the few remaining miscellaneous items including turn signal lens, the mirror’s reflection, spark plug wire, and other small things throughout the painting. Again, I save chrome for last, since most of the colors I introduce into those miscellaneous items will appear within the chrome’s reflections elsewhere throughout the painting.
Using masking tape and paper, I mask the entire chrome area as one one big piece. Once I start spraying, I’ll tackle all the chrome areas at the same time for consistency. I use a lot of acetates to define the crisp edges within the masked areas, and also mask sections within the greater masked area to paint individual pieces.
Before I begin the process of actually painting the chrome pieces I start off by tracing many of the more complicated shapes onto tracing paper. This gives me an opportunity to define some of the more complex shapes. An example of this is the embossed logo on the dash. The reference photo I’m painting from is quite vague in this area, so additional reference photos are needed. Fortunately, I shot nearly a hundred photos of this motorcycle before beginning the painting, so I have plenty of additional reference material on hand.
Since chrome actually has no color, I make sure that it includes all colors that have used up to now, and a few other colors that haven’t yet come into play. That’s also why I save the chrome for last. I want to make sure all the other colors are established and that the correct mixtures of those colors are available for reflections. My motorcycle painting is an outdoor shot, so I will also need to use a blue that represents sky. I also use a lot of Black and White to paint chrome to establish contrast.
I have two different “chrome blues” that I’ve mixed and use. While both are made from pretty much the same colors, I’ve varied the mixtures of each a little to give me a warm and cool version. The mixtures for my chrome blues consists of equal amounts of opaque Repro Cyan and opaque White, and varying degrees of transparent Royal Blue and transparent Ultramarine, small amounts of opaque Phthalo Blue and a very small amount transparent Black. My chrome blues are really more like blue grays than a straight blue, so the splash of transparent Black helps to kick it back a little so that it doesn’t look fake. Your chrome blues may vary, but these mixtures work well for me. A simple version of chrome blue can also be made with transparent Ultramarine, some transparent Ochre, and a little transparent Black.
Chrome reflects more than just sky, so I’ve made a brownish gray for the smooth pieces of chrome that are reflecting the ground. This earthy gray is a mixture of beiges and opaque Raw Umber mixed with transparent Smoke.
I start by freehand airbrushing the general shapes with my lighter chrome blue [chrome one]. I’m not too concerned about being exact at this point since I’ll be coming back to these areas with other colors using masking and templates to define them. My darker chrome blue [chrome two] will be airbrushed to establish depth in the chrome.
Next, I use a small fine line paint brush to paint black solid areas and lines. These go pretty fast since I’m creating crisp edge lines. A brush for this application is the logical choice, rather than cutting a lot of acetate masks at this point. Painting these areas with a brush also allows me the time to seriously study my subject matter in detail. A mahl stick is a very handy tool when hand painting areas of this size. Mahl sticks are available at most sign supply shops and are used to support the hand above the surface of the painting. As I hand paint with a brush, I only use black where black exists. My objective is not to outline everything in black; I’m creating a “realistic” looking piece here. So, while the chrome is looking quite bold at this point, my plan later is to airbrush over much of the black to add highlights, color and detail, as well as soften some of the crisp edges a little.
Once the black is painted, I airbrush more chrome blues, whites and other colors using cut acetate stencils. First, I spray my “chrome one”, which is the brighter blue of the two. Then I spray my “chrome two” to define the shapes. Once my blues are sprayed, I airbrush my browns, blacks [transparents and opaques] and white. After I’ve airbrushed my colors, I go over the black again and add whites with a fine line paint brush to create contrast. Sometimes, I throw in a few brushed lines of the other colors [including chrome blue] as well. I completely finish the masked areas before moving to other crisp chrome pieces, but I paint them all the same way for consistency. Since there are a lot of chrome pieces in this motorcycle, I paint many different areas at the same time by looking for pieces that are similar in reflected colors. This also helps to minimize masking. I started with the headlight nacelle area due to its shape and reflective intricacies. After masking the nacelle, I use my chrome blues and whites to paint the sky’s reflection in the nacelle. Ultimately, painting chrome is a process of working with both airbrush and paint brushes to create the final illusion.
The green trees reflected in the chrome are actually all hand painted with a brush, much like a watercolor painting. I’ve used varying blends of opaque Chrome Green, opaque Moss Green, blacks, and transparent Ochre. To create deep rich colors, most of the trees have been painted three or four times using airbrush paint applied as several light layers. The greens appear many times throughout the painting, which help to add even more believability to the finished piece.
Once I’ve finished airbrushing the chrome pieces, I take my tracing paper with the dash logo and transfer it to the canvas by applying lead on the back side of the paper and tracing it onto the canvas. I then paint the logo’s outline with a fine paint brush with light blue. While this initial step of outlining with a brush is important, it’s by no means final. Later, I’ll airbrush the highlights as needed.
The only items left are the speedometer, dash lights and touch-up. The lettering in speedometer are hand painted with a fine brush using opaque Black thinned with transparent Smoke. Next, I mask the speedometer and airbrush the inner ring with blacks and grays, and finally apply a couple of light coats of white to soften it a little. Next, I mask off the whole speedometer and spray a couple of light coats of white to make it brighter.
Once the complete painting is unmasked I paint the dash lights using oval templates, and do general touch-up work. Using small paint brushes, I apply colors to clean up some of the edges where paint may have worked its way under the tape, or I touch up some of the curved shapes to hide masking seams and to tie all the pieces together for a finished look. This is important so that the painting doesn’t look like just a bunch of pieces cut out and placed next to each other.
Additionally, I find that pieces “reveal” themselves as the painting has progressed. Sometimes, when a painting is in its beginning stages, it’s not completely obvious what all the shapes might represent. As the painting progresses, those shapes become more apparent, so now is my chance to make those final adjustments. I also cut some more acetates and add some additional highlights as needed. One of the last things I do is to add the small bursts of light reflections throughout the chrome. While at first glance, they may look like a glow of white, there really is more to it than that. I start with a small, soft airbrushed glow of straight White, then I add a little transparent Red around the outside of the glows. Next I go over it again with more white, leaving some of the red on the outside edges of the glows. This extra effort helps to bring the painting together.
Once the painting is complete, it’s ready for a good coat of clear. Technically, I could clear the next day, or even the same day in some cases, but I like to give the painting a couple days of rest and look at it with “fresh eyes” once more before clearing. This is pretty much my last chance to add details or make changes that I might not have seen before. I spray my paintings with Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic coating, which provides a permanent protective gloss coating and helps to unify the finished product. Clearing also pops the contrast a little, which is great for paintings of shiny subject matter. I start by spraying a light, horizontal coat, and then add additional heavier layers in both horizontal and vertical directions, overlapping each coat slightly. I always apply multiple coats rather than one heavy coat to prevent possible sags and runs. Weather permitting, I try to do the clearing process outdoors, or if that’s not possible, spray in a well-ventilated area.
In total, this painting took me approximately 140 hours to complete. For me, always, the most important thing is to just get in there and paint. It’s a time-consuming process that I remember to take one step at a time. Ultimately, anyone wanting to add chrome and reflected surfaces to their repertoire will develop their own style and techniques for creating these illusions.
For me, there’s nothing quite like the shine of an American made motorcycle. The sound, the ride and the style are like nothing else on two wheels. I guess, as a rider, I enjoy creating paintings of motorcycles because I can relate to them so well. I’ve made every effort to be true to those elements that make them a real experience for me.
For more, join A.D. at the upcoming Learning Product Expo…
Immerse yourself in a unique experience for artists where you can visit an exhibit hall packed with art material manufacturers and choose from a program of 200 art classes. A consumer show for visual artists is takes place in Pasadena, CA, October 24-26 at the Pasadena Conference Center.
Stock up on art supplies at low prices! Enter juried art shows! See free demonstrations!
Learn airbrush techniques with Instructor A.D. Cook - Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Classes.
You’ve heard of Top Chef and American Idol… get ready for TOP ARTIST!™ Join attendees and artists center stage at the Free Demonstration area for Quick Draws, Quick Paints and lots of laughs. Come see who will get crowned TOP ARTIST!™ and win great prizes from the sponsors. Think you have the right stuff to compete?
Click here to learn more about the Pasadena Learning & Product Expo: Art!
Click here for A.D.’s instructor profile and class schedule.
We’re looking forward to seeing you there.
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