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Tribal Master Stencil Kit - Stencil Master: Steve VanDemon
VanDemon's New Stencil Line Lets You Get Tribal!
From the February, 2009 issue of Sport Truck
By Calin Head
Photography by Calin Head
The badass licks that are on the cover truck this month were painted by Steve VanDemon, who is more than just a custom painter-he's just an all-around good guy. We took a trip over to his shop in Anaheim, California, with the intention of walking around and shooting some of his art. Following a little small-talk, we found out he has a line of stencils just hitting the shelves, and after a little begging on our part, he gave in and showed us how to use them. He took out a test panel and went over the basics of how to go from stencil to custom design in no time flat. He also clued us in on what paints he uses, the types of guns, and even some basics on pinstriping. We will keep the opener short, so we can get straight to the meat of it. If you would like to have a piece of Steve's one-of-a-kind artwork, go to his website and check it out. Here is the Tribal Master Stencil kit that Steve designed, which is sold through Artool Products Company. These solvent-proof templates can be easily flexed or curved around irregular-shaped surfaces and cleaned with solvents without being damaged. It has positives and negatives that once separated give you more than 42 stencils to play with.
 1.To get started, Steve bordered...  1.To get started, Steve bordered the test panel in 2-inch tape with a 1/4-inch inner line before covering it in quick mask. He used a squeegee to lay it down to prevent air bubbles from getting trapped.  2.With his Iwata Eclipse C...  2.With his Iwata Eclipse C airbrush filled with House of Kolor Black, Steve dusted around the outside of the stencil. If you look close, he drew a line down the center of the panel so he could easily flip the stencil over for a true symmetrical design. We asked him what air pressure he was running through his gun, and with a chuckle he said, "Oh, about 45 psi." Then, he said, "This is very high, but I'm so used to doing large pieces, it's what I'm comfortable with-plus, I won't be spraying very close on this piece."  3.Once the paint was dry,...  3.Once the paint was dry, Steve started cutting around the lines and pulling off all the outside masking. This will leave him with an exact duplicate of the stencil.  4.He taped the test panel...  4.He taped the test panel up on an easel and started dusting around the edge of the design, again this time with HOK pearl white. Steve said, "I know that I will be using candy colors, so the pearl white will provide the base and make the candies pop when the light hits it.  5. After the outer dusting,...  5. After the outer dusting, he brought in another stencil from the Artool lineup to create the hard lines for the realistic flames. Steve used the stencil to just create a small area of the flame and then used the brush alone to draw it out. He said, "I think real flames shouldn't be too crisp. If they are a little on the blurry-looking side, they look more real."  6.Once he was happy with the...  6.Once he was happy with the white, he cleaned out the airbrush and filled it with HOK Candy Tangerine. Steve covered all of the white with the Tangerine. We asked about the overspray getting on the black, and he filled us in on a little secret, "Candies need a lighter base color to show up, so this Orange hue over black will barely show up and give you a nice depth to the design."  7.With the Tangerine finished,...  7.With the Tangerine finished, Steve filled his brush with HOK Candy Apple Red and applied it to the panel. The key is to not cover all of the Tangerine, which will add depth and realism to the flames. Steve recommends watch closely as you spray the red because it won't take much to get the result you want and it is very easy to spray too much.  8.The masking was peeled off...  8.The masking was peeled off to reveal the unpainted tribal design. We thought this was done after maybe a few coats of clear, but Steve was in a groove and said, "Screw it-I'm going to stripe this thing."  9.Into the booth he went to...  9.Into the booth he went to lock in the fresh design with some intercoat clear. After a quick wipe with some precleano to remove any dust or fingerprints, the panel was ready to clear.  10.Since Steve will be putting...  10.Since Steve will be putting a whole pinstripe accent over top of this, the intercoat clear is like a safety net. If something goes wrong with the striping, it can be wiped off without damaging the airbrush work. He used an Iwata LHP400 gun to lay down the clear.  11.After the clear dried,...  11.After the clear dried, he knocked down the edges that built up around the masking with 1,000-grit paper wrapped around a soft block and lots of water.  12.Now for the striping, Steve...  12.Now for the striping, Steve said, "Ninety-nine percent of pinstriping is having the balls to just pick up a brush and try." Well, we think it takes that and a lot of practice, with good instruction, too. But, he is right. You'll never know if you can, unless you try. The first step is to get the brush loaded with paint (HOK Gold, in this case) and to get all of the hairs in line. You do this by dragging the brush back and forth on the pallet or in this case a phone book. After a few passes, drag the brush down the book and then pick it up, if the paint runs down the hairs and creates a blob on the end,there is too much paint. Just drag it back and forth a few more times on a clean area that should strip out a little paint and get you ready.  13.Steve placed the Mack brush...  13.Steve placed the Mack brush between his thumb and index finger with the end of the brush where his thumb meets the palm. The other fingers of his hand were placed on the panel to create a base for his hand. Then, he brought the tip down to meet the panel just a little bit and then pulled away. As long as your hand doesn't move up or down in relationship to the panel, the line will stay the same size.  14.Just for good measure,...  14.Just for good measure, Steve also freestyled a few HOK Silver lines in the middle of the design to complete the striping. The Final Word
There you have it, a sweet-ass panel with a lot of custom paint elements that are being used today. All that is left is to lay down the final coats of clear and hang it on the wall. Steve's years of experience made all of this look easy, but the stencils will make learning much more fun because the results will come faster; think of it as steroids for your painting skills.
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