Exquisite Airbrushing is near Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Airbrush
in hand, ready to paint anything that comes my way! Specialising in
airbrushed helmets, bikes, cars, trucks, vans and utes.
Email Me:
toxic13@bigpond.com
Colour is the first thing you see.
There’s a new section now: photos by Wayne. As I’ve previously stated,
I’m pretty useless with a camera and the photos I take are average to
say the least. Wayne Burrows on the other hand is pretty much up the
other end of the photographic ladder, and was kind enough to let me use
some of his photos that he took of his vehicles and bikes which I’ve
painted. If you wish to use Wayne’s services, you can contact him on
0438 402 774.
About me:
Truck
and car information ▼
If you’ve been here before, you’ll know that I’m the sole person
responsible for painting everything on this site.
There are lots of nice photos for everybody to look at, and they
should all suit most ages. None of them are
too rude! I won’t say anything about my negative experiences at art
college, as you’ve probably heard them all before if you’ve previously
been to this site. I’ve been airbrushing for over 30 years on every
continent except Antarctica (any interest from there is welcome too!)
and my clients range from large multinational corporations, to ordinary
people. My work has been seen in art galleries, magazines, television,
newspaper articles, books, exhibitions and shows around the world. I’ve
even airbrushed live on the radio . . . twice!
The site has been going now for a little over three years and I’m
glad to say it’s had a tremendous response. Thank you everybody who has
taken the time to look (so far about 93000 of you.)
How the site works:
Truck and car information ▼
If you’re a
first-time user, you will find over 500 images, and unlike a lot of
other sites, they’re not all of the same bike or car. (Again, I
apologise for any poor photography.) When you click on an icon
(car/bike/truck, etc), a number of thumbnail images will appear. They
should come up quite quickly, even if you have an old pedal-power 386.
If you want to get a bigger image, click on the thumbnail photo. I have
decided to go this way, because I personally don’t like to wait 20
minutes for an animated and hard-rock soundtrack to jam up my computer
(not everybody has broadband.)
What I do, and don’t do!
Truck and car information ▼
My time as an artist is very limited (no, I’m not going to die just yet,
I hope – it’s just that my time is very precious to me. You’re paying
for me to do what I’m good at – being an artist. So here’s the deal: I
work on my own in a shed/studio. I airbrush, lay on nice colours, and if
pushed gently in the right direction, I will even put some clear on. I
do landscapes and portraits, fantasy and photo-realism. I prefer not
to do signs, although if they’re art-orientated as opposed to
words/letters, I’ll give them a shot (see the “others” section). I don’t
have vinyl cutters or plotters, I choose not to do body work of any
kind, and there is nobody else here in my shed to do it. Also, I’ve
stopped doing the inside of buildings, due to ventilation and paint
pollution problems. However, I can do panels at my premises which I can
directly apply to any flat walls of any size.
When
presenting a vehicle to me, it must be ready to paint, no exceptions.
Painting
over dents does not hide them. I don’t fit body kits, do accident or
body repairs, rust removal, engine removals or take factory stickers off
sport bikes. All of this must be done before the vehicle is presented to
me. If it’s a bike, I only need the parts you want painted: eg,
tanks, guards, fairings, frames.
Helmets
should be in good condition with the legal tab preferably sewn to the
internal lining. Again, no factory stickers (decals.) Try to get a
single colour lid, and preferably not red, because that will bleed
through and not look nice.
Bodywork
and removal of stickers (decals) is $1000 an hour if you insist, and I’m
crap at it, so I’d advise you to get somebody else to do it! Also see
above.
All of my
work is freehand. I prefer to work in a realism style. I’ve been doing
this for over 30 years, and this style works well for me.
If you have
something specific in mind, please supply good quality reference
material, either in person or via the internet. This also applies for
fine art and portraits. I personally have quite a substantial photo
library of images you can choose from, which may help your situation.
Truck and car
information ▼
TRUCKS
I know that there are many
people from the trucking industry that look at this site, and many of
you also read the British truck magazines and have seen the airbrushed
trucks in the British and European truck shows. I was one of the
founders of the truck art scene in Europe in the early 80’s, and I’d
like to offer my services and expertise to the Australian transport
industry. I realise truck art is in its infancy in Australia; therefore
I’m offering my services at a very reasonable introductory rate to get
the ball rolling. There have been many surveys in European truck
magazines which show that the public has a highly positive attitude
towards high visual impact trucks. The larger road transport companies
in Europe and Britain have come to realise the advantages of this media
for marketing and for promoting a professional and positive image of the
road transport industry.
Realising that the work
commitments of trucks, I can offer a unique service for a weekend
turnaround: drop in Friday afternoon and collect Sunday evening or
Monday morning.
If you’d like to see more
airbrushed trucks, you can look them up at Top Run Trucks
http://www.toprun.ch/truck/latest_news.htm then click on the Vandel
truck show or Peterborough Show.
CARS
Even though cars should be
presented to me in a reasonable condition, eg, body kits fitted, no
dents or panel damage or rust, they don’t have to have an absolute mint
paint job. That is, they don’t have to have been recently resprayed.
Factory paint is a pretty good base for any airbrushing. If you’re
considering paying $4000 - $7000 for a colour change on your vehicle,
this may be wasted money if it’s going to be airbrushed on top. A
completely airbrushed car finished in 2K including inside the doors
would start at around $2800, so that might be something for you to
consider.
What gets up my nose:
Something
that has come to my attention of late is that there is a minority of
people out there, claiming to be accredited at doing stuff. “Accredited
flame painter” amused me, to say the least. If you’re any good at all,
you can paint anything. Have a look at any pro airbrushing site anywhere
and you’ll see what I mean. We all work very hard to get where we are.
Every artist has their own style; that’s what makes them stand out from
the rest, and that’s why we’re artists and not something else. My site
and experience speak for themselves.
Now I’ve had
a few folk complaining that I don’t charge enough, usually airbrushers
from the states. Yes, I know how much other airbrushers charge, and if
they can get that…… fantastic. If I was located where they are, I’d be
charging the same, but I’m not, so I don’t. I don’t mean to undermine
their business strategies; what I charge is relevant to where I live and
the local economy, and it does me just fine.
Pricing:
Payment
is half upfront and half at the end of the job.
The prices are in Australian
dollars, and they go like this:
Under most
images you’ll see a title and the hours (4, 10, 20 etc.) I charge an
hourly rate plus materials. If you want to know how much your dream
machine will cost, you can look at something similar to what you want,
multiply the hours by the charge per hour, and add the material cost.
You will get a fair idea of how much the end result will cost.
At the
present, I charge 49.50 an hour, but because I’m nice, I usually
throw in a few hours for free – but don’t tell anybody. Material
costs consist of the following:
Sanding,
masking, primer, colour and clearcoat:
Helmets $50
Bonnets $100
Front of cars $250
Bikes, tanks, guards $200
Tailgates of utes $80
Whole cars $900
Vans $1000
Tautliner rear doors $300 *
Cab over trucks $1000 *
Bonneted trucks $1300 *
Bonneted trucks with sleeper $2200 *
Colour is the first thing you see.
My contact details:
If you would like to contact me you can do so at:
toxic13@bigpond.com
or
61+03 62 612995
I did have a guest book, but some idiot bombed it, so I had to shut
it down. I would love to hear from you if you have any comments, or work
for me, or just want to know anything about airbrushing.
Thanks for taking the time to look at my site.
A big thanks to Gary Alan for creating this website
(www.galanweb.com)
and Wayne Burrows for photography
(0438 402 774)
Jeff Elliot
