Denim Jacket How-To


        No matter what type of airbrushing you do, at one time or another, you have probably been asked to paint a denim jacket.  In this article, I will give you the step by step instructions to paint a skeleton holding the Ace and a smoking gun.  The most common problem with painting on denim is that the indigo dye tends to bleed through the paint.  For most projects, I like to bleach the area to be painted.  However, this was not necessary with this particular design, as blue and violet were integral colors of the design.
        To prep the jacket, simply apply a mist coat of a 50/50 mixture of water and extender to the area you wish to paint.  Then press the jacket in a heat press, this helps to press the fibers flat, thus eliminating those annoying little fuzzies that like to grab any overspray.  Be careful to only use a mist coat!

Step 1 STEP 1:  Use chalk to sketch the skeleton onto the jacket.  Unlike pencil, the chalk will not leave marks, but blows away as you begin spraying.
Step 2 STEP 2:  Begin by misting opaque white as a base for the painting.  Patience is vital at this step, so apply the layers in light coats.  Even at this early stage, it is important to note where your light source will be.  For this design, the source was on the upper right, and that is where the white is the brightest.
Step 3 STEP 3:  Violet is applied to the shaded areas of the skeleton.  I also sprayed violet in the dark areas of the eye sockets, nose and mouth.  Next, apply dark brown to the handle of the gun and light brown to shade the Ace.
Step 4 STEP 4:  The light brown is used to shade the bandana.  Pthalo blue is used to shade the steel of the gun, the lighter side of the skeleton and the bandana.  Note on the right side of the bandana that I have decided that the folds were too large - this will not pose a problem as the background will be black and this will be covered.
Step 5 STEP 5:  The red is now applied to the bandana and eyes.  You can see on the bandana how the brown underpainting has given depth to the folds and creases.
Step 6 STEP 6:  To outline the skeleton, I used opaque black.  Wax paper with 3M's spray mount is used to mask the skeleton.  After the paper is laid over the skeleton, an X-acto knife is used to carefully trim the excess.  Be very careful with this step so that you do not cut the jacket!  Two-inch masking tape is used to mask off other areas around the waist, arms and top of the jacket.
Step 7 STEP 7:  This shows the skeleton unmasked after the background was painted.  As stated earlier, the light source would be on the upper right.  The background was first sprayed opaque black.  The lightening was laid in using opaque white, and then a mist of pthalo blue was sprayed over the white.  A final sharp line of opaque white was sprayed over the blue.  Using this method helps to give the lightening the illusion that it is glowing.
Step 8 STEP 8:  At this point, the opaque black is used to define the eyes, nose, inside of the mouth and on the playing card.  I also used a thinned down transparent black to add further shading - generally I try to stay away from using black as a shading color, but in this particular project, the black added the necessary darkness that was needed in this piece.  Another change I made was to use a skull and cross bones on the playing card instead of the Ace of spades, let's call this artistic license.
Step 9 STEP 9:  The final highlights and a gold tooth were added.  The only thing left to do is apply a final coat of extender as a clear and then to heat set.

TECHNICAL DATA:
Total time of project: Approximately 1 hour, 15 minutes
Airbrush: Thayer & Chandler Omni 3000
Brand of paint: Createx fabric paint
Price charged: $55.00 - the customer supplied the jacket.


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