Airbrushed My Own Mask! Complete Beginner, 300+ hours of work total.

[kylewesbury]

On 1/27/2021 at 10:08 PM, Charlie T said:

Congrats on your new hobby/potential job. Where are you based out of? if thats your first attempt, definitely big things to come for you.

Thanks! I’m based just outside of Chicago. However, if I start to take this seriously (always available to talk about potential commissions) I will be based out of Lynchburg, VA, as I go to school at liberty university and we’re currently residential. 

[kylewesbury]

On 1/28/2021 at 3:07 AM, jeantodt said:

What spray guns you use? 

Spray guns were too expensive at the time, so I stuck with just grinding it out with an airbrush for the whole thing. Planning on investing in a quality gun soon though!

To answer your question, I used an Iwata NEO siphon feed airbrush for coating large areas and an Iwata Eclipse gravity feed airbrush for the smaller sections and fine details. Great options for beginners! Very user friendly and replacement parts are readily available in case you break anything (sadly, I learned this the hard way)

[kylewesbury]

On 1/28/2021 at 11:54 AM, Colander said:

 Yeah - but as you go you will probably ending up doing even more complex designs so time is a gremlin you will probably always chase.

Great job! It's always nice to see people taking on these hands-on tasks - and succeeding. Remember, though, experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted.

(sorry if this ends up coming up twice - first time I sent it it didn't seem to want to go...)

Great wisdom here. I’ll be the first to admit that I screwed up a LOT during this process, which was a main contributor to the large amount of time it took me to complete this project. Stuff like insufficient drying times leading to primer/paint pulling up after masking, incorrect ratio of thinner to paint, and not spraying the paint wet really screwed me in the beginning, but got a hang of it towards the end!

[kylewesbury]

On 1/28/2021 at 5:15 PM, TheGoalNet said:

Never would have guessed this was a DIY by a 1st timer

I can hook you up with a free one if you’re ever looking for a new paint job any time soon! (Even though your mask by BMFS is pure filth). 
 

Im from the Chicago area too so no need to worry about shipping costs/shipping damage too! We can work out something contactless so you can keep your identity safe;)

[kylewesbury]

On 1/28/2021 at 5:57 PM, seagoal said:

Man, freaking awesome work.  It looks so good.  And major props to you for consulting with a pro.  You have some major talent and dedication and you show great respect for hitting up a top guy doing this work.

What's your story?  You are in university so 20ish years old....are you an artist otherwise?  Studying or practicing other art?  Is mask painting a career ambition of yours on some level?

Firstly, thank you so much! It means a ton coming from a community that can be so harsh when stuff isn’t necessarily their style haha. JBo is an AWESOME guy. In no way did he have to help me out as much as he did, but he showed pure class and helped me out, even when I wasn’t enlisting his services directly. HUGE shout out. 
 

Yes, I go to Liberty University in Virginia. Great school which was the primary reason I decided to go here, and also closely aligns with my spiritual life too. Hockey was a huge unknown for me. I’m only 18 years old, as crazy as that might sound. Last year, I got cut from my club team for unknown reasons to me and was forced to play Illinois High School Hockey for Glenbard. Decent hockey, but no exposure. I was marketing myself to every team I could think of, but to no avail. After I graduated, I had 2 offers. Go finish my U18 career for the Connecticut Chiefs AAA, or go play for a high level ACHA D3 team at Hope College. I decided to just go to Liberty in hopes of getting a good education, and I also have family here too. One thing led to another, and I was sitting in a coaches office signing the roster to play for the ACHA D3 team here. Hoping to move up the ranks to D1 in the coming years, but had no clear intention of playing at Liberty in the first place. Crazy how God works in your life. 3 years ago, I was sitting on a hospital bed after dual hip surgery being told I had a chance of never being able to walk the same, let alone continuing hockey. Now I’m playing college puck, and couldn’t be happier. Obviously hockey is the dream for everybody, and I’d love to continue playing as long as I possibly can. God has the wheel on that one tbh. To answer your question, absolutely no artistic background. I drew a stick figure once and was happy about it, and he was missing an arm! I’m currently studying Exercise Science with ambitions of becoming a certified athletic trainer. However, after this project, I’d love to consider taking mask painting more seriously in the future. 
 

Thank you for this question!

[kylewesbury]

On 1/30/2021 at 9:27 PM, dstew29 said:

Brilliant dude. Just think, you’re 29 masks away from your 10,000 hours. Good luck!

Already feels like 10,000 hours passed! Thanks brother

[BadAngle41]

Well @kylewesbury it’s been done for a couple weeks now... but thought I’d post some pics of how mine turned out. Very simple compared to yours... but I added some pearl ghosting to give it some extra detail up close...

[Colander]

Ghosted hex cells look incredible!

I am curious - I always see this but never sure how it's done: the gold "Bauer" logo on the front - is that an aftermarket decal or just a really good and intricate masking of the original (I suspect not the latter).

[kylewesbury]

1 hour ago, BadAngle41 said:

Well @kylewesbury it’s been done for a couple weeks now... but thought I’d post some pics of how mine turned out. Very simple compared to yours... but I added some pearl ghosting to give it some extra detail up close...

Love this look! Less is more, but up close it’s incredibly intricate. Well done!

[kylewesbury]

5 hours ago, Colander said:

Ghosted hex cells look incredible!

I am curious - I always see this but never sure how it's done: the gold "Bauer" logo on the front - is that an aftermarket decal or just a really good and intricate masking of the original (I suspect not the latter).

Probably a design cut on vinyl by a cricut/silhouette cutter, but can’t confirm. I know that’s what I did! Works like a charm. 

[BadAngle41]

41 minutes ago, Colander said:

Ghosted hex cells look incredible!

I am curious - I always see this but never sure how it's done: the gold "Bauer" logo on the front - is that an aftermarket decal or just a really good and intricate masking of the original (I suspect not the latter).

 

34 minutes ago, kylewesbury said:

Probably a design cut on vinyl by a cricut/silhouette cutter, but can’t confirm. I know that’s what I did! Works like a charm. 

@kylewesbury is correct... I don't have a cricut (probably for the best as I'd go bonkers with it) but I did have some vinyl stencils made. In almost all cases I had the positive and negative for covering up once painted. 

For the honeycomb I just applied the vinyl stencil (which can get tricky with compound curves so keep a good sharp X-Acto around) then applied a non-pigmented pearl. Obviously heavier in the rear of the mask fading as I went forward. Same for the gold honeycomb along the tip on the black stripes. 

I shied away from too much real airbrushing for things like highlights or lowlights etc. like a professional (or @kylewesbury for that matter) would do with great control and precision... but I could see where after a good amount of practice I could get more comfortable with it. Honestly I look at the mask and tend to focus on what I could do better next time instead of appreciating what I did do... but I think no matter what I would have done stencils would have come into play. 

Like the author of this topic, I reached out to JBo who was awesome about replying and giving me some tips. His videos on YouTube make the freehand work he does look effortless... but as a beginner what I took from them was his masking process and touchup. Highly recommend anyone who is serious about trying this out give the videos a good look. I included the Prep one here as well... but as I have some knowledge of paint prep already and an NME VTX with mechanically attached padding I didn't use it much. @A.YOUNGoalie13 this could help you as well as I pull you into this topic from the one started by @motowngoalie.