Airbrush Technique Issue 23 - (Page 7) Big Daddy Customs is located about an hour north of Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to operating his own private custom paint shop, Thomas “Big Daddy” Banks works as the demonstration artist for Ohio Technical College’s Custom Paint and Graphics Pro- gram. To see more of Big D’s work and information about free custom paint demonstrations, go to BigDaddyCustoms.net In this article we will be going over dimensional lettering. There are 3 basic types of dimensional lettering, that is lettering that has some sort of depth. 1. Raised Lettering 2. Recessed Lettering 3. Combination Lettering Raised lettering is protruding from the surface. An example of raised lettering imagine a statue at the bottom of the statue is a plaque that says so and so did something great in whatever year. You can see what I’m talking about with the picture that says NEW YORK CITY. Recessed lettering is cut down into the surface. An example of recessed lettering think about old school tombstones where they chiseled REST IN PEACE across it. You can see what I’m talking about with the picture of the tombstone. Combination lettering has characteristics of both raised and recessed types. Let’s start with raised lettering first. I have my brushed aluminum panel, and want to add lettering that looks like it is jutting up from the surface. I will be using highlights and shadows to do this. Once again, I must determine my light source before I begin. I will be using a top left light source for this panel. 1. I use masking to cut out the lettering I will be using. I will be using the “positive image”. In other words, I will be using the letters themselves, and remove all the masking around them. 2. Once my letters are in place, I will start adding light highlights across the top and left sides of my letters (according to my light source). With my light coming from the top / left, I have to think where that light will catch and reflect from my lettering (since it is raised off the surface). 3. Now, I will start adding my drop shadows opposite of my light source (right and bottom). The shadows will be darkest right up against the masking, and allowed to fade away. 4. I carefully remove my masking. It’s that easy. Notice how all the highlights and shadows all make sense to my single lightsource. I add a quick tribal design underneath, using the same technique to add some character. Nice, quick, and easy! http://www.BigDaddyCustoms.net
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.