The first butterfly is finished!

One butterfly all fishined

I know that, to some people, painting on a car is a form of sacrilegious. While I understand the reasoning behind this logic, let me just say that this is an art car. I purchased this beautiful automobile to paint on the outside and haul art around on the inside. It is the most posh lovely car I've every owned. It is a 1999 Lincoln Town Car. I have the "base" model but that includes air, leather seats, and the cushiest ride your tushie ever felt!

With all the said, I'd like to share my experience of painting the first element on the car. First I used a product called ACRYLI-CLEAN DX330 which is a wax and grease remover. I let it sit a few minutes before I began painting. I did not sand as my understanding is that I didn't need to with 1-shot paints and I wanted to avoid a fuzzy halo around my element.  Because I usually paint with acrylics, I purchased a new set of brushes to use with the enamels only. I also got Chromaflo which is a thinner for when I use my airbrushes (later), turpenoid, and brush cleaner and preservative. I purchased a little bottle to put my turpenoid in while I work and that was very handy.

The first few layers of the butterfly

To do the actual painting, I started with a photograph of a monarch that suited the final product I wanted. I taped the printed picture a few inches above where I'd be working at the same angle I wanted my butterfly to be, just to make it easier. I've never used enamel before and I LOVED working with it! It has a lovely viscosity and amazing coverage. I started with the orange and yellow paints mixed together to for just the right shade. Once I got the solid image down, I added a bit of the orange with just a dad more yellow for highlights. Then I used the black paint to do the line work. Once the black and orange were dry, I came back with white and mixed a bit of yellow in some of the white for the larger spots on the wings. Finally, I used gray and white to finish the butterfly. I'm very happy with it and looking forward to doing many more. When I have the first three finished, I'm going to do some very light drop shadows to give the work depth. I'm posting a few pics that show the evolution of step one.

Please drop me a line and share what you're working on, too!

Blessings,
Laura P.

The paints arrived!

After much research and consideration, I've decided to go with 1-shot paints. I wanted to use a local paint store but, the selection was very limited. When they offered to order it for me, I went on-line. TCP Global had the best deal for the money and I ordered a kit containing 10 basic colors. It includes all the colors I'll need for the butterflies and I'll mix colors for flowers, etc. I also ordered 1-shot fast dry gold size because I want to put some gold leaf on the car. After all, what's a flower and butterfly covered art car without gold leaf!?!

This week I plan to get out there and get the first butterfly done. I'll post "before" and "after" pictures. This should be fun! Let the "why did you do that to your car?" questions begin!