By Alex Dugas
Toronto, Ontario — July 12, 2017 — An airbrush clinic, hosted by Collision 360 in Toronto and sponsored by Anest Iwata, drew an impressive crowd as well-known specialist Steve Vandemon laid out the basics of the technique.
The event, which was the first hosted by Collision 360 since the shop’s recent move to North York in Toronto, offered a unique opportunity to almost anyone interested in getting into the airbrushing industry.
“I began airbrushing in my late teens. It truly gave me a head start with the knowledge necessary to start refinish supply company. There are endless cross over technics and best practices. Preparing substrates, blending technics, coverage, spray gun mechanics, spray pattern to atomization. Given this I though it would be fitting to pay homage to the airbrushing craft. I truly believe airbrushing is in underutilized resource when trying to attract youth to our industry,” said Anthony Iaboni, owner of Collision 360.
“The thing about airbrushing techniques is that most of them are mistakes,” said Vandemon while explaining how creativity plays a crucial role when it comes to airbrushing. A true airbrush veteran, Vandemon has worked on countless cars as well as other types of vehicles.
“People bring all types of vehicles to my attention and ask me to restore them. I’ve worked on planes, boats and even tanks!” said Vandemon during the clinic.
Widely known for his work on hot rods as well as his unique flame designs, Vandemon’s work can be seen all over the world. Having absolutely no formal art education or training, he’s developed a unique approach to his work. Using a variety of faux finishing techniques along with some unconventional drawing and painting methods, he has developed a style which is easily identifiable.
The event offered a unique opportunity to almost anyone interested in getting into airbrushing. With a wide array of products offered by Anest Iwata, painters and shop owners from around the area were invited to test and various products during the event.
Vandemon demonstrated his skills in automotive graphic layouts, freehand airbrushing and masking. This wasn’t just an opportunity to show off his impressive skills. He also covered some of the less exciting but no less necessary aspects of the craft, such as preparation, tape layout techniques, hand sketching, image transfers, colour mixing, the use of different spray guns and much more.
“You don’t need to be an artist in order to achieve impressive results,” said Vandemon. “Keep a sketch book and sketch what you want to design over and over until it becomes second nature.”
For more information on Collision 360, please visit collision360.ca.
