This mural was airbrushed for Rick’s Automotive & Custom Exhaust, establishing character on what was a set of plain white panels.  The panels are covering a high part of a rear wall in Rick’s shop, one of which has a cut-out for the shop’s exhaust fan.  Rick, the owner of Rick’s Automotive & Custom Exhaust, came up with the idea of turning the exhaust fan into the rear tire of an animated drag car some time ago.  It wasn’t until I asked him the other day if he was interested in having any art projects done that he was ready to make it happen.

     With about 20 hours of actual “paint time” in this project, the result is a really cool drag car tearing away from the line.  In order to keep the color scheme balanced in the shop, Rick and I agreed that a blue car would look best.  I tried a royal blue car at first, but it just didn’t have a “tough” feel to it.  Then I went with more of a midnight blue, which blended too much with the night sky, and decided to do a combination of both.  The car looked great but was still fading into the black night.  Solution?  I threw tints of red into the sky, not only adding the contrast that it was greatly in need of, but also provided a sort of mystifying appearance to the sky above it.

    Once I had the panels up in place, Rick dug out several stickers for me to put on the barrier wall giving it a truly awesome added effect.   The cover that is mounted over the exhaust fan is capable of flipping down to completely cover the fan.  Yes, both sides are airbrushed.  When the bottom half is flipped down, completely covering the fan, you see a fully painted tire and rim with smoke pouring off of it.  Also, Rick wanted a drag racing light tree painted on the support beam just in front of the car.  That was a nice little added feature upon completion of the mural.

     Rick’s Automotive & Custom Exhaust is the shop I use when I need just about any type of automotive repair or custom work done.  They are a great crew and do an awesome job.  I hope to be able to do more artwork for them in the future.