Blue Rose Painting

I put in a bit more time into the blue rose painting I've been working on. It still seems unfinished so I'll let it simmer for a bit until I figure out some sort of solution.

Rose Paintings

This weekend the plan was to set up at a flea market in my hometown to sell a bunch of clothes, odds and ends and a few of my paintings I've been working on. Being that it is Mother's Day weekend I chose to paint a few roses in a traditional style on an 8"x10" canvas. Unfortunately, the weather does not seem to be favorable for an outdoor flea market, so the sales may not be high. However, if you would be interested in checking out the original paintings for purchase or have a piece for commission, let me know! I intend on also getting prints made of paintings and drawings in the future as well.

Five 8x10s Started, Two Completed

Pink Rose

I set out to paint several 8x10 canvases this weekend with bold, vibrant roses. I wanted to paint more of my traditional styled roses. While I was sketching the rose in white paint over a bright pink canvas, I began to become intrigued with the sketched line work. I sketched in white first, then began to outline in black and topped it off with some white splatter from a toothbrush. I let that dry and as it did new ideas bounced in my head. I decided to make this painting unique from my traditional drawings that involve smooth shading from white to black within defined line work. I decided to add a touch more sketch lines in white and called it complete. Below is an animated gif and the final image of the painting. I will have this one and several others for sale in two weeks.

The Dan Bromley Brand

I've mentioned it briefly in previous posts, however the Dan Bromley branding deserves much more attention than that. In 2015 Throttle Down Speed Co. took on Dan Bromley #54A as its first sponsored GNC2 flat track motorcycle racer. In 2016 Bromley moved up to the GNC1 class and along with that move, branding efforts increased with TDSC. The goal was to design a logo for Bromley that could be used primarily for his race t-shirts. Below is the final vector logo that was designed.

This was one of the most efficient logos I had designed and surprisingly did not have nearly as many versions as most of my logos do. I thought about the concept for a while before a pencil touched a piece of paper and visualized stacking the name and number before implementing. There were a few typeface variations and a few design elements I played with along the way, however, I felt that this base font worked well. I outlined the letters in Illustrator and then began customizing the angles to get the tough, slick feel that this logo has. I felt the outlines made for a strong bold logo to represent Bromley as a motorcycle racer. Once the logo was created and approved, we took it to vinyl and of course apparel.

Above is the mock of the Dan Bromley 54A logo accompanied by four brand logos that all support Bromley's race program this year. A few of those logos needed to be vectorized for a final polished look to send to the screen printer. Currently these two shirt colors are available in Bromley's race pits along with a dark grey v-neck for the ladies (which is by far my favorite). With this t-shirt design, the thought was that the logo has done it's job! At the time they were printed, there were really no further known applications for the logo, however, that quickly changed.

In Daytona we had stumbled upon some Dan Bromley autograph posters in the AMA tent at the Daytona International Speedway that sported the fresh logo. Of course Bromley had a stack of them at the race track for him to autograph for all of the flat track fans, shown above. As you can see, he also has some sweet Throttle Down Speed Co. vinyl on his moto helmet, which led us to our next project: the custom painted full face Bell Star helmet.

In an earlier post I showcased a progress shot of the custom painted helmet. Our friends at Colored Controllers hooked us up with a sweet gloss black base that worked perfectly with our added 1shot enamel. My painting process was entirely organic in that I did not have a final design planned out on paper before the paint hit the helmet canvas. The fluid process turned out quite well for this helmet that was meant to not only represent Bromley and Throttle Down Speed Co. on the race track but also to embrace the hand painted/hand built culture that is so important to the TDSC brand. With that said, the first design element to the helmet was going to be the Dan Bromley 54A logo centered on the lower back portion of the helmet.  Below are a series of shots of the other painted elements on the helmet that made for a complete look.

The above five photos were taken by Bromley once he added the visor and all of the other vent covers and parts that were stripped off during the painting process. Every element of this helmet is painted, including the Bell logo on the front. We were ecstatic to see how this helmet came together and was debuted at The Handbuilt Motorcycle Show flat track races on Friday, April 8th in Austin, TX. The next day Bromley sported the helmet again at the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National 1 Race at the Lonestar Half-Mile.

If I were to guess, I'd say this is still the beginning of the development of the Dan Bromley Brand. Stay tuned to see what else we work up with our sponsored riders, and visit Bromley in the pits to see the custom helmet for yourself. 

Dan Bromley Bell Helmet

Made some more progress with Dan Bromley's hand painted Bell helmet:

Overall this is really turning out well. The gloss black base coat that Colored Controllers hooked us up with is working seamlessly with the 1 Shot enamel over top. Part of me was concerned that when I use the brush cleaner (which I occasionally do to touch up any minor mistakes) it would take off the gloss black. Luckily that is not the case and when I clean up any mistakes it is perfect. I am really happy with how the hand painting is going. The final product will definitely have an imperfect look to it, but that's definitely the look I am going for. We live in a world where computers can generate perfect crisp line work and imagery, that it is nice to break out of the norm once and a while. The process and tactility aspects of painting are what make it so special. So if you are looking for a crisp, perfect product-this helmet design will not be to your liking. Often I enjoy embracing the hand drawn, hand painted, hand built culture in my work and this helmet is fitting in just nicely. Stay tuned to see more detail shots. Goal: to have this bad boy on the track in one week!

I am currently painting up a Bell Star for Flat Track motorcycle racer Dan Bromley. To watch my progress, follow ThrottleDown_SC on snapchat! Or stick around and I'll be sure to share the final product right here.

Transition: From Canvas to Clothing

The "flying piston" is a familiar icon within the motorcycle and automotive industry. It is currently apart of the Throttle Down Speed Co. apparel line but the creative did not initially intend to be printed on clothing. Below is the transition of how the original acrylic painting of a flying piston was translated into the hooded sweatshirt it is today.  

Above is the original acrylic painting that consisted of only 3 colors. From there I scanned the image and vectorized it.

Once vectorized, I printed it out and sketched a bunch of options that included the Throttle Down Speed Co. logo within the design. I finally chose one and continued designing in Illustrator.

Above is the final design printed on an American Apparel hoodie.

Finally, here are the two side-by-side for comparison.
Get your hoodie here.

The OG Motorcycle Helmet

Painting is crazy important to me these days. I grew up a painter-mainly acrylics and watercolors, and thought I'd go to college to be a painting major. I'm glad my mind shifted to design for my education, however, I did manage to pick up my paintbrushes again about a year ago. One way I got into it was through this motorcycle helmet below. This was painted with white One Shot enamel on a friend's vintage helmet. The theme, if it is not already apparent, is bandana print. I'm really happy with how the piece came out, and I look forward to future helmet painting gigs through Throttle Down Speed Co.