FAIRGROUND

I first started decorating fairground shows and rides in 1979 drawn by a wish to produce art in public places. The early work was all brush-painted, the inspiration for the designs from films and cartoons. It wasn't until the end of the 1980's that I started to experiment with the airbrush. Initially I used it to add shading and highlights to cartoon-style figures that had already been brush painted with flat colours. I also used it to shade a lot of the block shadows and scrolls of the traditonal type of fairground decoration that I was producing at the time. Both ways of working were passed down to me from Pete Tei of Tate Decor, who in turn, had learned from the master of traditional Fairground Art, Fred Fowle.

My first airbrush was a cheap Badger hobby airbrush that proved almost useless for the scale of the work involved. It wasn't long before I started to use a DeVilbiss MP Gun - a scaled down spraygun rather than an airbrush - which was much better suited to industrial production - again, the gun used by Fred Fowle and Pete Tei. This lasted me for a few years until I started to produce much more large-scale figurative work. I then used a CompAir Sprayman Pro-77 gun which produced a much more varied thickness of line but was very unreliable. The gun I use now is a brilliant Olympos SGA-6104 which I would recommend to anyone. Beautifully made, with a smooth action and able to produce lines from pencil thin to 2" wide.

My compressor is a quiet SimAir SAC 110 BGA.

The paints I started with were Woolworths household glosses which were always coated with clear yacht varnish when finished. I then switched to Keeps Signwriting Enamels and then, to Masons Transport Enamels when I began to produce a large volume of work. For the past 6-7 years I have used Manor One-Pack Polyurethane paints which are primarily designed for spraying. They still need to have a clear varnish over the finished work. I rarely use base coats and twin-pack laquer.

AIRBRUSHING ON ILLUSTRATION BOARD

I started experimenting with airbrush illustration in 1995 after a break with my fairground work. I used a single-action Olympos airbrush to begin with and then switched to a DeVillbiss Super 93e which I used until this year. I now use an Evolution airbrush manufactured in Germany by Harder and Steinbeck and distributed in England by SimAir.

My favourite surface to work on is CS10 illustration board.

COMMISSIONS

I welcome commissions for portraits from photographs - of family, pets or favourite movie or pop stars. All I need is a good quality photograph. Prices from £100.

Unit 2, South Tees Business Centre, Puddlers Road, Middlesbrough TS6 6TL, England

I regret I cannot customise bikes, helmets,cars etc.