by Cheri Pearson
In this day and age of machine generated art it is great to see When talking with John, I asked him John is your current ve-
some of the past being retained and even begin to revive. One hicle covered with striping? With with a smile on his face and
such art form is the ageless pin striping and scrollwork. This a chuckle, he replied, “My current one is not, but my motorcycle
writer feels that nothing conveys pure art like the hand-applied has hand engraved designs. My home is decorated with many
striping. The seemingly effortless work of each line caressed pieces of my striped designs and I give many striping projects
into a melody of grace and form applied by the scriber is a sym- to friends as gifts.”
phony of practice, skill and even love. Do you work alone? “Right now I do, occasionally I work with a
Striping in itself is simply a bunch of lines placed in a smooth, friend, Paul Monetti. I do striping using urethane striping paints
flowing manner. Ok, that is the simplest of explanations. Indeed under clear.” Are these the paints you always use? “ Well, no.
pin striping is a continued study of exercise and development. I use ‘One Shot’ enamels 90% of the time. When a job calls for
Pin stripers are, in the purest form a breed unto their own. We clear coat, then I use the ‘House of Kolor’ urethane paints. I use
have one of those fellows right here in our mist at Airbrush the House of Kolor because it is compatible with almost all of
Technique, our very own John Avila better known as Fresno- the clear urethane used today.” Do you ever use water-based
johns. John has been kind enough to put together a series of paints to stripe? “Yes, on occasion, I use ‘Auto Air’ with a spe-
articles for you on striping, scrolling, gold leaf, and even a touch cial ‘Mack’ 70 brush for water-based paints and even good old
of engraving in an attempt to help promote the art and hope- T-shirt paints as well, it really depends on the surface and what
fully help you to begin striping. the application is expected to achieve. You never know when you
John currently resides in the state of ‘some like it hotter’, Arizo- may have to do something that requires water-based paints.”
na, where he continues his pin striping and painting. John says When reading and listening to others talk about pin striping,
it all started when he was still in high school. He saw a Ford Gal- there is always a mentioned of trimming the brush, do you
axy XL with a purple cast white paint job covered with lavender trim your brushes? “ When I first stared out, I never touched
and blue striping. That car captured his eye and was etched in them. Now I trim away loose or out of place hairs on the tips
his memory. A bit later John attended a car show at the Fresno only. Sometimes you don’t need to trim. Some folks trim the
Autorama where he says many cars were striped in the same body of the brush, but I rarely ever do that. Mostly I look for
style as that Ford he once saw. Turns out that the striper was those stray hairs.”
“Neil Averill”. After seeing the beautiful work John could not help
but feel that pin striping was the way to go. (“Just put lines and
designs all over it instead of doing a whole paint job.”)
John goes on to say: “In those days where I lived, it was almost
impossible to find paint and brushes, much less someone to
teach you. When you did see someone actually striping they
very tight lipped and shared little information, I just decided if
you wanted to learn it, you just had to start doing it”.
In or around 1971 I hung out in a paint shop owned by my
friends of my parents. There I learned a bit about spraying
paint. All we had then was synthetic enamels and acrylics, noth-
ing else. The only clear we had was lacquer and it did not hold
up real well.
In 73 I moved to Northern California and I was still messing a
bit with the striping, barely doing anything you could call real
What are some of the your favorite brushes? “ For my de-
nice, but just could not shake it. On a trip back to Fresno, I finally
signs I still use the ‘Mack’ Series 20 and Series 30. For scroll-
met Neil Averill. Neil is a really good guy; he took me under his
ing I use ‘ Dick Blick’ Eclipse liner and ‘Windsor Newton’ Golden
wing and showed me the ropes. Neil showed me many ways to
Rigger liner. The Golden Rigger can be used for line work using
stripe and some of the tricks of the trade. Turns out, Neil is also
either oil based or water-based. A word of caution though, once
self-taught and to this day I consider him my biggest influence.
you use the brush for oil based then it will only be used with that
He had this style where he would lay down a quarter inch wide
from then on.”
stripe and outline it adding some very delicate scrolls here and
When you are asked to do a design, how do you begin? “ I usu-
there as accents. Everyone calls this ‘ the Fresno Style.’ Neil is
ally show the customer what I have in mind with a quick sketch
still stripping and remains quite busy some 38 years later.
on paper and sometimes right on the vehicle. If on the vehicle, I
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