the man from snowy river - badger air-brush project airvolution article 2.pdf · the man from snowy...

1a i r v o l u t i o n

The Man From Snowy River

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed aroundThat the colt from old Regret had got away,And had joined the wild bush horses - he was worth a thousand pound,So all the cracks had gathered to the fray.All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and farHad mustered at the homestead overnight,For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are,And the stockhorse snuffs the battle with delight.

There was Harrison, who made his pile when Pardon won the cup,The old man with his hair as white as snow;But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up -He would go wherever horse and man could go.And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a hand,No better horseman ever held the reins;For never horse could throw him while the saddle girths would stand,He learnt to ride while droving on the plains.

And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast,He was something like a racehorse undersized,With a touch of Timor pony - three parts thoroughbred at least -And such as are by mountain horsemen prized.He was hard and tough and wiry - just the sort that won’t say die -There was courage in his quick impatient tread;And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye,And the proud and lofty carriage of his head.

But still so slight and weedy, one would doubt his power to stay,And the old man said, “That horse will never doFor a long a tiring gallop - lad, you’d better stop away,Those hills are far too rough for such as you.”So he waited sad and wistful - only Clancy stood his friend -“I think we ought to let him come,” he said;“I warrant he’ll be with us when he’s wanted at the end,For both his horse and he are mountain bred. . . . .1a i r v o l u t i o n


The following article is a big one folks but rather than just show you a bunch of photos of the finished project, we have provided an extensive step by step of the entire production.

The article is about a recent airbrush project by Tony Vowles.

Each section of the article delves into a different aspect of the project and we hope you find what follows interesting.

The Man From Snowy River Project


A person from a country town in Victoria; Peter Jolly from Benalla, rang Tony recently and asked for assistance in organising a car to be airbrushed with an artwork with a Man From Snowy River theme. He had the specific intention of it being used to create awareness about Beyond Blue’s support services in helping people in rural regions suffering from depression. This article is about Peter Jolly and his ambition to make a difference.


It can be very hard to get good photographs of cars with complex artworks like this one. While the photos could be better, you will get the idea.

Its best if we get Tony to tell the story from here.

Tony Vowles . . .

I do very little commercial airbrushing at all. My favourite word when asked to airbrush is “no” and my favourite phrase is “I don’t do commercial airbrushing - but I have many many students that can help you.” But in this case Peter had already approached several Airbrush Venturi students and they had all declined. Once Peter explained



that the whole project was about creating awareness of Beyond Blue and that they had a proper budget for the project and a proper window of time for its production, I agreed to take on the job personally. But most importantly, Peter was a nice guy . . . genuine.

I took it on because I have been working on the development of the new Custom Paint Master Classes where people learn to airbrush whole cars in a 10 day period. The project was a serious research exercise where I could document the entire process and check all the systems that we teach.

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Did I say that I am extremely reluctant to do commercial airbrushing? I assume all customers are going to be “a pain in the arse” until proven that they are willing to be as organised and professional in their dealings as they expect of me. In Peters case he had gone to a lot of effort, taking photos and developing the concept, so I had a good feeling about the project but still was not willing to go ahead until I could develop a clear idea of what would be involved and then give him a price.

I am so paranoid about having problems with clients that I am not willing to be creative once I start airbrushing a clients artworks. I do the creative stuff on Photoshop, print off the concept and if the client approves it, they sign the back. I don’t start until they have signed off on the photoshop concepts and paid 50% in advance.

So for me everything has to be fully formed on Photoshop before I will even quote on a job. I risk going to a lot of effort only to have the job fall through, but I prefer this to the alternatives.

a i r v o l u t i o n

This is one of the major aspects to our Custom Paint Master Class, the use of Photoshop to fully develop the creative design process BEFORE the students begin airbrushing. It completely stops the horrible doubts that you have when you are airbrushing the artwork about whether the client is going to like the job and if you are going to get paid.

I must say that Peter was a dream to deal with from start to finish. He really trusted me.

I started with this photo, removed the background, including

through the glass and digitally replaced the glass and took the

shadow of a studio photo of a car to complete the look.



Initially Peter had wanted me to use stills from the movie, (some shown here).

I literally told him that the photos were “shit” and suggested that we start with the poem . . . make the poem the feature and build images around them that told the story accurately.

What Peter didn’t know was the fact that I absolutely love this poem. I have been reading it out loud to my children since they were little. This poem is a part of my life, it is embedded in who I am.

So when it came to creating this artwork it meant a lot more than just “a job”.

This was a once in a lifetime project. I didn’t just enjoy this project, I loved it.

I have had quite a number of people express all sorts of opinions about the boldness of the poem and the muted “bluish” colour scheme, as if they were not thought through. Quite the opposite, if anything I ‘over-thought’ the design of this artwork. The photos will show how much thought went into the design of the artwork.

I started with this photo, removed the background, including

through the glass and digitally replaced the glass and took the

shadow of a studio photo of a car to complete the look.

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Once I had created a clean studio look for the base concept images, the next step was to look at where to place the design. Peter had already told me that he wanted it to start behind the front wheel arch, run around the back of the car and end at the same point on the other side.

I have this thing about “honour the steel”. When I do custom paint, I am very careful to use the design to reinforce the contours of the car, to make sure that the design does NOT camouflage the shape of the car . . . something that I have seen all too often.

The two design placement photos (below) show what I went to Peter with first. Every step of the way, I asked Peter for his opinion. I never go to a client with a finished design concept!! I work with them from the very beginning. Again, this means more work at the start, but if everything goes well, it saves a huge amount of time later . . . and goes along way to earning the trust and respect of the client. Peter and I agreed at every step, which was wonderful.

On the next page you will see the final shape we all agreed upon.



Right from the start two things were very clear in my mind:

1. The poem had to be the main feature of the whole artwork concept. I wanted the poem to really be in-your-face. People don’t read poems any more. I purposely wanted to try and make people read it. “Words” matter!! I spend most of my life in either research of writing up the results of my research into course structures and student guidance. Words are my life.

2. I needed a way to break up the story; that I would need the poem to create the division in the visual story line. Without a “divider” then it would have been much harder.

There are 13 stanzas to the poem. Grouping them in pairs was the only realistic groupings that I could think of. If I tried to fit more, then the text would have been minute and at even two stanzas, this size caused huge problems and required heavy condensing and very tight kerning. The masking for the lettering was pushed to the very limit.

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In each image, I tried to capture the essence of the two stanzas in each poem section. The photos show the raw images I started with and how I assembled them. I worked quickly and roughly but I don’t need it to be perfect before I can start airbrushing.

I moved the guy from the left to the right

I cloned in the grass to fill this area

I roughly sketched in the roof and tree



Working with B&W photo references but painting in colour is very simple for me.

I replaced the old mans face with the young guys face

This is NOT the “Marlboro Man”!!

I later changed these hills to be the same as the third image hills, to join

the hill-line into one long range down the full length of the car.

Sharon is big on horse riding and gave me a big lecture on Australian

saddlery and to make sure that I made the saddlery OZ authentic.

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One of the goals I set out to achieve was to create a sense of both “panoramic distance” and “up close and personal”. I wanted the close-ups of the cowboys and I wanted the mountain vistas. I really feel I achieved this sense of distance and intimacy with this side of the car.

I cut & pasted the horses onto the hills



I spent a lot of time designing back. The idea was that if a person was driving along behind the car in traffic, that they should be able to understand what the artwork is all about: •SnowyMountains a

•Horsemanchasinghorses a

•Poemtext a

If a person can’t put 3 and 3 together and get the poem The Man From Snowy River, then I am not sure what should be there. I tried several different designs but because of the extreme car contours, I had to keep it simple.

I cut out each horse individually, to get rid of the white horse, then assembled them with the cut-out

rider onto the Snowy Mountains background

This area of the background was simply created with the

clone tool on photoshop

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The horseman is a still from the movie, but the background was terrible. I managed to find the perfect section of the Snowy River to fit



Trying to create an interesting picture of horses stopping and being herded back exhausted, just doesn’t make for good pictures.

I tried to use photos of the actual Snowy Mountains where ever possible and in the end was able to use them in all the artworks.

To this day, I still don’t know what is in the background of the original shot, but once cut out and put on the Snowy Mountain panorama, the image of the horseman lassoing the horse, I loved the shot. I took an artistic liberty here because in the poem it specifically states that the horses stop, beaten by exhaustion.

heading


There were no end of images of cowboys sitting around fires but I specifically wanted a horse in it and no real detail, just silhouette’s.

The colour of the sky was too chocolate-boxy for me. So I “blued it”



As I progressed with the design it became very clear that the overall design needed a “border” of some description between the artworks and the green of the car.

I tried just a simple colour stripe. I tried a tree branch as a border. I tried a wood rail off a post and rail fence. None of them looked quite right.

I finally settled on this photo. I used Photoshop to take small sections and build a long rail that I could then use as the border.

I really liked the chipped paint and weathered grey wood. I think the colours of the wood sit well between the colours of the artwork and the car.

I briefly toyed with making the border as brown as the parchments and at the last minute went with the grey. I am really pleased I did. I really think I got this aspect of the design right.

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Did I say how much I hate masking?!!!

I hate masking!!!!!Step 1. Sit at a computer and crunch the poem until it would fit onto a series of parchments.

Step 2. Get the plotter to cut such incredibly small lettering with the right pressure but not damage the corners in the process

Step 3. Weed the vinyl out. Christopher (my poor godson), my wife and my son Sam.

Step 4. Apply app. tape to the lettering and peel away the masking vinyl backing. getting the ultra fine lettering to peel away and stick to the app. tape was hell. I was sure it couldn’t get worse than this.

Step 5. It got worse!! Getting the lettering to stick to the car and peel away the app. tape made Step 4. look like the easy bit.

What was suppose to take a day or so, took four and a half days (eight hour days).

The actual airbrushing of the parchments took about an hour each. I masked off the edge of the parchment and created a “wall stencil” around it. I applied the sepia brown flat tone (the colours of the letters). I stuck down the lettering and then I airbrushed the tan parchment and its wrinkled edges.

Finishing off simply meant pulling the masking letters off (more fun) and applying a strong coat of PPG Deltron D895 Colour Blender over the top to seal it off and protect it. All up each parchment took about 5 hours each. :(

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Before I cut the stencils for the border and lettering, I had to measure the space on the car and cut them to size. Then I carefully placed them.

Covering the poems was tricky. The contours of the car made it impossible to place a single piece over them. I cut the inside mask into the four border sections and placed them, put the centre piece in roughly and then covered the gaps with masking tape



Note the most important piece of equipment, the

height adjustable swivel chair on wheels

It doesn’t bode well for a job when the first stage takes three times longer and is super frustrating, but I soldiered on and it just got better and better

It took half a day to embalm the car and get it ready for the artwork stage of the project. Because it was going to be edged with wood I just used

masking tape for the top edges. Bleeds are very easily wiped off too.

heading


The first panel took about 9 hours. The second panel took nearly 15 hours to complete. Too long, but in these early stages I was very much playing with the colours that I would use for the whole job, so there was a bit of mucking around. While I am not as happy as I would like with the first panel, I am very happy with the second. One thing that I purposely set out to achieve was a very



painterly, almost brush painted artwork, but very realistic, which I feel that I achieved. The third panel was a lot of fun but took a whole day again. The grass at the front has six different colours in it. The horses were created with stencils that Patrick at Airbrush Focus made for me . . . and well as the tree stencils. I just added the leaves afterward.

I masked the background . . . a perimeter stencil around the entire horse and then loose stencilled and freehand

airbrushed the rest in. This was horse was very easy to do

This was one of the easiest parts of the entire artwork. I really enjoyed creating this portrait.

The colours just clicked . . . very happy.

heading




The horses and trees were done with laser cut stencils from Airbrush Focus. I simply sent the shapes to Patrick with measurements and he cut them out for me.

With the trees I started with a black base, masked around the tree trunks and sprayed the tan and browns. Then I freehand airbrushed the leaves and shadows across the branches. With the horses, I masked around the back horses, airbrushed them in then created the dust across them and then stacked the next horses on top and repeated the process. The dust really made the result look better.

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The contours of the rear of the car made this the most difficult section of the entire project. The bottom half of the horses are painted on a panel that juts in 10cm under the tailgate horizontally. It was extremely difficult to perimeter mask the horses but was the only way to get the crisp clean shapes when the the legs were only 5mm wide in many places. At this angle the distortion of the



flat section is very obvious, but at 5 metres back as if driving behind in traffic, everything lined up perfectly. I made sure of this by projecting the design and drawing the distorted shapes and airbrushing these shapes regardless of how wrong they look at the enagles I was looking at them while I was airbrushing. Once I finished and stood back it all looked spot on.

I covered the horses and did the background first and then I used the pieces that I

had cut off to mask the horses to reverse mask the background . . . added masking

tape and app. tape and then did the horses with perimeter stencils and freehand.

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For Panel 6 I masked the

horse off, airbrushed the

background, then swapped

over, masked the back-

ground and airbrushed the

horses and rider. After this,

I removed the outside mask

and freehanded the edges to

soften and add the hair of the

mane, etc. I did the rope just

freehand, sudden death.

Equipment & materials:•IpurposelyusedonlyanoldBadger155withanbent needle that I straightened on the concrete. Everyone seems to have this obsession with SUPER FINE airbrushes. I thinks funny. The 155 allows me to do lines as thin as a pen and then apply the D895 inter-coat clear at the end.

•ThepaintisPPGDeltron...starttofinish.Paintis paint but the support, the involvement by PPG in our airbrush community is huge, it is all about people and they get it, as big as they are, they actually get it.

The masking vinyl was Oracal ORAMASK® 810 Grey Paint Masking film. The app. tape is Oracal.

All the vinyl and mylar stencils were prepared by Paula and Patrick at Airbrush Focus.

heading




PPG has played a HUGE role in this project. A thousand thankyou’s

I was able to have the free use of part of the Victorian Training Centre for nearly three weeks. Amazing.

PPG had the car prepared, which meant having the car stripped down, windows and seals removed, door handles removed, badges and logos; everything that I can’t do. They did it all!!

Honourable mention must be made of Ray England, the State Training Manager and John the

Then at the end . . . PPG did the clearcoating of the car for free, a huge job . . . then reassembled the car ready to show.

Over and above how supportive and involved PPG were, have I mention how awesome Deltron paint is? Its amazing!

Danni, the owner of Panda Photography has financially supported this project and played an important role in the design stage of the process.

She is to be congratulated for being willing to directly get involved in a project like this.

Every single product that I used came from Airbrush Focus and in the case of the horse and tree stencils, they were specifically made for me by them.

Thank you to both Patrick and Paula for the effort they went to before and during this project.

Lastly thank you to my godson Christopher, my wife Bridget and my son Sam for their hours and hours of picking tiny stencil pieces out of the vinyl lettering stencils for the parchments and Sam for helping me to finish up and make the deadline.

Panda’s photography

Tel: 0487 903 666 - Email: [email protected]

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Hi there everyone,

Sharon asked me to write down my thoughts about why

I started this project and what it means to me.

After I lost two very dear friends to suicide (a silent

epidemic in country Australia) I decided that I wanted

to do something to increase awareness about people

like Beyond Blue who are making a real difference in

my community helping people that are struggling. I

was already showing the vehicle at ute musters but

wanted it to “stand out, and stand for something”.

To say that the final result has exceeded my

expectations is a huge understatement!! I never thought

I would end up with a car that was so unique.

This is not a “custom painted car”, it is a rolling story

book about one of the most iconic poems ever written

in Australia. It challenges people to not fear l

ife.

I feel like I am opening up a whole new chapter of

my life. The next couple of years is going to be very

exciting as I show it formally at ute musters, ag. shows,

car shows, schools and more. I also feel that I am

honouring my friends lives in the best way possible.

Sincerely



The Man From Snowy River

beyondblue - Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide a national focus and community leadership to increase the capacity of the broader Australian community to prevent depression and respond effectively.

We aim to build a society that understands and responds to the personal and social impact of depression, works actively to prevent it, and improves the quality of life for everyone affected.

Principles for action

•Respectforhumanrightsanddignity.

•Strongcommunityinvolvement, understanding and support.

•Apopulationhealthapproach.

•Recognitionofdiversityandspecialneeds.

•Aco-ordinatedandcollaborativeapproach.

•Anevidence-basedapproach.

•Sustainableaction.

From Peter . . .

We are currently trying to get a printing company to support the project by donating the printing of a calendar about the project. It will have 13 pages, January to January, one page for each stanza of the poem.

The hope is to sell the calendar at each show that the car is exhibited and raise funds for Beyond Blue.

I think there would be a lot of people that would love to have a calendar of the poem and the project, and know that the money they paid was going completely to support Beyond Blue.

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed aroundThat the colt from old Regret had got away,And had joined the wild bush horses -- he was worth a thousand pound,So all the cracks had gathered to the fray.All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and farHad mustered at the homestead overnight,For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are,And the stock-horse snuffs the battle with delight.

There was Harrison, who made his pile when Pardon won the cup,The old man with his hair as white as snow;But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up --He would go wherever horse and man could go.And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a hand,No better horseman ever held the reins;For never horse could throw him while the saddle-girths would stand,He learnt to ride while droving on the plains.

And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast,He was something like a racehorse undersized,With a touch of Timor pony -- three parts thoroughbred at least --And such as are by mountain horsemen prized.He was hard and tough and wiry -- just the sort that won’t say die --There was courage in his quick impatient tread;And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye,And the proud and lofty carriage of his head.

But still so slight and weedy, one would doubt his power to stay,And the old man said, “That horse will never doFor a long and tiring gallop -- lad, you’d better stop away,Those hills are far too rough for such as you.”So he waited sad and wistful -- only Clancy stood his friend --“I think we ought to let him come,” he said;“I warrant he’ll be with us when he’s wanted at the end,For both his horse and he are mountain bred.”

“He hails from Snowy River, up by Kosciusko’s side,Where the hills are twice as steep and twice as rough,Where a horse’s hoofs strike firelight from the flint stones every stride,The man that holds his own is good enough.And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home,Where the river runs those giant hills between;I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roam,But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen.”

So he went -- they found the horses by the big mimosa clump --They raced away towards the mountain’s brow,And the old man gave his orders, “Boys, go at them from the jump,No use to try for fancy riding now.And, Clancy, you must wheel them, try and wheel them to the right.Ride boldly, lad, and never fear the spills,For never yet was rider that could keep the mob in sight,If once they gain the shelter of those hills.”

So Clancy rode to wheel them -- he was racing on the wingWhere the best and boldest riders take their place,And he raced his stock-horse past them, and he made the ranges ringWith the stockwhip, as he met them face to face.Then they halted for a moment, while he swung the dreaded lash,But they saw their well-loved mountain full in view,And they charged beneath the stockwhip with a sharp and sudden dash,And off into the mountain scrub they flew.

Then fast the horsemen followed, where the gorges deep and blackResounded to the thunder of their tread,And the stockwhips woke the echoes, and they fiercely answered backFrom cliffs and crags that beetled overhead.And upward, ever upward, the wild horses held their way,Where mountain ash and kurrajong grew wide;And the old man muttered fiercely, “We may bid the mob good day,No man can hold them down the other side.”

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When they reached the mountain’s summit, even Clancy took a pull,It well might make the boldest hold their breath,The wild hop scrub grew thickly, and the hidden ground was fullOf wombat holes, and any slip was death.But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head,And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheer,And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed,While the others stood and watched in very fear.

He sent the flint stones flying, but the pony kept his feet,He cleared the fallen timber in his stride,And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat --It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride.Through the stringy barks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground,Down the hillside at a racing pace he went;And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound,At the bottom of that terrible descent.

He was right among the horses as they climbed the further hill,And the watchers on the mountain standing mute,Saw him ply the stockwhip fiercely, he was right among them still,As he raced across the clearing in pursuit.Then they lost him for a moment, where two mountain gullies metIn the ranges, but a final glimpse revealsOn a dim and distant hillside the wild horses racing yet,With the man from Snowy River at their heels.

And he ran them single-handed till their sides were white with foam.He followed like a bloodhound on their track,Till they halted cowed and beaten, then he turned their heads for home,And alone and unassisted brought them back.But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trot,He was blood from hip to shoulder from the spur;But his pluck was still undaunted, and his courage fiery hot,For never yet was mountain horse a cur.

And down by Kosciusko, where the pine-clad ridges raiseTheir torn and rugged battlements on high,Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blazeAt midnight in the cold and frosty sky,And where around the Overflow the reedbeds sweep and swayTo the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide,The man from Snowy River is a household word to-day,And the stockmen tell the story of his ride.

Banjo Patterson 1890

(The poem is copyright free, so there is no real limitation to its reasonable use).



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