Tyler Houston

Shawn recently had the privelage of pinstriping the truck of former Major League Baseball player, Tyler Houston. After 8 years under the lights, Tyler decided it was time to retire and settle down with his wife and children. He now owns Lakeside Carwash, and had Shawn paint the logo on his truck, along with some various pinstripes. He brought in an old bat of his, which he used when playing with the Chicago Cubs, and signed it for Shawn to put on display at the studio. Special thanks to Tyler Houston.

Sunset Tire Cover

Keri Altig brought in her tire cover for Shawn to airbrush. She gave Shawn a general idea of a sunset and palm trees, and left the rest up to him.

First, Shawn applied an adhesion promoter to the tire cover, enabling the paint to stick. Then, he applied a light blue base.

The first colors that Shawn used for the sunset were white and yellow.

Shawn added pink and dark blue, giving depth to the sunset.

He added streaks to finish the sky, and then started working on the water.

He added rolling waves and a slight reflection of the sunset.

Then, Shawn painted black mountains and small palm trees in the distance.

For closer palm trees, Shawn began by using green.

He added a small island and finished the palm trees with brown trunks.

Keri came in to pick up the tire cover with her children, who gave their full approval.

Chief AJ's Stocks

Chief AJ, from Tuscola, IL, contacted Shawn with an idea of painting his rifle stocks for the IL Deer and Turkey Classic in Bloomington, IL. As a 70 year old preacher, champion body builder with numerous titles, and expert rifleman, Chief AJ has an impressive background, and one can find him in a simple internet search...Or just flip open the Book of World Records. He shot his .22 rifle for 14 hours a day for 8 days straight, setting the world record, hitting 40,060 flying targets straight. He has a Daisy BB Gun named after him, making him the only U.S. Marine with this honor (www.chiefaj.com).

Shawn first covered both stocks completely with gold.

Chief AJ requested that both stocks have a gold cross with rays coming from it.

Shawn is pinstriping the first stock after laying down the 3 visible crosses.

The color scheme of this stock is Royal Purple and Royal Kandy Blue. Shawn pinstriped the phrase 'I will glory in the cross only' in white. Three crosses are on the tip, and Shawn pinstriped the entire stock in white, then added gold metallic flake, making the entire stock sparkle.

This side of the stock shows another set of 3 crosses, white pinstripes, gold metallic flake, and a big golden cross with rays beaming around it.


This stock is similar to the first one, but Shawn told Chief AJ that he would do an extremely detailed piece for him. The color scheme of this stock is the same as the first one. Shawn painted an eagle with the same phrase 'I will glory in the cross only', which is in gold. Three golden crosses are on the tip of the stock, and Shawn pinstriped the entire stock with silver, then added gold metallic flake.


This side of the stock shows another set of 3 crosses, more silver pinstripes, a big golden cross with rays and clouds all around it, and gold metallic flake.



Both the stocks are displayed, along with an autographed 'Chief AJ Daisy' BB Gun, which will be on permanent display at Shawn Ealy Designs' studio.

H-Town Helmet

On Wednesday, January 30, Erin Petrie brought in a helmet to be painted for her husband, Jim Petrie, who is a race car driver for H-Town Racing. H-Town racing has been around since the 1960's, when Jim's father participated. Jim and his brother Pat have been involved with H-Town Racing since 1990. Check them out at www.htownspeed.com.

The helmet is taped off and Shawn is now able to spray the primer on it, preparing it for the artwork. Erin asked Shawn to put the Banker on the helmet, with one alteration. Instead of a top-hat, the Banker was to be wearing a joker hat.

Shawn lettered the 'H-Town Racing' logo, with the Banker bursting out of the letter 'o'.

The number on Jim's car is '1', so they asked Shawn to duplicate the number onto the helmet in gold. Shawn is outlining it in black and grey.

Shawn also added green flames and a checkered racing flag around the bottom.

It is a great thing to encounter someone who has so much faith in Shawn, only giving him basics, and letting him run with it.

A closeup of the banker shows him bearing the joker hat, a wrench in one hand, and a requested 'evil' grin. Shawn also added pearl before he cleared the helmet, giving the helmet an extra sparkle with the sun.

KirkLee

Tony Gebbia brought in a KirkLee bike frame, which is one of the lightest bikes in the world, weighing in at approximately 900 grams. The KirkLees are built right out of Las Vegas by John McGuire, who is recognized worldwide for building and designing bicycle frames. He is innovating new ideas for professional bicyclers, for example, he built a one of a kind pair of handlebars that were used in the Tour de France.

The KirkLee bike frames are made out of carbon fiber, making them extremely lightweight, but also very strong and sturdy. When the entire bike is put together, it weighs about 15 pounds, flirting with the legal limit, which is just below that.

High Desert Cycling Club, made up of 8 sponsored riders, is the racing team that will be featuring the KirkLees.

Tony Gebbia holds his completed frame up.

LUV 2 Bike?

Another person that brought his bike to Shawn was Bill Woolf, one of the publishers and owners of LUV2bike Magazine. This magazine targets the bicycle industry, but is not limited to that. It is published every 3 months, and is filled with useful information about events and races, pictures, and articles.

The bike is prepped and ready for the black base coat.


Caught in action, working his magic.

Shawn taped off specific areas, and was able to apply red to the desired locations.


Touching up the LUV2bike logos.


Check out the website at LUV2bike.com