Looking at Chris MacMahan, you

wouldn’t think he’s old enough to have

nearly 20 years in as a professional

painter. The owner of Aerografix in

Elyria, Ohio, boasts a long-standing

reputation for an incredible range of

custom design and artwork. His

artistry and tutorials have been

featured in numerous trade and

enthusiast magazines, including

AutoArt, Signcraft, Pinstriping and

Kustom Graphics, and Roadbike.

Chris entered the business so early

because a love of drawing ran in the

family—his father was an airbrush

artist who painted T-shirts at fairs and

festivals. Chris started his own

business straight out of high school

and has never worked for anyone else.

In those early days, his workload

consisted of pinstripes and hand

lettering. A true suitcase act, he took

his tools and skills to wherever the

vehicles were.

This highly mobile daily routine, in fact,

made him a big fan of PPG from the

very beginning. “Bouncing around,

doing things in other people’s shops, I

liked that PPG products were readily

available in every town I went,” Chris

says. Variety and quality were also

important to him. “It’s a wide line-up.

PPG products have always been very

user-friendly. They are tried-and-true.”

To meet the growing demand for

original portraits and murals, Chris

opened his first brick and mortar

location after just four years in

business. His work is photorealistic,

but Chris’ goal is not to replicate a

camera. Instead, he strives for what he

calls dynamic realism—true-to-life

representation with exaggerated light

effects and form to amplify drama.

Even when turning up the intensity,

however, Chris is careful to maintain a

certain look. “My style is a combination

of old and new,” he says. “It’s one eye

on traditional clean work and the other

eye on pushing it forward.” If anything,

his work embodies the Midwestern hot

rod ethos of balancing retro eye appeal

and artistic inventiveness.

In his shop, Chris uses the DELTRON®

system for his unders, basecoat and

clears. Not surprisingly, the VIBRANCE

COLLECTION® of custom effects plays

a vital role in all his work. “We use the

PRIZMATIQUE® rainbow flake all the

time. I use pearls and sparkles to add

an extra ‘oomph’ to the bases.”

Today, pinstriping and lettering still

account for about half of the projects at

Aerografix, the remainder original

artwork. “What I’m happiest doing is

the freehand airbrushing,” Chris says.

“My niche is portraiture—pinup girls

and dragons, barbarians and wizards.

A lot of my work recalls van and hood

murals of the ‘70s. That’s what people

seek me out for.”

A recent project showcasing his

portraiture was at the 2013 SEMA

trade show in Las Vegas. He created

two pieces for Carnival of Color, PPG’s

circus-themed display. Attendees loved

all the commissioned pieces created by

more than 30 top automotive artists.

Additionally, Hot Rod magazine

described PPG’s effort as the coolest

display at the show.

With two decades in the business,

Chris is still happily looking to the

future. No matter what role he plays in

the evolution of the custom car art

world, he knows he’ll be doing what

he loves. “I’m never really working.

I get paid to draw pictures and letters,”

Chris says. “It’s not a bad gig.”

PROFILE

METAL IS THE CANVAS OF CHOICE FOR CHRIS MACMAHAN, OWNER AND ARTIST OF AEROGRAFIX

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TECH TALK

AIRBRUSH SELECTION

Any general-purpose airbrush, single or double action,

can be used to achieve this effect. Chris recommends a

medium sized tip at 40 psi. “The higher pressure allows

me to use the airbrush as a mini paint gun and put on

a wash of color.”

SPRAYING

Placing the template against the surface, Chris sprays a

line of the Radiance II Green. The green is solid at the

bottom of the “V” and fades upward. Keep the template

and the spray motion as horizontal as possible.

SOLID BORDER

Once all the rows have been sprayed, Chris fogs the outer

edge of the panel with several layers of Radiance II Green

(DMX217) until the color is intense.

READY FOR ANYTHING

From here, your options are wide open. The design stands

on its own, so you could add a midcoat, or go straight to

clear. Chris also suggests that the pattern can be a bed

for pinstripes, lettering or artwork (see example). “As a

background, fish scales can push any job over the top.”

ROW SYMMETRY

Aligning the scales is simple—the center of each circle

slightly overlaps the bottom of the “V” on the row

above. Spacing between the rows is a matter of

personal taste. Here, Chris uses a tight formation for

a more intense pattern.

TEMPLATE SATURATION

The template will be covered with many layers of paint.

To maintain a crisp pattern, allow the template to

dry for a minute every few rows, or create more than

one template.

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31 2DRAWING THE PATTERN GUIDE

Chris uses a template to create the pattern of

overlapping circles. Generally, the “scale” size should be

big enough to fill the space without appearing busy.

Use your best judgment.

CUT THE GUIDE

Your pattern should be drawn on a light cardstock, about

the thickness of a business card—heavy enough not to

become soggy and tear, light enough to cut cleanly with

scissors or a craft knife.

PANEL PREP

To ready the panel for the tutorial, it was covered with

DELTRON® 2000 DBC Bright Silver (5464). Over that, two

color layers from the VIBRANCE COLLECTION® were

added, each fogged toward the center—RADIANCE® II

Yellow (DMX210), then Green (DMX217). Each toner was

added to a 1:1 mix of Deltron DBC500 Color Blender and

DT870 reducer.

CHRIS MACMAHAN SHOWS HOW TO CREATE A CLASSIC FISH SCALE EFFECTWhether you’re looking for an eye-

catching fill or a background for

pinstripes or artwork, the fish scale

technique is a timeless choice. “This is

a very easy technique for someone to

pick up,” says Chris MacMahan, owner

of Aerografix in Elyria, Ohio. “We

do this a lot on choppers and bobbers

for a ‘70s look. It’s also great for

backgrounds in retro-style murals.”

In this tutorial, Chris uses a traditional

circular scale, but other shapes work

just as well, such as triangles for a

diamond pattern or curved “teeth” for

a quilt pattern. With a little imagination

and experimentation, you’ll be able

to create a wide range of patterns

and effects.

GFISH!FISH!

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