Painting with Mike Ramirez - Hot Bike Magazine

08. It’s also important to keep symmetry between your work. Here Mike is making sure the tapelines on the two tanks match up.
08. It’s also important to keep symmetry between your work. Here Mike is making sure the
09. It was only a matter of time before Mike felt the urge to grab a pencil and start drawing. Here he’s sketching out a few samples as we kicked around ideas for the details.
09. It was only a matter of time before Mike felt the urge to grab a pencil and start dra
10. Using a piece of chalk, Mike sketches out one of the ideas we talked about to see how it would flow on the tank. Once again planning ahead is key.
10. Using a piece of chalk, Mike sketches out one of the ideas we talked about to see how

11. When it comes to the more intricate work, Mike uses Iawata airbrushes. Mike says he likes these because they are workhorses and are great for custom car or motorcycle applications.
11. When it comes to the more intricate work, Mike uses Iawata airbrushes. Mike says he l
12. With the panels laid out, Mike began applying black around the inside of his tape line. The black was the starting point to which he worked the colors dark to light. The black leaves a sharp edge and will make the rest of the colors look deeper as they are applied against it. The technique here is to keep close to the surface so you don’t get too much overspray but you also want some overspay to shade into the next color.
12. With the panels laid out, Mike began applying black around the inside of his tape lin
13. Next Mike filled the airbrush with Transparent Oriental Blue and began spraying. Working a little further away from the surface, overspray isn’t as big a concern because the transparent blue doesn’t stick out as much. Here he worked with higher air pressure and sprayed two times more paint than with the black. He also created a little bit wider spray pattern.
13. Next Mike filled the airbrush with Transparent Oriental Blue and began spraying. Work

14. You can see how the black enriches the look of the blue and how the blue shades from darker blue to a lighter blue as it flows away from the black and towards the silver center.
14. You can see how the black enriches the look of the blue and how the blue shades from
15. Working on the outside of the tape, Mike sprayed a finer black line around the perimeter.
15. Working on the outside of the tape, Mike sprayed a finer black line around the perime
16. With the inside of the panel taped off, and one of the perimeter tape lines removed, Mike sprayed some transparent teal. One of the other benefits of the transparent colors is that it allows the metalflake to shine through.
16. With the inside of the panel taped off, and one of the perimeter tape lines removed,

17. Once again you can see how the black under the teal helps it develop a richer look, then the color fades out as it moves away from the black.
17. Once again you can see how the black under the teal helps it develop a richer look, t
18. Next, Mike used black to highlight the lines and contours of the tank.
18. Next, Mike used black to highlight the lines and contours of the tank.
19. Here’s a look at the black-out lines.

20. Closing in on finishing the base part of the project, Mike mixed up some Transparent Blue Kandy.
20. Closing in on finishing the base part of the project, Mike mixed up some Transparent
21. The entire tank was doused in Kandy except for the panel.
22. And here’s how it looked after four coats. While we didn’t cover every single step, this should give you a general idea of how this style paintjob can be done. Check back next issue as Mike applies details, such as hand-drawn artwork, silver leaf, airbrushing, and pinstriping, and we show you the finished bike.
22. And here’s how it looked after four coats. While we didn’t cover every single step, t