Learning How To Learn Pinstriping
One of the most valued lessons I�ve learned does not have anything do with the act
of pinstriping but rather how to go about learning to pinstripe. Mitch Macial, aka
AlteredPilot, started a thread over at SketchKult.com that stressed the importance
of not just learning to do something the right way, but the right way of learning
to do something. Here Mitch�s post nearly in its entirety. I would suggest that
you read it and take it to heart as I have. I�d also encourage you to follow the
link at the bottom of the page and visit the full thread over at SketchKult.com
to see the responses this thread got.
Have you ever been in church and felt like the preacher was talking right at you.
That�s the best description I can find to explain how I felt when I first read this
post. Convicted, guilty as charged and ready to reassess the situation.
Maybe Mitch�s post hit me harder than others because, believe it not I once thought
I wanted to be a tattoo artists, many, many years ago. Not too many people know
this about me because it�s not something I�m proud of. Regretfully I took the wrong
approach to learning. When I was still in high school, I took it upon myself to
learn the art of tattooing. Before I knew it I had a steady stream of willing subjects
ready to let a misguided kid permanently brand their bodies with ink. Yes, I had
way too much unsupervised free time as a kid.
I thought it was fun and cool, and I thought I was on track to becoming a professional
tattoo artist until I started going around town to tattoo shops trying to get an
apprenticeship. I was surprised that not only were doors being slammed in my face,
but I got the impression that most of them would have liked to take me out in the
parking lot and teach me how take a punch. I didn�t understand it at the time, but
now I realize that what I was doing was terribly damaging and disrespectful to the
art form these people had dedicated their lives to.
By trying to rush into the craft I was not only damaging my own reputation, but
also damaging public perception of the craft as a whole. Endangering the livelihood
of professional craftsmen is no way to begin your journey to becoming a professional.
I�m not going to make the same mistake with pinstriping as I did with tattooing.
I�m going to take it slow, honor the traditions of pinstriping, and the mentors
I meet along the way.
Thank you Mitch for the knowledge you�ve shared with me and for allowing me to share
you post on my website.
You can read the rest of the thread by following this link:
http://sketchkult.com//phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6014
Also check out Mitch�s portfolio here:
http://www.pinheadlounge.com/mas
" I still have that tattoo you gave me back in 1992. Know anyone who can finish it? LOL!!"
4/19/2007 9:54:54 PM
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Matt Ayalla
"Hey Matt, I'd suggest you go to see the Chris Harness at the Electric Chair or McFail at Artists At Large. They're right next door to one another so you should let them both take a look and see what they can do for you. Ron Dolecek is also an amazingly talented tattoo artist so check with him over at The Lucky Devil. I'm sure they've all "finished" some of my work already. Give me a holler some time."
4/20/2007 2:11:57 PM
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Rocky Jr
"Ya, I have been to church and feel like I have been the one he was talking to, I also wanted to be a tattoo artist. I have wanted to learn to pinstrip since i was a kid, well yesterday was my 39th birthday and my wife bought me a pinstrip kit. after reading your web page i feel as if i am begining a walk down the yellow brick road, and I am not scared to learn. thanks for you page.
Pablo"
12/20/2007 7:48:49 AM
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Pablo
"Thank you for taking the time to write this it is encouraging to know I still fall in the 99%. I also want to say I agree, It is not easy to get some one to teach you or ven get pointers."
8/27/2008 11:35:29 PM
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Tim
"hey im saw this car and i loved how they pinstripe looks. do u kno how i can learn to do that? thanks"
9/7/2008 12:12:09 AM
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Caitlin G.
"i started hand lettering. then went to the vynil age opening a shop doing nothing but race cars... after 5 years a boy who worked for me stole my designs. as he went out on his own his work stunk...deystrying my designs...so as i write i have decided to go old school...picking up some brushes and paint...nobody can steal my designs from my head...an only with true practice with many hours of painting will i be able too stripe...thanks this article was a godsend..."
10/21/2008 4:47:06 PM
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ronjovi
"Hot Damn! It's like the words were stolen out of my mouth. I grew up around tattoos, spent most of my childhood drawing and listening, and finally got to serve a true apprenticeship. Not because I asked, but because I spent every minute I could at the shop, with my mouth shut, helping anyway I could. And that usually meant cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing floors, and kissing a lot of ass. Once my apprenticeship started (at the cost of a couple of thousand $), I moved up to the exciting stuff, scrubbing tubes and making needles. About 6 months into that I laid my first line. On my self. Now, it seems like every shop in Portland, OR has ten apprentices hanging out, getting no real one-on-one training (or floor scrubbing experience), and popping out and opening their own shop after just a hundred or so working hours. Drives me mad."
12/1/2008 12:45:28 PM
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Dutch Sutton
"That has got to be the most patronizing string of characters I've seen in a long time. Instead of encouraging individuals to try their hand at creating some art and perhaps allowing some more people to understand how difficult the craft must be, Mitch and the quoting author have relieved themselves to be shallow and self righteous. Not every sculptor has to be Michelangelo, and not every inventor da Vinci. You use the argument that mediocrity should not be encouraged, and I agree one should strive for the best in one's profession. However, a diversity of experience makes one a whole and understanding person. With this attitude of defeatism and hording of talent no wonder your craft is dieing. I may never be a "pinstriper" but no one can stop me from grabbing a brush and trying."
6/5/2009 6:36:50 PM
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Mike
"I have to admit that I will be falling into the not putting my time in catagory but at the same time I'm only trying to do this for myself and NO ONE else. I'm redoing my headliner and want it striped but I want to be the one to do it. And yes, I will not try to do it on someone else's vehicles for the reasons that are stated above. I've been doing art for over 30 years and as with tattooing, striping, and whatever else takes a hands on approach I agree you have to put in time and learn all you can from wherever and whoever you can. I've seen too many people in art alone that pick up a sketch book and a week later they call themselves an artist. WRONG!!! You're not! A few weeks down the road and it will probably end up in a corner some place collecting dust because it's "too hard". The same goes with striping and tattooing I'm sure. Yes, the internet will help me complete my headliner because of sites like these but in the end they will not make me a pinstriper to any degree and that is fine. As I said, it's for me.
Mike get a clue, it's not about not doing something creative but pursuing a craft in the right way if it's what you really want to do. You don't go out and build houses just because you can use a hammer. The same rules apply here and every other form of art. There's more at stake than just you and what you can do. You have to look past that and realize there is an industry behind it filled with pride and tradition. Not just striping but any kind of creative field. Striping, painting, sculpture, tattooing, cartooning, whatever. You have to respect the past in order to have a future.
There is one more thing I would like to add, as much as there is to learning a craft and putting in your time you also have to realize that you never really stop learning. There's always something that comes up that can make you better or expand the things you do. Once you think you know it all it's time to pack it in because at that point you are refusing to learn and grow and constant learning and growth are keys to success.
Sorry this is so long,
Great site, and thanks much for the info!!!!! "
7/19/2009 6:04:31 AM
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Steve Walker
"That was an entirely unnecesarry article, you are basically telling everyone that people are lazy and only a few are better than most, and you are one of them? wtf?!"
11/15/2009 5:34:50 PM
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dan
"SIMPLY PUT.....WELL WRITTEN,WELL PUT!"
11/18/2009 3:59:08 PM
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MATT III