Close your eyes and imagine a radiant candy orange sports car glimmering at a car show. Now picture yourself in a gallery and you open your eyes to see the most beautiful sunset painting with a silhouette of palm trees in the background. Today I’m going to tell you how you can make a beautiful candy paint job. I’ve painted radiant red candy racing stripes on a dodge truck, blazing realistic fire, awe inspiring silhouette on tail gates, and relaxing beach sunset paintings on canvas. The one thing these all have in common is I used candy colors.

You will need a small list of art workshop supplies depending on what you want to paint. First with candy paint you need a base color. There is an unlimited combination of base colors but the three most popular are white silver and gold. For instance I mix white with a little yellow to make real flames, and if I want a light metallic candy color I use silver as a base and if I want a dark metallic candy color I use gold as my base. Candy colors and candy concentrates can be mixed with a transparent base, integrated clear coat or even regular clear coat. I don’t recommend using a regular clear coat because it is mixed with a catalyst or hardener which will shorten the life of the candy and must be used right away. House Of Kolor uses an integrated clear called SG100 which when mixed with the candy will still have a very long pot life because it does not use a hardener. House Of Kolor uses solvent based materials that work well but are toxic. If you want a similar product that is non toxic or a waterborne paint you should use Auto Air Colors products. Auto air colors uses a non toxic transparent base. When mixing your paints you will need to add a reducer to thin the paint to a desired level. Reducer usually comes in either fast medium or slow. Fast is a quick drying reducer that should be used when it is cold painting conditions. Medium is an average drying reducer approximately 70 degrees in painting area. Slow is a slow drying reducer that works well in hot painting conditions. Well now that you have a base color, candy colors, integrated clear, and reducer you can prepare for the next project.

You can paint on anything from t-shirts to canvases to automobiles. Candy colors can darken with more coats of candy so you will want to spray as consistent as possible to avoid a cloudy or blotchy look. When candy is sprayed correctly your beautiful paint jobs will stand out like a sore thumb. Almost any clear coat can be sprayed over your candy paint job. Can just anyone make a great candy paint job? No!, I’m just kidding. Anyone who is willing to put in enough time to read this article has the determination to to create an amazing candy paint job. Do you know what always makes me want to do something? When people tell me I can’t do that. It makes me want to prove that I can even more whether I originally wanted to or not. My only problem I have now is convincing people I’m the one who painted it. I remember shortly after I graduated high school I told my friend I want to paint a car and you know what he said?” You can’t paint a car.” After that I went to Sears bought an air compressor, a paint gun, bought a 1981 Z28 Camero project car, and some paint. Well unfortunately that project didn’t go so well but it did motivate me to go to college and learn the right way to paint cars and since then I’ve taken custom painting classes and now I teach custom painting.

Its my turn to teach you its never too late to learn. I’m telling you to get off your computer get some candy paint and lets go paint something. I love painting. In fact this week I ‘m going to paint a 1984 Toyota p/u. I wish it was a custom or a candy paint job but sometimes people want plain paint jobs too. For $25 per hour I teach airbrushing, painting or just about anything auto body related you want to learn.So if you have questions you can always e-mail me or come visit my shop. In just a few sentences I’m going to teach some tricks to help you along the road to your artistic side. I don’t care if you have never painted at all because now is the time you start and your going to be great.

Lets paint a nice sunset or beautiful silhouette. I’m going to paint a tailgate but you can start with a canvas or a piece of sheet metal if you want. first paint your background black or use a really dark color. second cut out a stencil or a paper of a tree, some grass, or even a elk or deer. There should be just an outline but no inside detail of these. Third place your stencils over the bottom of your project and spray a white over the sky area of the stencils. Fourth spray the painting with candy yellow followed by candy sunset leaving some traces of candy yellow. Finally spray some candy apple red leaving some traces of both the candy yellow and candy sunset. Protect your picture with a clear coat. Another tip to help you avoid runs is to paint with your project flat and help keep gravity on your side.With these 3 candy colors and white you can also paint some flaming hot realistic flames. If you would like to paint a complete vehicle keep your spray patterns consistent and evenly overlapped as possible. Painters make mistakes or sometimes get a run but with a little knowledge any of these can be fixed. Never be scared of a challenge but hit it head on and if you ever get asked “How can I make a beautiful candy paint job?” Tell them with candy paint, a base color, some transparent base to mix with the candy, reducer, a clear coat to protect it, and a little bit of knowledge to help you along the way.

Article originally published at Source by Joe Warner