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Cool and Collected

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March 26, 2015 By Brian 6 Comments

Airbrush art of the 80’s was chrome-tastic!

The 80’s was a decade of many things — excess, greed, and big hair, to name a few — but it was also the heyday for airbrush art. As a teenager in the late 80’s, I desperately wanted an airbrush so I could paint my favorite band logos on the back of my jean jacket, and maybe make some money on the side painting t-shirts and license plates. I thought those guys on the boardwalk selling custom shirts were gods — how could they produce such amazing works of art in just minutes?

metallica-ridethelightning

My graduation gift from high school was an airbrush and a compressor, which I hauled off to college and used in my 10′ x 10′ dorm room with zero ventilation. The air would be thick with ink and I’d be sneezing black goo for days on end, but it was worth it if I could one day make it to the big leagues and get my own vendor’s stall at the local mall.

patricknagel-art

My tastes became a little more refined as I got older. Patrick Nagel posters hung on the walls of my first apartment — definitely more upscale than those palm trees and sunsets I once adored. I never did get very good with the airbrush, probably because I was introduced to computer design in school, and found it much easier. My airbrush nozzles would constantly get clogged, and an inconsistent compressor made things difficult while the computer was easy, clean, and odor-free. I wish I kept at it, but it’s just one of those things that got left behind.

heavymetal

In the 80’s airbrush art was everywhere — movies, arcades, television, advertisements. Palm trees, cherries, triangles, cyborg women, sunglasses, grids, and lightning — lots and lots of lightning — could be found airbrushed in every magazine on the newsstand.

80sAirbrushedLogos

I always loved the chrome effect used in countless logos, and I still get a thrill when I watch an 80’s movie and a chrome logo comes on-screen — always on a black background, and usually with an awesome sound effect of metal hitting metal.yarsrevenge

A skilled artist can do things with an airbrush that just aren’t possible with other forms of painting — starbursts, layers, transparency, and speed lines like those the Yar’s Revenge box art — and just look at that metallic effect in the lettering!

powerrangers-super-megaforce

Today, you still find airbrush-inspired art in advertising that’s done digitally rather than with ink on paper. The digital art is a little too perfect though — the gradient blends are flawless, while an airbrush would give you the slightest inconsistencies that made it look more genuine.

farcry3-airbrush-art

It’s great to see homages to the 80’s such as this design by James White of Signalnoise for the Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon video game — chrome, check; grid, check; lightning, check. Yep, that’s the 80’s.

It’s unfortunate that the airbrush has been cast aside by many artists in favor of Photoshop or Illustrator. I keep telling myself that one of these days, I’ll dust off my old airbrush and give it another try. Maybe I’ll make t-shirts for everyone.

 

Filed Under: Art and Photography Tagged With: 80s

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Batfan says

    March 26, 2015 at 7:44 pm

    Big fan of the 80’s chrome.

    Nice round-up, Brian!

    Reply
  2. The Toy Box says

    March 27, 2015 at 7:25 am

    Dig all of this.

    Reply
  3. Er says

    March 27, 2015 at 9:13 am

    Its interesting to see when a new tool comes around and everyone is trying to experiment with it. Looks like the airbrush was to the 80s what the zoom lens was to the 70s.

    Reply
    • Brian says

      March 27, 2015 at 9:18 am

      Yep, and the 90s were filled with bad 3D computer design — bad now, amazing then! 😉

      Reply
  4. Wolf says

    April 3, 2015 at 9:25 pm

    Love the 1980s airbrush look. I’m still sad we don’t see it used anywhere near as often.

    Reply
  5. George (GI Jigsaw) says

    April 6, 2015 at 8:47 pm

    I always wanted Yar’s Revenge. No idea what the game was about but the artwork is always what caught my attention.

    I was a fan of Nagel as well. Still have his art book.

    Reply

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