Step 5: Now back to my over-reduce white mixture, I punch out all of the highlights and really bring the skull to life.

Step 2: (A) The skull is first sketched onto the surface with a white Stabilo pencil. (B) Then lightly traced with an over-reduced mixture of House of Kolor White basecoat. The skull is then cleaned once again with a wax and grease remover to remove any pencil lines.

Step 13: With the wet-sanding now complete, the body is buffed twice with a wool pad and polishing compound...followed by two more buffs with a foam pad and fine polish. Once the polishing is complete, the body is hit with a final hand glaze and viola, guitar #1 of a 10 guitar limited edition series in now complete!!!

Step 11: Now its into the spray booth. The guitars are hung from the ceiling of the booth to allow 360 degrees of  clearcoat coverage. After suspending the bodies, they are once again degreased to remove any impurities from the paint surface and any dust/lint is removed using a surgical-blue tac-rag. After which, 5 coats of Matrix MS-42 high-solids automotive clearcoat are applied, allowing 30 minutes of flash (dry) time in between coats.

Step 10: This step is almost unnoticeable in photos, but again, a very necessary step. This time I trace around the outskirts of the fire once more with the Cobalt Blue Kandy basecoat and then add a slight touch of Passion Purple pearl to the edges of the Cobalt. This finishes the airbrushing process at this point.

Step 9: Next, I mix up a strong batch a Oriental Blue Kandy using Oriental Blue Kandy Koncentrate and Intercoat Clear. This mix is a pure kandy mix.....it has no pearl mixed in. Using this blue, I layer on 3 good coats of kandy. This is what will give the piece its depth.

Step 8: Just when you thought we were done....its back to the white mixture. Using the over-reduced white, I trace over the hottest areas of the fire. This step not only adds definition and crispness to the fire, but its also plays a major role in the finished product as well. The opaque white base "cuts" the underlying blue pearl below. This is what will give the fire a "holographic" look in the end.

Step 7: Using Oriental Blue Kandy basecoat, I wash over all of my white fire tinting it to a blue mid-tone. I add a little touch to the eyes and mouth of the skull as well...this will give them a nice glow in the end, due to the pearl in the Kandy basecoat. Then, moving on to Cobalt Blue Kandy basecoat I trace over just the tips and edges of the flame work to deepen the blue. Although not very apparent in the photos, the combination of the different hues of blue adds a tremendous effect to the end product.

Step 6: Now the fun begins...it's time to set this sucker on fire!!! Using my white mix, I begin to add the foundation for the fire. Again, this is just a main road map for the fire itself.  All of the color and definition will come later.

Step 4: Next, I mix up a "cool" gray tone, using white with a couple drops of black and oriental blue kandy. This gray mix is then washed lightly over the entire skull...I use this color as a mid-tone for the piece. This will allow me to add crisp white highlights in the end. Moving on to my "shadow" mixture (beg all you want, I'm not coughing up the mixture...LOL), I begin to carve out the most prominent features of the skull, adding depth to the eye sockets, cheek bones, jaw, etc.

Step3: Moving back to my over-reduced White mixture, I begin to sculpt the main detail into the skull. This is only a ruff under-painting at this point, just to map out the main features of the skull. I'll come in over the next few steps to add detail and carve out the most prominent features.

Step 1: (A) First, the entire guitar is disassembled. All the pick-ups, knobs, switches, etc are removed and the guitar body is cleaned with a wax/grease remover. (B) After taping off all of the openings to avoid any overspray and unnecessary paint build-up, the body is wet-sanded with 1000 grit paper and all of the edges are scuffed with a red Scotch Brite pad to remove all of the shine in preparation for the airbrushing to follow.

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Step 12: After allowing the clear to cure for a couple of days, the guitar is then wet-sanded smooth with 2000 grit paper. In this pic, you can see that the half of the guitar with the skull artwork has already been thoroughly sanded back to a dull finish. The entire face of the guitar body will be sanded in the same manner before proceeding to the final step.