Longboard paintjob

So for my brothers birthday I thought I'd surprise him by having his longboard "stolen" and give it back to him on his birthday with a custom paint job. I tried to keep up with pictures as I was making it...so here we go

So I started with taking of the trucks and sanding of the old design (the old art was an attempt of my brothers with which he wasn't to happy with...so me taking it of is fine...right?)

Hand sanding with 100 grit sand paper...fun (took me about an hour)

I then proceeded to think up a design, something my brother would like. So let's see, he is starting high school, likes anime, ninjas, oh and lets not for get girls...aha...light bulb. Anime, ninja, assassin girl....thingy. Now that I have an idea, I started sketching

Started with a light pencil to sketch out the basic concept

Got the design how I liked it, so went over with darker pencil

I then had to start painting...now my experience with traditional painting is nothing short of lacking...so this was going to be interesting. To add to the challenge, I'm strapped for money...so no fancy paint or variety of colours (yes I spell colours with a u). I decided to go with acrylic paint, as it's fast('ish) drying and easy to manage. Due to budget constraints...I had 3 colours; Black and white (they are not colours) and then Red, Blue and Yellow. Prime colours go.

I started with the skin, moved on to the jacket, then the scarf, then pants & top and finally the hair.

So I kinda forgot to take pictures here so the most recent one was approx 1/3 through the painting process.

Started with basic colours and shading

Some more colouring...majority on the face and small details like sword and accessories

 After a few days for touching up here and there, getting the shading down to an acceptable point, I painted the peach blossoms in the background and started the out lining.

The end is nigh

2 days before my brother birthday, I finished it up. As a final touch I signed the bottom of the board (cause...you know...art) and sealed everything in nicely with Rust-Oleum Satin clear lacquer. I re-attached the trucks and waited for D-day.

The final product

 I wasn't there for his birthday (as he had his birthday on a Monday...and I was on campus) but was told he loved it (and was surprised...so success).

All in all, it was an interesting project. Took aprox 2 weeks to do, and the results looks pretty damn interesting (if I may say so myself)