Mark Daehlin has been airbrushing both fine and commercial art for 14 years, primarily on T-shirts at tourist attractions in Florida and California. Most recently, he has managed stores and painted shirts in West Coast Airbrush mall outlets in Indiana and Illinois. He is now the head instructor for West Coast Airbrush's monthly advanced professional training seminars in Mattoon, Illinois. He is constantly working to give his many students all the help possible in starting their own lucrative airbrushed T-shirt businesses.

Daehlin studied fine art painting at two liberal arts colleges. Despite that, and having drawn since early childhood, he claims, "I learned more in my first two years of working than I did during my entire formal education." Daehlin is very experienced with standard designs that are the bread and butter of the T-shirt painter's arsenal. However, he also loves a challenge and really enjoys the airbrush as a highly versatile tool. "When you use it correctly, the airbrush can truly be an extension of your thoughts. You still have to clean it, change colours, and deal with repairs," he observes, "but with enough experience and by focusing on the inner aspect of drawing and painting, it can be almost effortless. This doesn't happen overnight, but if you commit to learning the craft and put in the time necessary, then by focusing your inner vision on the finished image and getting out of your own way, it will develop almost of its own accord."

Despite this "inner" approach to the act of drawing, Daehlin has developed a variety of tracks and techniques for speeding up the custom art process. "As with any other aspect of this business, like it or not, the faster you can produce a large number of shirts, in a variety of formats, the more people you can serve," asserts Daehlin, "and the more income you'll bring to the store."

Painting pet portraits fits well with Daehlin's style, a hand-drawn approach with lots of fine lines and delicate detail work. It can also be very lucrative in a T-shirt shop, as many animal lovers will jump at the chance to have their pet on a shirt. It is a sizable market, but you have to market the concept vigorously and allow word of mouth (very important with animal people) to take effect. In all of his stores, Daehlin displays detailed horse, cat, and dog portraits and promotes them aggressively whenever people inquire. Frequently, those samples are rotated through the front window display.

The personal touch is important when selling, notes Daehlin. "When customers notice the display, I don't assume they understand how the process works. I talk to them, show them that I can do any breed, any color, and so on. If they haven't got any photos, I show them the many animal reference books I keep on hand. Often they will want to bring photos so that I can capture their particular pet's personality. That may be a smoke screen, so I usually stress that it is easy to use my photos and simply add their animal's distinguishing marks. If they insist on bringing their own photos, I politely agree that is a good idea and I'll look forward to seeing it and helping them." Daehlin stresses that the soft-sell approach is usually best. "Sometimes it takes two or more visits to make the sale. Give them a card. Show them lots of photos of your best work. Sell yourself. They are buying you as much as the work you'll do for them. Trust is important. They need to feel confidence in you before entrusting their precious pet's image to your care. Chat about their animal, its strong points and personality. Let them know that you know what you are talking about. Read up a little in the general-purpose magazines and the reference books you find in the bookstores. The more you speak their language and seem to share their interests, the more they'll trust you."

Pricing is relative to the time and energy he puts into any customer job. Daehlin claims that most freehand portraits of animals run $30 to $40, depending on the time it takes. "If it's a slow day and I really want the sale, I may dicker a little," he admits. "But do so cautiously. Explain that you are reducing the price for a good reason-you've got a stencil already prepared, or the customers are buying more than one, or the animal markings are simple to draw. Make it clear that the bargain is for today only. Don't just drop the price, or they'll think your work isn't worth that much after all. If they try to talk you down further than you are comfortable with, politely refuse. They'll respect you more and may come back anyway. Many people like to dicker over everything. Don't compromise your worth unless it feels right at the time."

Daehlin increases sales of horse portraits through the use of standard stencils. A head shot of a standard quarter horse looks enough like the majority of popular breeds that he can usually make a sale with it (you could also have an Arabian horse picture and cover that market as well). He simple puts the individual colours and markings on the customer's animal on the stencilled picture. Because that requires a lot less work than starting from scratch, he usually charges $20 to $30, depending on markings and background.

Daehlin advises caution and patience. "Rome wasn't built in a day. If you are not an experienced draftsperson, be patient with yourself and keep at it. Successful results take practice and familiarity, and the market demands fairly good anatomy. Working on one's drawing skills and techniques is a lifelong process. Enjoy the process; do the work primarily because it's fun, and your energy and motivation will be greatly enhanced. There are no limits to the marketing you can do also. Make stencils for Arabians, draft horses, and other breeds if you like.

"With time and exposure, your audiences will find you. Consider speeding the process with direct mailers to local horse associations or displaying your art in tack and saddle and western shops or at the local vet's office. You are limited only by your imagination and your willingness to try and try again. Above all, have fun!"

Step 1
First find a clear, sharp image of the animal, taken at an angle that you think is attractive and would enjoy painting. My most popular reference photo for horses is one of a quarter horse at a front three-quarter angle. This shows off the front and side to advantage and also fits the area of a T-shirt nicely. Then either trace or project a clear line drawing onto poster board or your stencil material of choice. Draw only the lines you intend to cut, so as to get a sense of how it will look. Nonessential shading is simply confusing at this point.

Step 2
Cut out the entire eyeball area and the dark area inside the nostrils and ears. Cut narrow, tapered lines (about 1/8 to ¼ inch thick at their thickest points) for the jaw line, mouth and outlines of the mane and forelock. Then cut out the entire head from the background, thereby producing a positive and negative stencil.

Step 3
Decide where on the shirt the horse's head should be (centred, offset, etc.); then spray a repositionable adhesive onto the background stencil and place it on the shirt. Press the edges down well with your fingernail for a good seal. Then place the head stencil without adhesive into its hole in the background stencil.

Step 4
Spray the black or darkest areas first, holding the head stencil in place with your fingers. Spray the ears and nostril shadows darkest at top and fade down. Block off the upper half of the eye's pupil with your fingernail or a curved stencil and spray the lower half black. Then spray a soft arc of black or dark gray at the top. Remove the head stencil and adhere a torn paper stencil over the "star" on the horse's forehead. Then spray in the horse's base color. Spray the color on smoothly, but vary its density to indicate light and shadow. Also, fade the color away at the bottom of the neck so that there's no stencil line there.

Step 5
Usually the color is darker at the edges and under the jawbone. Mottled colors are made possible by turning the air pressure down very low, producing a splatter effect. On many horses, the hide is darker around the eyes, ears, and snout. Add these details and shadow under the cheekbones and on the neck with gray or black, or use dark brown if it is a brown, buckskin, or roan animal.

Step 6
Now it's time to paint the background. Spray the (positive) head stencil with adhesive and place it inside the (negative) background stencil as before. Holding it firmly in place, carefully remove the background stencil.

Step 7
Spray a blue halo background, using a scalloped poster-board mask to block off the clouds. Let the mask move a bit as you spray so as to achieve a softer edge. You can enrich the clouds' shadows with magenta or purple. When working on a darker short, apply some white to the background before adding the blue halo and clouds. You may also wish to paint rolling hills of green and trees if you like. Many people also like to include the animal's name in the painting. The freehand details and highlights are the icing on the cake. Paint the mane and forelock with a combination of fine and bold lines using natural, flowing, curved strokes that taper at the end. Using more than one color here can give a richer look. If you have extra time, you can draw an outline tracing around the head for a classical "drawn" look. This option is up to you.

Step 8
If the horse is a neutral gray or silver, then overlapping layers of cool and warm colors over the gray lends a silvery appearance. Finally, pick out a few white highlights in the eyes and add a bit of shine on the high spots of nostrils, eyebrows, and neck muscles. A soft, light spray of white on the forehead and cheekbone adds a nice touch. (A little white goes a long way, though you'll use more on lighter-colored horses.) Et voilà! A beautiful rendering sure to send the local horse folks galloping back for more.