After lightly spraying the detail layer, the stencil can be removed. At this point, it would be a good idea to leave the original layer in place. The detail layer

This skull combines a variety of tech- niques including shadows, highlighting, sharp details and eyes made simply of circles.

might be used again and it is important to have the original layer to register to.

Using the base color (bone white) and the faint image left behind as a type of map, start free-handing the skull. Start airbrushing with a very loose feel. Don't be concerned at this point with making everything tight and detailed. At this stage, we just want to give the subject some substance off of which to work. These are the building block stages.

Afterward start shading with a darker mixture of the bone color. Keep it loose, but begin to tighten up just a little, being mindful not to completely cover the original white bone color.

The skull above shows a number of different effects you can achieve using stencils and imagination.

Unless Stephens is painting chrome or some other type of skull, he likes to paint a lot of thin tight lines following the contours of the skull. He calls this step "texturing." It is an optional procedure, but could be an opportunity to develop your own style and set yourself apart from the competition. It is an interesting technique providing a very organic look.

After the texturing stage, it is time to tighten things up, adding little cracks and other details to the design.

Skulls on the hood

Next reattach the detail stage for the purpose of spraying an even darker mixture. Almost black, but not quite. It should have enough of the previous coloring to give it a smooth transition into the piece and not muddy it up.

This is where the stencils really help out. It is difficult to color in the larger areas - in this case, the eye sockets - without leaving some overspray on the surrounding artwork. In this stage, only spray the the eye sockets and the inside of the mouth. Even though the mouth isn't a large area, spraying helps sharpen up the teeth, which is one of the more difficult steps to accomplish without these stencils.

With the detail stencil still attached, it is possible to even add eye balls. Do this either free-hand or, if you have trouble airbrushing perfect circles like most people, use a circle template. Just add a few more highlights and shadows where you feel applicable and we are pretty much done with our Huntington Beach Bodyworks stencil tutorial.

In conclusion, try experimenting with your artwork. Stephens has used these stencils to create just a few different styles of work, but really the possibilities are endless - piercing, horns, whatever. Make it your own and have fun.

Rich Evans, owner of Huntington Beach Bodyworks in Southern California, is an award winning painter and fabricator. Currently he is offering workshops at his facility so he can share his special techniques to other industry professionals. For more information about Evans, visit www.huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com.