theres a little saying I like to keep reminding myself that I learned long ago in Alcoholics Anonymous, "Keep It Simple" and I try to apply it to alot of things in life in 1 way or another....including striping.

For a long time I had problems keeping my patterns and designs symetrical, i.e. even on both sides for match up; and for a kid with blue hair coming up in the pre-hippness rebirth of Ratrods, the old time greasers/Kustomizers wouldnt give up 1 iota of info, and tell me kindly to Fuck Off...leaving me with frustration and a box full of french curves and china markers, and more frustration.

One afternoon at a friends house, I noticed his little kid making snowflakes out of paper; folding the paper and cutting it, thus creating a facsimile of what was on the other side.

EUREKA!

I picked up some tracing paper, folded it, did up a design, folded the other side over, retraced it, opened it and VOILA! SYMMETRY!
FREE AT LAST!

Then came the transfer problem. Carbon paper was the logical choice at the time, but after trial and error, I figured out that a wax based product tended to either leave holiday marks in the paint, or a ridge...

SO i soon found out about an indispensible product on the market called SARAL PAPER..available at most art supply stores. Its graphite based and has been used for years by stripers and artists for easy and clean design transfers; and you use it the same way as Carbon Paper.....

i like to lay out a rough grid or at least even limit lines with a grease pencil or chalk using a flexible steel rule on curved objects. usually a centerline and a line or two to the left and right then maybe a perpendicular line or two somewhere in the middle. then i freestyle the artwork line by line eyeballing using the grease lines as a guide. when i'm don't and the stripes have cured (usually the next day) i wipe the grease off with a paper towel.

the hard part is leaving negative space with each color when doing bi and tri color designs. keep it simple.

oh yeah and drink straight liquor about 5 minutes before and during the striping. steadies the hand and relaxes you.

I tried striping after partaking in some ganj and sat there for 4 hours going nuts.The next day I was like "What the fuck...."

Great info on all these discussions. Still a FNG (Fucking New Guy), but any tips help. Like you (Joe) mentioned in another group discussion, any help is amazing, and hard to come by. Thanks for your tips. Once my base is down on my tank and fender this month, I'll get some strips on it and post it. Maybe you guys could hook me up with some constructive criticism.

anytime...any questions, feel free to call....530 205 9009.

I had to pick up a day shift at a local restaurant cause the weather is bad right now, and I dont have a garage..so Im doing just bike stuff now that can be lugged up into my apt. and painted...