Airbrush artistry: His canvas is all around

Jeff Hisey, 52, of Topeka, was bitten by the airbrush bug at 15 when he saw a man airbrushing T-shirts at a fair.

“I was amazed at how fast he could complete a painting,” Hisey said.

But Hisey would have to wait several more years before picking up the art form.

“Nobody around here was doing it, or, if they were, they weren’t teaching anyone,” Hisey said.

Hisey attended Cloud County Community College to learn commercial art. It wasn’t until age 26 that he started playing with airbrush. He is self-taught and started out painting T-shirts.

“I made a lot of crappy T-shirts,” he said, with a laugh.

Eventually, he became bored with that. Someone approached Hisey about painting a motorcycle helmet in 1994. He decided to give it a whirl.

“I contacted an airbrush artist on the East Coast and he explained how to do it,” Hisey said. “Once he explained it to me, it was game on.”

For the next 10 years, Hisey honed his skills on helmets, gradually building up enough confidence to move on to cars and motorcycles.

“I wanted my paint jobs to look extremely cool, so that I would see my work on the streets,” Hisey said.

Hisey created several murals for the walls of M&D Classics Storage, 129 N. Kansas Ave. Mike Fox, one of the owners, knew of Hisey’s talents because Hisey created the murals at the Celtic Fox, 118 S.W. 8th, which Fox owns.

“The more I’ve painted, the more technical I’ve gotten with my work,” Hisey said.

Airbrushing a helmet takes the artist about two weeks, he said, adding patience is key.

One of Hisey’s favorite pieces was a motorcycle he created for a Kansas State University alum. The Powercat symbol was turned into a skull with purple flames blazing off it, Hisey said.

“The lettering looked like raised metal,” he said. “It was probably the hardest one I’ve done.”

Hisey said his work comes through word-of-mouth exposure.

He has even taken to using his motorcycle as a canvas, spending more than 140 hours airbrushing it. He recently bought another motorcycle, which he plans to airbrush and sell.

“It’s a hobby,” he said. “There isn’t a surface I haven’t painted on yet. I’ve painted on ostrich eggs, people, helmets, bikes, cars and leather jackets.”

Anthony S. Bush can be reached

at (785) 295-1196

or anthony.bush@cjonline.com.