Lip Kit Pictures after Rubbing Compound

Lip Kit Pictures: After Rubbing Compound

As promised, here are those pictures of my one rear valence after being treated with the Rubbing Compound and Swirl Remover I had mentioned in my earlier post.

The Rear Valence on the left is not compounded, while the Valence on the right is compounded and the swirl remover was put on afterwards. The results are quite amazing!


Different shot of the Treated and Untreated Valence:


Close up of the Untreated Rear Valence:


Close up of the Treated Rear Valence:


An amazing difference. Wow!

Leave any comments of what you think.

Regards,
Michael Kralj

We Saw the Light - SOLD

Hello from sunny, dry Arizona! Please note I won't be able to ship paintings until I get home, June 5th. I apologize for this inconvenience!

Chaperoned

See, the flower and the apple are in love, but they can't be trusted alone, so the brown bottle is chaperoning. And what's the fork there for you ask? Uhhhh...

Body Lip Kit Painted and Installed

Body Lip Kit Painted and Installed

With the assistance of my father, I finally installed my OEM Lip Kit onto my car. The kit went on pretty easily, just took a little bit of time to complete. Here's the pics of the final results.

The day I installed it, without the car being washed:


Rear shot of the car with the kit:


I got to cleaning the car a few days later and look at her shine. The paint matches really well and looks great. Most people can't even tell I painted it myself, and said it looks like a great DIY job for a rattle can spraying.

Here are the pics:





This picture shows how truly great the paint match is for this DIY paint job.


I hope I have inspired some people to try such projects on themselves. With a little bit of time and patience, it will work out.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Learn to Buy a Used Car in the Car Buyer Guide Blog.

Wet Sanding Preparation

Wet Sanding Preparation

So here I started the project of Wet sanding after work and between the days of rain. Here you will see the pieces prior to wet sanding, and afterwards to see how far you may want to go with the Wet Sanding process. Here the front lip and rear valences have been completed.

OEM Acura Front Lip in Burning Red Pearl before sanding:


My weapons of attack: Wet Sand with 320 grit and 400 grit wet / dry sandpaper


Here is an up close shot of the Front Lip paint Untouched:


Here is the Front Lip all sanded with white residue from the wet sanding (it is white because of wet sanding the clear coat, making it turn white.


Here you see a picture of the rear valences untouched:


And here I have completed sanding one Rear Valences and the other one is not:


Closer shot of one piece sanded and the other one not:


Here are both valences sanded:


The side skirts will be sanded as well, and then I will move on to priming the Kit with the Duplicolor Black Primer.

Also, look for an article here describing the process of Wet Sanding to come.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Learn about Car Detailing in my other blog.

Nothing To See Here

What are these sneaky flowers doing with this innocent apple? The flowers look sweet but their showiness is suspicious to me. Why are they making so much noise, I wonder. And what does the plate have to do with it all? Hmmm....

Dinghies - SOLD

I snapped this photo in Maine last year. For most of my time there it was gray and drizzly, but we got one morning of sunshine and I took advantage of it.

My friend Tricia took photos at the party last night and has kindly shared them with me. I just posted them here on my Studio blog.

Kid Paint - SOLD

I set my son up to paint the other day with some watercolors. When he was done he brought me the little bowls to wash, which all had just a tiny bit of paint left over. It suddenly occured to me - dude, these are cool - I could paint these! Duh. Sometimes the coolest stuff is right in front of me and I don't even think to paint it. I vow to keep my eyes more open.

Keaton - SOLD

Happy Mother's Day to all you fellow mom's out there! This is a painting I did last week of my nephew, Keaton. When Keaton was two I was watching him one day and he saw some ant bites on my son's legs. He said "what happened?" I said, "oh, he got bit by some ants." He thought for a few minutes and then said "Aunt Carol bites?" I still get a kick out of that. I hope Keaton's mom is having a wonderful day!

Let Us In Already - SOLD

The dogs above belong to my stepdaughters and their mom. Maya, the star, proved very photogenic. Can you tell it's hot already here in Texas?

But not tonight. Tonight, for my party, the weather was perfect! Cool and dry. I gave my husband the task of taking pictures and unfortunately he took VERY few and only of just a few of our visitors (I mean, where am I, David?!), at the beginning of the evening. I guess he was too busy visiting. I want to thank all of you who came, and all who wrote wishing you could come. It means a lot to me to be surrounded by such kind, supportive folks. And no, this is not just the wine talking. : )

Yellow Scattered - SOLD

Lately I've switched pretty exclusively to the Ampersand gessoboards. I personally LOVE the smooth surface (though it took some getting used to and does NOT work well with bristle brushes, in case you want to try them out). I've got a bunch of Raymar panels in varying sizes that I'd like to replace, so I am offering them for half what I got them for. I don't want to mess with shipping them, so I'm hoping I'll have some takers at my party tomorrow. They're great panels, especially for starting out. I used them for years, and was always very happy with both the panels and the service at Raymar.

Sittin in the Shade - SOLD

This is another car scene from the Gold King Mine in Jerome, AZ.

You're So Transparent - SOLD

The whole title for this painting is: "'You're So Transparent,' Said the Apple". My husband really came through for me tonight. I knew there was something obvious to name it, but the naming center in my brain is currently overloaded and malfunctioning.

Tomorrow my fam is flying to Sedona for 3 days of r&r before my workshop starts on Monday. As usual I painted ahead so will post whenever there's time and internet.

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, we just put up a critique section on the Daily Paintworks website. If you have a painting that you need some advice on or ideas for, and/or if you have some opinions for other people, please take a look.

What's the Secret? - SOLD

Sometimes it is such a relief to return to something familiar. For me that's apples. Someday I'll actually count how many I've painted, but for now lets just say - lots! So when something else isn't working out and I'm feeling frustrated, I give myself a little confidence boost by painting something I know well.

Easter Bunch - SOLD

I took my son, Jacob, to an easter event in our small town a few weeks ago. It was overcast for most of the time, but I just couldn't resist snapping a few shots of these 3 girls. They went everywhere together. And those bunny ears ...

Odd Company - SOLD

I've been saving this very cool green bottle for the perfect moment. It was a gift from a student, and I am very grateful to add it to my collection. Thank you!

Value Study - SOLD

This is my example painting for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge! It's a value study and I've arranged it so I have a dominant value (value that takes up the most room in the painting), a secondary value, and a smidge value (smallest amount). Dominant = mid value, Secondary = light, and Smidge = dark. See the value challenge to learn more.

Empty Pool - SOLD

The pool I've been lazing around this afternoon was, thankfully, NOT empty. But there were stripes on the towels. : ) Tomorrow is the first day of my workshop here in Sedona. Updates soon ...

Egg-centric - SOLD

This workshop (in Atlanta) had the complete opposite space issue than the one previous to it - we had more than enough. So much I had to whistle sometimes to get their attention. In the photo below you can see the space I used for demos in front, and all my kids ranged throughout the room.

Below are my demos from class, including one where they took bets to see how few strokes I could use to paint a pinky/red knockout rose. I think the total was 47 (for those in the know, please correct me if I'm wrong).

Here are of my few kids looking awfully serious. This was during the 5-minute value exercise, so they were concentrating, understandably.

And here is the whole, silly group! I told the one hiding I wouldn't call her out on it, so I won't. And I'm not one to break a promise. Nope, not a peep from me. I won't even mention it.

It was a great 3 days!!

All About Me - SOLD

nfs

I thought I'd drop into cyber-world for a minute today to post my self-portrait for the Daily Paintworks "All about Me" Challenge! I've been teaching the last couple of days and as usual am completely exhausted at the end of each day. Thank goodness for wine is all I can say. But, about this painting above, I was outside one day taking pictures of my paintings for my blog and I thought, maybe we should have a self-portrait challenge - I think I'll take a picture for my reference. So I turned my camera around, clicked off a few of my most normal faces, and painted my favorite. I'm quite happy with the result. I think I'll hang it on the wall in my studio as a reminder to never take myself too seriously!

Pile of Sweet - SOLD

You've heard the deal about ... if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be. Well, 2 of my top choices, both still alive, would be Karin Jurick and Neil Hollingsworth. So tonight's dinner was a dream come true! I forgot my camera or else I would have gotten a picture with them to prove it. Two of the nicest, most down to earth people in the world, and both AMAZING artists!! I am so lucky.

Bowls Four Breakfast - SOLD, & workshop photos

I'm workin' 'em hard here in Sedona - crackin' the whip. At the end of each day they whimper and cry and slink away, but they always come back for more. I'm sure it's my charm. Below are a few photos, minus the whip ...

Upon Closer Inspection - SOLD

Somehow we made it through the mid-week slumps - ok, so I had to threaten time-outs a few times - but we made it. And I saw some real breakthroughs, which for a teacher is the best feedback I could receive.

DAILYPAINTWORKS update: We will be opening the site up for general membership (on the all artists & today's art pages, & your own gallery/store page (see mine), for $9.95/mo) with access to auctions (free up to 4th re-listing, then 50 cents & 3% of winning bid) on June 14th. Read more about it.

For Me? - SOLD

So my class here in Sedona finished up yesterday. My husband and son went with me, and I got a photo from the night we all went out to dinner together. Who's the star here?

Below is one of my demo paintings from last week (sold). A couple of my students found these at a local thrift store. One even wore them ... but could only stand a few minutes of the torture. But they made for a fabulous still life setup.