Well, as I await my disability retirement (hurry up!) I have explored another new hobby. Over the last year I have been practicing the wonderful art of pinstriping. I found that because my left arm is more often stiff as a board, it gives me pretty good control but only for a short time while my stimulator handles the pain. I can't make the elaborate turns and flairs that you see because my left hand cannot actually turn anymore like it used to. Even more fun is the fact I have to physically pry the brush out of my hand sometimes because I can't feel it but hey, it works! I had bought brushes here and there when I could afford it and practiced on a pair of old metal tables I have repainted about a dozen times, metal signs, whatever I could find. I had picked up a few books and watched more than a few videos and took lots of pictures of pinstriping at car shows. I finally got a small book, only about 50 pages from a guy who owns a hot rod shop and his lessons made the most sense, and the video I found that helped was an old Big Daddy Roth grainy VHS that was uploaded to digital of none other than Ken Howard, aka Von Dutch himself, the father of pinstriping. Howard's advice, and the fact that he kept it so simple did a world of good. So recently, I decided I need to stripe SOMETHING, so I decided my truck was as good a candidate as anything since someday I plan on repainting it anyways. So I did a little at a time, my hand tells me when its time to stop and I did around the outside. The truck is nicknames the Buzzard so I did sort of a bird on the hood and then went from there.
I did these on each side of the hood.
I don't know what to call these. This is what some call a Tiki or Tribal design, it didn't have the eyes and I decided it needed some teeth, and I was asked about it so I call it a Tiki Bob, I added one to either side in the same spot.
I did this one on the tailgate, it took three times to get it like this, my arm and hand weren't working that day. Imagine thinking your hand is doing "this" but you watch it do something else. That's what happens, with nerve damage you just lose control and when you do, there is no choice but to stop and hope it lets up.
There are a couple of things I want to do on the big empty looking metal dash and it is supposed to warm up some, so in between stints out in the woods I would like to give that a shot.