To Stripe or not to Stripe - Jun 16, 2008

That is the question. Since I saw the ad on craigslist for my Caddy long before I owned her, I've wanted to see some green & white pinstriping on there. Something to tie that obscenely bright green roof in with the flat black body. I planned to just wait until I saw a striper who's work I liked at a local show & hire him to stripe it for me. Tonight while surfing the net I stumbled across an idea I hadn't thought of yet, vinyl decals that look like stripes. Seems like a decent option. We're talkin' 15 or 30 bucks, I know exactly what I'm getting, and its instant gratification. But I dunno, somehow, it just feels dirty.

So, while eating take-out with my girlfriend tonight I showed her some of the designs I found online & wanted her opinion. I explained I hadn't found exactly the design I want yet, so I grabbed a sharpie & started doodling on a to go container to try & show her the kind of stripe I was thinkin' of...and ya know what? I think I might hold off on buying stripes OR hiring someone, and just go buy me a brush & practice doin' it myself on every hard surface in the house until I can call myself a striper. It'll be a lot more fun, a lot more rewarding, and Betty (my Caddy for those who don't know her name already) will be more personal if I do it myself...so I'll spend at least the next few weeks practicing & see what I can come up with. Here's a picture of my first ever attempt at striping tonight. I think with some guide lines to keep it symmetric, some practice, and hmm...maybe a brush instead of a sharpie, I may be able to pull this off. It'll be fun tryin' anyway, and I promise not to touch a brush to the sheet metal 'til I'm sure it'll come out decent.