Auto Becomes Art

Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood just northeast of the city of Pittsburgh is where an upstart airbrush artist has built a budding business putting out some of the best artwork on parts from all around the country. His studio, which he renovated himself, is an homage to his passions in life and setup to efficiently put out professional work in a home environment. Through countless hours of trial an error he is becoming one of the best in the business through his artwork on everything from valve covers to speed boats (note: he does not want to be known as the valve cover guy). However our story doesn’t start in a beautiful studio in his basement but rather with a mid 2000s comical Volkswagen commercial...

Back in 2006 Volkswagen created a series of ads featuring Peter Stormare, aka the Russian cosmonaut from Armageddon, called “Un-Pimp My Ride.” A German car doctor and his, uhhhh racy assistant, were featured mocking the import car scene of the early 2000s while eventually destroying these cars and pushing them to the side for a “German tuned,” automobile. If you’re too young or have never seen these ads I urge you to YouTube these immediately, they are hilarious and still quite relevant, plus you’ll enjoy the range of a Swedish actor doing a German accent! Why did I just give you a history lesson on a random commercial from the mid 2000s…because advertising works and the sole reason for John to purchase the hero car from the commercial, a 2008 VW GTI.

Starting with a bone stock vehicle, John knew he wanted upgrades however did not want to compromise the integrity or drive ability as it was still under warranty and making payments. Like many tuners the first thing is getting the stance right and John threw on a set of mild lowering springs and struts. He rode around on the setup for a month until him and his cousin came up with the idea to put it on air ride…bye bye warranty. The body needed some massaging to get the VW to sit as low as possibly which meant notching the frame and cutting a few pieces. This made room for the tires to be shoved inside the wheel well. The air system is all nicely tucked under the rear hatch floor with only half of the air tank showing. This was intentional to highlight some finely done airbrush making it look like an old pirates keg! The car rides on OZ Ultraleggera 18” matte black wheels that cover up a beautiful big break kit. The reason for all the additional stopping power is from a Revo Stage 2 tune and basic power adding bolt ons. All of this is ironic because as John puts it “I’m a slow driver and honestly I should have a muscle car.” (muscle car guys punching the air right now)

Next, John focused his attention on the body where his keen eye for art really came in handy. He started by looking at the factory moldings that run down the side of the car and decided those needed to go. At this time in his life John knew nothing about body and paint work and found out how expensive body modifications can be. So instead of shelling out his money John decided him and his friends would tackle the project and invest the money in honing their own skills. Through countless hours of sanding and prepping, front bumpers, doors, fenders, side skirts and a roof John learned the basics of how to prep and paint a car correctly. Now the car dons shaved moldings, cleaned up Votech front lip and side skirts, black roof, Wolfsburg Edition Jetta front grill.

John struggles to figure out what to do with the car next, some days he wants to sell it, some days he wants to go wild and airbrush some custom artwork. But being the artist he is, John believes that a simple chrome wheel swap and some BMW style blue tint will be the next version of the car…I personally love the cleanliness of the car and agree keeping the car simple will only add to its curb appeal.

So how did the GTI inspire him to become the airbrush master that he is today? For starters John went to school for graphic design and has painted on traditional canvas and paper for years. One day he posted up on Facebook that he was interested in airbrush and before you knew it a buddy sent him a cheap airbrush he had lying around. This is about the same time he started the body mods on the GTI and beginning to learn the automotive paint process. John started with cheap craft store paint, spray can primer/clear coat and Walmart epoxy on valve covers. Before he knew it the Honda community embraced his artwork and became the go to for valve cover design. John admits he did not set out to be the valve cover guy, and while he loves doing them, does not want to be known for strictly those parts! The piece that put him on the map was a K-series valve cover painted to mimic a Cookies and Cream Hershey bar (my personal favorite in the Hershey lineup).

After the Hershey valve cover blew up he continued to progress and stepped up to more professional products. John then started experimenting with texture specifically wood, which explains the air tank in the back of the GTI. Texture is one of the three elements John needs for a nicely done airbrush piece, the other two are depth and contrast. When all three of these elements are put together on a well thought out medium, John can ensure a great outcome for the customer. John explains that all of the upfront work especially managing customer expectations is the most difficult. Once there is a mutual plan in place for the piece John can start his work.

For John he likes to keep things simple and likes to manage customer expectation before the part is ever in his hand. John explains, “people seem to think you have an airbrush…and the airbrush is magic.” However that’s far from the truth, when John is setting up a job he takes shape of the object, placement of the art work and the three dimensional view into consideration. There are many times where what the customer wants and what is actually possible are two different things. John talked during the podcast about placement and how items like valve covers have holes and valleys that may be right in the way of an eye or face. The distortion of the piece might not make for a good finished product therefore the amount of problem solving John encounters makes every job challenging.

In the early days John was being paid in parts and cleaning supplies. Starving artist just isn’t a term thrown around lightly in John’s studio and has worked extremely hard on the business front to ensure that his art will be worth while. In his early days he learned the real cost of body shop work and how this was cutting into his bottom line. John reports that 80%-90% of the parts that come to him need some type of body work. Instead of sending parts off to a body shop he decided to learn how to properly strip, prep and paint to boost his bottom line in some cases 50%. By building his own studio he has the ability to do the entire process under his roof cutting down the timeline to finish a piece. He credits a customer of his who owned a local construction business for teaching him how to properly price out a job and run his business more efficiantly.

It just so happens that construction owner happened to commission John’s favorite piece he’s ever done. The project was a 42 ft. speed boat commissioned by a local construction company owner who came to John wanting a mural of his favorite pieces of heavy equipment. The CAT theme has seven pieces of equipment that create a mural around the boat including textures making the boat look like its ripping through the water. The big challenge was ensuring the piece was detailed enough for the customer while still looking great while the boat is speeding by at a distance…and this thing can speed with 3 supercharged 454 big block motors. He started in photoshop and used a light box to transfer the line drawings onto the boat before he started airbrushing. John would work his 8 hour day at his normal job, drive an hour and work on the boat for around 3-4 hours. In all it took John 300-350 hours to finish the project and judging from the pictures it was all worth it.

For John his respect, honesty and integrity for each piece ensures that his customers are satisfied 100% of the time. John treats it like a trade rather than a creative outlet and constantly works to better himself and his craft. His unique style has made him one of the go to guys in the Pittsburgh area for custom automotive art. John would like to get more into the motorcycle scene to do some larger pieces but he won’t turn down a valve cover, remember not the valve cover guy. If you want a piece done by him hit him up on instagram @kokenda_kustoms or on Facebook at John Kokenda. The biggest piece of advice he gave was to be patient. John works a normal job in a warehouse and only does this after his day is over. I personally can’t wait to see what he comes up with next and who knows I might need to commission him for a piece myself!