Written By Steven Craig
An Inside Look At
Coast Airbrush
is undoubtedly the most well known retail store on the planet when it concerns airbrush supplies. Coast Airbrush is more than a retail store, they are one of the largest advocates for the Kustom Kulture and are constantly working towards its continued growth.
The best way to describe the feeling an artist might experience when walking into Coast Airbrush for the first time is a feeling that is comparable to that of a child's first visit to Toys R Us. This was my second visit to Coast Airbrush and I was more impressed with the store than when I first visited a year ago. The scary thing is, a person could easily drop hundreds of dollars in a heart beat when visiting Coast. I know, I because did!
Dave Monnig, the owner of Coast Airbrush is a rare individual. He takes great pride in what he does and has a enormous amount of passion for the industry. What impressed me the most with Dave is that he comes out in the shop and talks with the customers. Dave is a hands on kind of person, he likes to get to know the artists and offers his assistance to them in any way he can. You are made to feel very comfortable and welcomed at Coast Airbrush. The entire staff goes out of their way to make your visit a very personable experience.
If you get the chance to go to Coast Airbrush make plans to spend several hours there. Once you set foot in the door you will get a feeling of "awe". You have seen all these products in advertisements, but not usually assembled together in one place.
You will feel your creative juices flowing as you examine each and every one of the artistic tools and canvas' that are available right then and there at your finger tips. Projects that you never even dreamed of doing will begin to flood your brain.
The first thing you see when entering Coast is the large House Of Kolor Scarab logo that stands like a sentry above the reception area. Everything within the building has an artistic flair,
right down to all the custom made furniture.
Before making your way down the isles of paint products, make sure to grab a shopping basket, you're going to need it. The paints are sectioned off by the manufacturer. Coast is fully stocked with paint products by House Of Kolor, Alsa, Createx, Auto Air, Com-Art and many others. The only thing that I saw lacking was there were no Xotic Colours
automotive airbrush paint kits.
What I really found exceptional was the fact that the staff has hands on experience with the products. In most cases, when you are inquiring about paint products you end up talking with a text-book salesperson that has never picked up a spray gun or airbrush in their life. The staff of Coast Airbrush are experienced in the use of all the products available there. Any questions you may have about any of the products will be answered by someone that has worked with them.
When I arrived at Coast Airbrush, Dave Monnig was busy doing an interview with staff from another magazine. He took the time to stop and say hello when he had the chance. I knew I would be talking with him more once he had finished so, I took this time to walk around to shop and take photos.
I've never been a huge fan of stencils but Coast has an entire wall that contains every stencil made, including Artool, Mike Learn, Rich Evans and Fonzy (Alsa). They even carry stencils made for Nail airbrushing and Temporary Tattoos. Like I said, I'm not into stencils but I found myself purchasing a few from Fonzy and Rich Evans to create some cool background effects.
Most of you that have visited their website www.coastairbrush.com may have browsed the online catalog. Everything displayed in the catalog is available on the shelves at Coast Airbrush. This is very uncommon these days as most suppliers drop ship the orders directly from the manufacturer.
Monnig has spent years making sure that Coast Airbrush carries every item that an airbrush artist may need.
I did some price comparisons while I was there and I have to say that Coast
really honors their statement that they will "Match or beat any advertised price." I know this is starting to sound like a promotional piece for Coast Airbrush but I can't help it, I was that impressed with the facility. Obviously I'm not the only one who feels this way. Artists like Noah, Mike Lavallee, Steve Vandemon, Blake McCully and Craig Fraser are among a long list of those that frequent Coast Airbrush. While I was there, Ryno from Trick My Truck dropped in.
What makes visiting Coast Airbrush even more exciting is that every available spot of the facility has been filled with artwork and completed projects from artists around the world. Throughout the entire store there are samples of artists work on panels and t-shirts hanging from every wall.
The store is virtually a Kustom Kuture art show. A person can spend hours alone admiring all the artwork and custom paint done by many of the top professionals.
The Coast Lounge is the center piece of the facility. There on display is custom work of every kind imaginable. In the lounge area is a custom painted vehicle and several motorcycles. Jet ski's, bicycles and even motorcycles hang from the ceiling.
The Lounge serves as the hot spot of Coast Airbrush, where you will find top name artists hanging out at any given time.
You will find everything imaginable that can be customized in the lounge area. All of which has been given to Dave and Coast as a thank you for his contributions made to the industry.
Showcased are several painted 3-D sculptures of Tiki's, Swordfish and full size Pinups (painted by Deborah Mahan), all of which are available
unpainted at Coast for you to let your own imagination run rapid.
Unfortunately, Dave was loading up to head to my neck of the woods (Lake Havasu) and had his Yamaha Rhino that was at SEMA (and is a center piece for the lounge) already in the trailer.
Dave finished up with his previous engagement and found me hanging out in the lounge. We chatted for some time catching up on all the resent industry gossip. After which, he took me on the grand tour.
We worked our way to the well equipped facility behind the store. This is where all the action really takes place. The first stop was the classroom where Coast host many instructional courses.
The fact that Coast Airbrush has in-house training courses is what sets them apart from the rest. Scheduled events have included such instructors like Vandemon, Mahan, Lavallee, Noah and Fraser. Classes that are available range from "Intro To Airbrushing" all the way through to "Fine Art and Illustration".
Next door to the classroom is a larger facility that contains a spray booth for
large, hands on workshops.
Jon Kosmoski, the founder of House Of Kolor, has in the past participated in hands on clinics held at Coast Airbrush.
Coast Airbrush's Classroom for Training Courses
Coast Airbrush was founded in 1989 by Frank Monnig. Frank worked for Pacific Airbrush for some time until following his own business instincts and starting up an own airbrush specialty store. Frank grew the business and with it came friends that supported him. Frank would let any airbrush artist display their work in the store if they were courageous enough to show it. After awhile a tremendous amount of Artist's began to hang their work and covered every square inch of the store. This created a sense of belonging and pride to returning artists to show off their work to friends or just to replenish airbrush supplies and see what other artists have added.
The experienced airbrush artists were willing to share tips & techniques with anyone interested in learning to airbrush and Frank initiated the 1st Annual Coast Airbrush Party........An event that started out in September 1990 as 15-20 airbrush artists showing off their talents and their artworks together under one big tent. A nominal cover charge let the public experience some of California's hottest and upcoming airbrush artists and a few star sightings. The Coast Airbrush Parties continued for the next 8 years and eventually got so big they had to move it to the O.C. Fairgrounds.
It was during the Coast Airbrush Parties that one could see Franks sons Dave, Doug and Chris helping out in the festivities. Franks sons initially saw the Coast Airbrush Store as somewhere they had to go as youngsters to work for free for dad. Dad, as they say, knows best and dad likes to Party!
Franks son Dave Monnig emerged to take on the reins of Coast Airbrush and had some of his own business ideas on how to run the show. Dave would bring the Coast Airbrush Party to a whole new level. Dave with his soon to be wife Raina and a lot of longtime friends from Coast would orchestrate these massive Coast Airbrush parties at nearby hotels. The event got so big that eventually they had to move the party to the O.C. Fairgrounds convention center.
year. What began as a party to showcase local talent has generated into a yearly event that attracts artists from every field. The show now draws venders, artists and patrons from around the world.
Dave has plans for expansion in the near future. He has recently obtained a large building across from Coast Airbrush that will set up as a retail store for his upcoming line of Kustom Kulture Klothing.
Coast Airbrush's
Kustom Kuture Shows
Dave moved Coast Airbrush to a huge warehouse just down the street and
painted the walls purple. To establish a new presence, Coast Airbrush held the 1st Annual Kustom Kulture Show. An event held in Coast Airbrushes backyard like the old time Coast Airbrush Party days but with a new twist.
Dave capitalized on the popularity of the new Monster Garage and the renaissance of the Kustom Klassics and invited the top automotive graphic artists and custom fabricators with impressive displays of show cars and motorcycles customized with phenomenal airbrush work and pinstriping.
The Kustom Kulture Show that began in 2002 continues to grow larger every
Jon Kosmoski instructing at Coast
Art donations to the Lounge.
The Kustom Kulture Show overflows onto the street behind Coast
The backlot of Coast Airbrush
Vehicles on display in surrounding parking lots.
If you ever plan to visit Coast Airbrush, try to schedule it around the Kustom Kulture Show. If you are traveling from any great distance this will make the trip well worth it. I would like to thank Dave for making my visits to Coast a lot of fun and for doing so much to promote our industry.
Coast is a candy store of paints.
Magazines and Books Galore
The collective energy and passion you can feel when you visit the store invoke confidence and creativity that you can do anything.
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