Stanley Steamer & The Airbrush

Though Abner Peeler invented the first airbrush device, which he called the "paint distributor," it was Francis Edgar Stanley who patented the first airbrush pistol in 1882. Stanley, a photographer and inventor from Massachusetts, along with his twin brother Freelan Oscar Stanley, built the famous Stanley Steamer automobile. Stanley designed the airbrush device to assist with retouching photographs and named it the “Stanley Air Brush.” It revolutionized photo retouching. The tool used hand-pumped bellows to push air through a small nozzle, producing a fine, controlled spray of color.

The airbrush quickly found its way into the automotive industry with its greater precision and speed for painting cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles. Charles Burdick patented an airbrush device in 1893, more similar in design to what is most familiar today. During the 1930s and 1940s, airbrush pioneers included George “The Petty Girl” Petty, who used airbrushing to create highly realistic illustrated pin-up girls that were adopted as nose art on some WW2 aircraft. Alberto Vargas made famous his scantily-clad “Vargas Girl” illustrations, considered by many at the time to be an obscenity.

Hollywood makeup artists adopted the airbrush, offering a revolutionary way to smoothly apply color. By the 1960s, the hippy generation used airbrushing for dreamy psychedelic artwork on album covers, surfboards, panel vans, and, of course, the Volkswagen Transporter. During the 1980s and 1990s, airbrush shops became a cultural phenomenon, offering customized designs on apparel and more. Other artists could often be found at county and state fairs. The airbrush shops faded by the new millennium as digital printing and mass production became more commercially viable.

Airbrushing retains its versatility in various art forms, including illustration, portraiture, professional graffiti-styled art, makeup, fashion, murals, cake decorating, and vehicles.