S-C graduate provides custom artistic designs for vehicles

With three fingers pressed firmly against the back of the seat on a lawnmower, Brody DeBates begins to paint a thin line of bright blue paint with his other two fingers gently clutching a small paintbrush.

His tongue peeks out of his teeth covered with braces, indicating he is concentrating on the developing design. One line turns into many and less than 30 minutes later, a custom made pinstriped design is finished.

DeBates, 18, of Sedalia, just graduated from Smith-Cotton High School this year and about a month ago he began working at Tyler Body Shop and Custom Painting in Cole Camp.

“I love doing anything with cars,” DeBates said.

He works about five hours a day, doing sanding, body work, prep work and pinstriping.

Jeff Tyler, owner of the shop, said DeBates is a good person and works hard.

“I’m glad to have him helping,” Tyler said.

The lawnmower to which DeBates has added many freehand designs sits at the shop to show customers his work.

“It takes a while to catch onto this and learning it takes a while,” Tyler said.

DeBates’ passion for cars and artistic hand helped him pick up the skill easily, Tyler said.

DeBates starts by mixing his enamel paint with a little bit of mineral spirits. He then takes his thin paintbrush out of the case and dunks it in the cup of paint. He gently wipes the brush on the rim of the cup to keep the paint only on the tip.

“You just use the tip of the brush. All the paint is in the tip,” he said.

He begins to paint and said he keeps going until it looks good.

It all began when DeBates was younger and a close family friend bought him three cans of paint and a few brushes. His father also was into racing and restoring older vehicles, which helped DeBates familiarize himself with auto work.

“It’s my passion. It’s what I like to do,” he said.

In high school, DeBates worked mainly with pencil sketches, but about a year ago, he began to get serious about his artwork and began striping.

“I started doing this a whole lot and never looked back since,” he said.

DeBates said he has traveled to car shows throughout the state to show off his detailed artwork and even made some money from it when his schedule allowed. DeBates said his art can take up to 30 minutes to finish, depending on the design and size of the piece.

“You charge by the skill, not by how quick it goes,” DeBates said.

Everything is done without a sketch and often without a thought about what the end result will look like and if a line is too thick or drags on too low, he just wipes it off and starts over.

“I critique my work like crazy. I’m horrible about that,” he said.

In September, DeBates will travel to Pennsylvania to attend WyoTech, where he hopes to receive a mechanical certification with a specialization in high performance race engines. DeBates said opening his own body shop is another future plan.

“A lot of guys are Chevy or Ford guys. I’m just a cool car guy,” he said.

Class acts
Each Monday, the Democrat will tell the story of a student in the area who performs exceptionally well, in and out of the classroom. If you know a student, in kindergarten through college, who has made a difference or does something unique, let us know about it. E-mail your suggestion to tfennell@sedaliademocrat.com or awalther@sedaliademocrat.com or call 660-826-1000, ext. 211.