invoice: My name is Bill Ahrens. I live in Port Orange, Florida. Our company name is Str8lines LLC.
teller: Bill is known on TikTok as Billy the Brush. More than 640,000 people follow his Str8lines profile. People who watch it are pruning.
Pinstripes are thin colored lines parallel to each other on the car. Bill paints 150 to 200 cars a week. Most designs involve drawing two lines on the car to change the color.
He uses different sizes of brushes for each project, allowing him to create the perfect outline.
invoice: To get very fine lines, I use a size 00 brush from Mack Brush Company. It was created specifically for us.
Using this brush I can draw a line 40cm long and 6mm wide. I can also use brush #1 and get a slightly wider line.
I probably have 60 different brushes. We use it according to what we will do, and we create inscriptions, pictures and cartoon characters.
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From the inside/from the inside
For most cars, I use a magnet or piece of tape to give me a reference point. However, the owner of this car wanted me to do it completely freehand. No magnets, no tape, nothing.
Fortunately, this car has really nice body lines. With the newer body styles on these vehicles, there is no single line to follow.
There can be 26 different grooves and lines. So I choose the body line or create my own and use that as a reference. Thanks to this, I can do my work more accurately and better.
teller: As you can see in most of the videos, Bill draws lines printed on the side of the car. Some customers want pinstripes in the same style all over their car, including the trickiest area, the hood.
invoice: I often had to figure out how to sit on top of the cover so as not to damage it while working. It’s a challenge.
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First, using the 00 brush, I try to draw the top line, which is about 20cm, then I take the 00 brush and draw a line below it, which is 6mm. They dry for a while, then in the middle of this 6mm line, I draw another 20cm line, sometimes a 40cm line, again with the 00 brush.
teller: Bill is also very popular on TikTok for his behind-the-scenes videos that show him fixing his mistakes.
invoice: I don’t think it’s possible to master this. Of course, I haven’t had any problems drawing lines for 15-18 years. It definitely takes a lot of work.
However, sometimes some dust may get into the brush and interfere with the work. Then I delete it and start over.
teller: The bill usually takes $100. For two straight lines on the car. Three lines are more expensive. The cost to design and paint a full mask, as well as longer projects that involve drawing characters, is about $3,000.
invoice: Let me tell you what’s great about this. It’s always nice to be able to put a smile on someone’s face. I know everyone says that. It is usually about seeing the baby for the first time.
But for me, the best thing is for an 80-year-old to see this handiwork for the first time. You may have heard about it or not seen it for 40, 50, 20 years. As I do this, a small crowd gathers around me.
Echo Richards embodies a personality that is a delightful contradiction: a humble musicaholic who never brags about her expansive knowledge of both classic and contemporary tunes. Infuriatingly modest, one would never know from a mere conversation how deeply entrenched she is in the world of music. This passion seamlessly translates into her problem-solving skills, with Echo often drawing inspiration from melodies and rhythms. A voracious reader, she dives deep into literature, using stories to influence her own hardcore writing. Her spirited advocacy for alcohol isn’t about mere indulgence, but about celebrating life’s poignant moments.
