Airbrush artist captures colors of West Texas Fair & Rodeo with his custom T-shirts

Like an urban update on the en plein air tradition of painting landscapes outdoors, Marvin Ramirez uses air to paint T-shirts and other cloth items at the West Texas Fair & Rodeo.

The fair continues until Saturday at the Taylor County Expo Center. 

For a third year in a row, the self-taught airbrush artist has returned to an outdoor booth. From his wide-open view of the midway, he often finds inspiration in the nearby brightly colored carnival rides and neon lights.

"I'll notice the color combinations of these rides," Ramirez said. "I'll see that one color combined with another color looks good, and I'll apply that to one of my designs."

The native of El Salvador was raised in Abilene and has been airbrushing for 25 years. It's a part-time venture to his full-time job as an inspector and auditor at Eagle Aviation Services. 

In some respects, both jobs have a common skill set: attention to detail. Precision is evident in the dozens of sample designs plastered on every vertical surface of the booth. That includes overhead.

Examples of his work also are featured on his Facebook page, First Class AirBrush.

Festive atmosphere

Attendance at the fair has been good, Ramirez said, especially in the evenings when crowds are bigger.

Patrons can watch him work at his artist's station at one end of the booth.

Fueled by the fair's festive atmosphere, Ramirez hits a groove of airbrushing one design after another.

"I got the music going, we've got the crowd here, it gets me pumped up,"  Ramirez said. 

During the busiest times, he can have 30 to 40 orders in the cue. Two employees help expedite the process, taking orders and prepping shirts. 

"All my designs here I've got to crank out in a matter of minutes," Ramirez said, so that customers can leave the fair with their order.

On extremely busy nights or late orders, some customers have to return the next day or make other arrangements to pick up the product.

But speed at the fair is not at the sacrifice of detail and vibrancy. The white shirts can pop visually with lines, swirls and shades of two to 10 colors of permanent airbrush fabric ink.  

"I use a lot of colors in my artwork. I don't do a whole lot of black and white or pastels. Most of my stuff is bright," Ramirez said.

Repeat customer Sonja Chavez said the airbrush designs remind her of styles she saw growing up in New Mexico. Her wardrobe features three or four Ramirez originals. 

The latest, which she picked up at the booth at lunchtime Wednesday, featured her last name and a longhorn head icon emblazoned in orange and black. 

A custom T-shirt costs $15 to $35. Other options are hoodies, onesies, backpacks, beanies, caps, headbands and small crossbody purses. 

"The more detail, the more expensive the design," Ramirez said. 

Shirts with two names are popular with couples, while children often order T-shirts featuring Pokémon or other popular animated characters, he said.

Away from the fair, Ramirez does more detailed designs on T-shirts and other surfaces that range from softball helmets to vehicles.

"On my own time, whenever I'm not under pressure, I like painting canvases," Ramirez said. 

His favorite themes are wildlife, especially tigers and other large cats and birds. 

He also does murals, including on vehicles, motorcycles and outdoor walls.

An example is the mural on the side of a building in the 2600 block of South 14th Street to honor U.S. Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen. She was killed in 2020 at Fort Hood, allegedly by another soldier who later committed suicide when her body was found two months after she was reported missing. 

His most unusual project, however, was airbrushing details onto artist Bill Poor's 3-foot metal sculpture of the head of an other-worldly hunter called Predator, first showcased in the 1987 movie of the same name.

Ramirez estimates he spent about 20 hours airbrushing details to enhance the three-dimensional design. 

"I made it look like the movie," Ramirez said. 

In contrast to time-consuming projects, airbrushing at the fast-paced fair provides  immediate satisfaction, Ramirez said, because he gets to meet many people. 

"When they say that I surpassed their expectations, that always makes me feel good," Ramirez said.

More:Anticipation up for West Texas Fair & Rodeo's return to form

Laura Gutschke is a general assignment reporter and food columnist and manages online content for the Reporter-News.  If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com. 

Final two at the fair

Gate schedule

Gates open: 4-11 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday

Regular admission: Friday and Saturday: $11 adults, $4 students. Grounds admission does not cover entry into Taylor Telecom Arena for PRCA Rodeo. Free gate admission for military and their families, with military ID. 

Rodeo tickets: Reserved box seats are $20; reserved balcony seats are $15 for adults and $6 for children and students.

Carnival ride tickets

Midway open: 5-11 p.m. Friday; 1-11 p.m. Saturday

Single tickets: $1 (kiddie rides require 2-4 tickets, larger rides are 3-5)

Events and entertainment

Friday

5:30 p.m.: Grant & Randy - The Two Man Band concert

7:30 p.m.: PRCA Rodeo; Curtis Grimes concert

9 p.m.: Mike Ryan concert

Saturday

5 p.m.: Grant & Randy - The Two Man Band concert

7 p.m.: Ariel Hutchins concert

7:30 p.m.: PRCA Rodeo

9 p.m.: Brandon Rhyder concert