About Donatas Valciukas
First place winner of Automotive category
My name is Donatas, I am from Lithuania. I was born in 1980 in the small town of Kelme, currently I live and work in the city of Klaipeda. I worked as a manager at the age of 13 and I have been a professional airbrush artist since 2016. In the Sparmax competition in 2022, I took third place in the automotive category.
Winner’s Interview
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, what is your background? When did you start airbrushing and what was the learning process like for you?
Hello, my name is Donatas, I am 44 years old, I am from Lithuania.
Airbrushing became my passion 13 years ago. It was just a hobby for a long time, until it eventually became my job. I have come a long and hard way to become an airbrush artist.
2. Can you tell us a bit more about your winning entry piece? How / why did you choose it? How long did it take, and what inspired you?
The camper project was drawn in Germany. The client liked my work and asked me to come up with something beautiful and related to travel. I had the idea to draw old ways of traveling - a steam train on one side, a ship on the other side.
I was inspired by the idea that the camper will travel all over Europe.
All the work together with the preparation took 3 weeks.
3. What challenges did you encounter during the creation of this piece? What is your favorite part of the work, and why? What airbrush techniques did you use in this creation?
The main challenge was the size of the camper, it was 4 meters high and 7 meters long. I had to work at height most of the time. I liked drawing the steam locomotive the most. I'm a big fan of them :)
The whole project was a freehand airbrush drawing. I like to draw while looking at the project photo on my phone.
"Airbrush is my love and passion"
4. What does airbrushing mean to you and what drives your passion for airbrushing and creating art? Also, how do you find the ideas for your other works?
Airbrush is my love and passion :) I've been looking for a painting technique all my life until I finally found airbrush. I really like difficult projects, various visions and wishes of clients. I absolutely love to paint Porsche cars on canvas. and all my ideas are born together with the client's dreams.
5. What are your goals / targets for airbrushing? What do you want to achieve?
My dream is to teach airbrushing to other people.
6. Do you specialize or prefer to work on a specific surface?
I like different surfaces :)
7. How would you describe your style(s) in airbrushing?
My style is between realism and light carelessness :)
8. Any advice to beginners looking to start airbrushing? What would you tell your young self?
Never give up! Airbrushing is a difficult art. It requires special equipment and knowledge of surface preparation. However, if you really like airbrushing, you have a superpower :)
"if you really like airbrushing, you have a superpower"
9. Do you have a website or blog? How can people reach you on social media?
Facebook: Donatas Aerografija
Instagram: Donatas_airbrush