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What could happen when a successful illustrator and a talented custom bike builder team up on a project? The bike you see here, that’s what. From the imaginations of graphic artist Monte M. Moore, and Matt Huntley, who owns Blacktop Choppers, in Denver, Colorado, comes this award-winning bike, The Bombshell.

So how could they part with a work of art like this? “We love it and we want to sell it, but when you build custom bikes you also do it to showcase your abilities,” Monte said. Last month, The Bombshell won Best Use of Color at the Colorado Motorcycle Show; it was the fourth year in a row Monte has walked away with that title. From AMD to the Sturgis Rally, Monte and Matt have made for a winning team. “We’ve won most shows we’ve ever entered,” Monte said. In Sturgis in 2008 Monte won the coveted title of Best Artwork at the Perewitz Custom Paint Bike Show sponsored by Kryptonite. In both 2006 and 2007 he won Best Paint at the Las Vega Bikefest. ““I don’t enter as much anymore because even though you win a bunch a you like it, you start looking for new things to do, new horizons.”

You may know Monte as Maverick Custom Paint. You might have seen him at an AMD show, or at Sturgis, or you may have seen him at ComicCon International, or recognize his work from DC Comics, Topps, or the Star Wars work he’s done for Lucasfilm Ltd. The main thing that separates Monte’s artwork from the pack is his method of hand painting combined with airbrushing. He does all the detail work by hand and doesn’t use tape, masking, or stencils. “If you’re looking at a close-up of the Marilyn Monroe on The Bombshell, you can see where the brush strokes are and the hair and that sort of thing,” he explained. “It looks much more like fine art work or an illustration rather than a template.”

The Bombshell features not only two Marilyns and two Ava Gardners on the tank, but also Rita Haworth from her Gilda days on the front fender, and Grace Kelly on the rear fender. “I love that era, the black and white and the classiness,” Matt said. “I think it’s what celebrities today are missing. I don’t think people today will ever reach that same class and cult status.”

Monte and Matt are longtime friends. “I’ve painted I think five bikes that Matt’s built, and he’s built several show bikes for me over the years,” Monte said. “The Bombshell is kind of interesting because we did it backwards. I had some shows coming up and at the time I didn’t have any bikes or paint or anything to show. So I had bought a set of tanks and fenders off of eBay and painted them up black. I knew I wanted to do this bombshell theme and I painted the tins first. There was no motorcycle in mind at the time; it was just to showcase it.” Monte hoped someone would see it and love it enough to buy for their own bike. For about a year he took the tins to shows and although people loved it, they ultimately said it wouldn’t fit their bike. It was Matt who came up with the idea to build a bike around Monte’s paintjob. “Even though the bike isn’t a 1950s bike, it’s got a kind of retro-era feel. It was fun because we were kind of making up stuff along the way.”

Having made a name for himself as an illustrator, Monte used to tease his friends that his art went to support his motorcycle habit. “I was big into motorcycles and at one time I owned sixteen,” he said. “Some of my bikes weren’t super high-end expensive, some were collectible or older, and some were projects.” In 2002 he painted his first motorcycle and started winning at major bike shows. At the Sturgis rally he picked up a lot of pro builder customers. He’s painted a total of 12 bikes for professional builders and his work has been seen on the Speed Channel and in several magazines. One of the bikes Matt built at Blacktop Choppers and Monte painted graphics is Against The Grain, which appeared on the cover of Issue 67 of Barnett’s Magazine. (Click here for a full story on Blacktop Choppers.)

Monte has worked for Harley-Davidson designing concept art. If you bought a T-shirt at Sturgis Rally in 2008 you may already own a piece of Monte’s work as his was the #1 selling shirt that year. He’s specialized in comics, sci-fi and fantasy, gaming, pin-up and entertainment illustration for more than 20 years. As a commercial illustrator, he is an officially licensed Star Wars artist for Lucasfilm Ltd., Sony Online, Playboy, Topps Cards, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and more. He is a graduate of Colorado State University, earning a BFA in Graphic Design/Illustration 1993. He was awarded outstanding Senior Portfolio in the State of Colorado from the Art Director’s Club of Denver.

You can find more information about The Bombshell and Monte’s other artwork for sale by visiting http://www.mavarts.com/Paintings-Store.

Matt’s Blacktop Choppers offers a wide range of bikes from bobbers to modified Harleys to radical choppers; if you’ve already got a Harley and just need some routine work he’s up for that, too. Be sure and check out Blacktop Choppers at http://www.blacktopchoppersdenver.com/.