Tony Mascio
Airbrush Illustrator
In the early-mid'70s, Charles White III popularized the revival of airbrush illustration.
Airbrushing is a tedious craft, as a stencil (frisket) has to be cut and applied to the piece for every color and detail which makes it up. It was perfectly suited to the lush- retro style of the times, resulting from the boomer hippies finally breaking into high-level positions with big-budget magazines and ad agencies. The airbrush style was used extensively by that arbiter of hip taste, National Lampoon. When the art school classes of '75 hit the ground running, many of the troops were carrying airbrushes; just in time for the airbrush illustration market explosion. Our friend Todd Schorr, an early devotee of Charles White, had an illustration rep in NYC when he was a sophomore. A year or so after graduation, Todd moved to New York. One of
his classmates, Tony Mascio, and another classmate Robert Lambiase, took over his studio space. In this image, he has just moved in.
