You know the joke about tartan paint? Jack Kingston is a sought-after bike finisher and painter from Yorkshire who can make your tartan paint dreams come true.
Things like geometry and suspension design are obviously important, but a really gorgeous paint finish on a bike goes a long way in helping you love it. Jack has painted many of Ricky Feather’s custom road frames over the years, as well as other bespoke designs for customers. It seems incredible that anyone so giant as Jack could produce such fine and detailed work. You know the joke about tartan paint? He can make it a real thing. I stopped him at Bespoked Manchester for a few words about his work, starting with how he got into it.
I was unemployable and just had to really start doing what I was best at, which was fixing stuff. I’ve always been a bit of an artist and always sprayed my BMXs since I’ve been about 10 years old. So, I just happened upon refinishing old bicycles and making them look a bit prettier, working in the motorcycle industry and repainting motorcycles for my dad.
One day I stumbled across a lad who had a really old Feather Cycles. It was one of the first he’d produced and it was dented and rotten. And I took it, I got it chromed, sucked all the dents out of it, painted it up as best as I could. Luckily, Ricky Feather saw it online and out of the blue got in touch and was like, “Look, my painter’s moving to Canada. I need someone to fill his boots. I’d like to use someone local in Yorkshire.”
It’s all just snowballed from there. He’s put me in touch with some of the best frame builders in the UK. My shelves are packed with jobs, so I can’t ask more really of it.
A nice story! What was the trickiest skill that you’ve had to learn?
Refining the paint down from painting cars and motorcycles, where it doesn’t really matter what the paint finish is so much. Making the paintwork so fine and so crisp on some of these bikes, where they’re photographed so close up and you can see every little edge detail on the paint… Working to Ricky Feather’s standard, and working to a lot of these frame builders’ standards. It’s almost like jewellery level of detail. I’m sweating over the minutest little imperfections in a top tube. Learning to work to such a high standard has been the trickiest thing.
Do you have a favourite tool in your painting armoury?
Oh, my scalpel. Always my scalpel. I use a surgical scalpel, a 10A Swann Morton Sheffield steel. That’s definitely my favourite tool. So much I’ve got it tattooed on my hand.
What do you do with a scalpel while painting?
De-masking, anything really. If I need a knife, blade, I’ll use a scalpel. Even when I’m cooking in the kitchen sometimes! I have them scattered everywhere in my vehicle. I think I’ve got one in my pocket right now.
You’ll get arrested for that sort of behaviour! What does a typical day look like?
Oh, self-care mornings. I like to get up, do my yoga, do a bit of rowing, have a lovely breakfast, roll into the workshop about midday and then work until 7pm or 8pm. Usually it’s 15 large Yetis full of tea and honey and a lot of ADHD procrastination.
Late nights in the workshop seems to be a common theme for makers. Do you have a favourite part of the process?
I always love the design concepts and trying to figure out how to make them. A lot of the frame builders that will get in touch will have already organised a design with a client. They’ll come through to me with some design that’s almost impossible, and I’ve got to then figure out the recipe of exactly what colours go in where, how it’s going to set, what product to use. Figuring out how to make an unpaintable design into an actual physical painted product – that’s always fun.
How long does it typically take to paint a bike?
Usually a nice simple bike, I’ll have a nice prep and a prime day. So shot blast the frame, prime it up. Next day I’ll work on the graphics, I’ll work on the base coats. Usually I can get them clear coated the next day. And then the third day will be usually machine polishing and de-masking. Simpler bikes are a three day process.
The more complex things can be a few weeks, if not longer.
What’s the hardest part of being a maker?
My own standards. I hold such high standards, it’s ridiculous. And it stresses me out a lot, I lose a lot of sleep. It’s over the tiniest imperfections, bleeds in paintwork, stuff like that. I know I shouldn’t, but I’m proud of what I do. So I do hold myself pretty high standards.
What’s the best part of being a maker?
Living up to my own standards. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about my paintwork. As long as I’m proud of it and I’m happy with what I’ve produced. That’s the only opinion I care about. Which is a pleasure and a curse sometimes.
Is there another painter that you particularly admire?
Untitled Custom Paint x Independent Frameworks
Photography by Adam Gasson for Bespoked
Untitled Custom Paint x Clementina
Photography by Adam Gasson for Bespoked
There’s been some absolutely fantastic painters. There’s some great painters here: Untitled Custom Paint, Black Cat Paintwork.
There’s a chap in Hull, Tommy Flow, who’s painted one of the first Feather Cycles I haven’t painted in about ten years – unfortunately I was ill – and he’s done a cracking job. There’s some really incredible painters in the industry.
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Just stunning 🙂