Armando Villarreal Studios

Airbrush and Sports Artist.
Handpainted Football Helmets.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Same Adventure, New Chapter. Moving forward we will be an independent vendor working will all of the helmet manufacturers now, so that will be opening some new doors. Lora, my beautiful wife has started working with me full time. The studio is growing and I needed help. She is an invaluable asset to what I do. She will be helping with organizing, prep, masking all the fun stuff we do. In addition to that she will be doing social media stuff. Alot of what I do is secret so we'll show the old stuff and new stuff as we can. Looking forward to what the future holds.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

2025 Boise "Front Porch of Idaho" helmets. Lined up drying before they get shipped out. Behind the scenes that I can't post when I'm in the process of doing things. I know where they are going, but its always interesting to see where they end up.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Baseball bat for Bo Bichette. When Bo played in little league he had an airbrushed batting helmet with his name and Spiderman on it. I had the privilege to recreate it on a baseball bat for him. He did use it in batting practice. @BichetteBo

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Sometimes you set out to paint a masterpiece. Sometimes you just need to think and have fun. Normally a sketch isn't much, and sometimes it tells a story only few know. I like to paint things up close and personal that capture something intimate that doesn't mean much to most people. Many years ago I did a series of paintings and sketches for the MGM Grande in Las Vegas for Muhammad Ali's 70th birthday party. I quickly sketched this image mainly to fill wall space and I liked it, it had character and tells a story to those who take the time to look. Muhammad Ali's family came through the booth to look at the artwork and Lonnie Ali fell in love with this painting, "those are his shoes!" Out of all the artwork there, that was her favorite. Art is such a fascinating thing. We gave her that painting, and that's how Muhammad Ali ended up with one of my paintings in his house..

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Superman shoes for James Dixon. Mr. Dixon is ranked as the #4 motivational speaker in the world. He is a shoe enthusiast, what to paint on shoes for such a man? James unfortunately lost his leg as a child to a medical condition.. his grandma started calling him Superman reminding he's always capable of more. He is also a big supporter of Veterans and Warrior Rising. I had the pleasure of meeting him and talking to him several times. He is a wonderful person. "Superman is 4 real"

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Work harder than everyone else. The sacrifice is worth it.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

@abelopezz its so frustrating not being able to share stuff so I had to do it.. lol

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Sneak peak at concept #1

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Warrior Rising custom football helmet of Nick "the Machine" Lavery. Nick was the guest speaker at an event in Iowa several years ago. Nick is the first above the knee amputee to return to active duty as a Special Forces Soldier. Just an amazing individual and his story seems made up. Helmet was signed by Nick and auctioned off for Warrior Rising. @thenicklavery @warriorrising

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

@caraleones54 It would be epic!

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Strike 1... sometimes my ideas don't work and its easier to start over. Im not a modern artist, I don't do computer mock ups. I talk to the teams, get their input of what they are looking for and think about it. Then I grab a shell and start. Way back in the late 1900's when I was in highschool it was recommended I get into computers.. I tried, but my brain didn’t work that way, I'm mechanical, I needed to see and feel the paint move. I got passed by with technology... So thats how I ended up here, things on that flat screen don't exactly work on a round helmet.. sometimes it takes more than one try. It takes a little more time but when I'm finished it's exactly what will be on the field.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

@caraleones54 I should... lol

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

@Takka_Jordan @Ezmoneylowe One of my greatest honors was to be part of that project.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Throwback to that one time I painted 300 portraits on 150 helmets. Forever 22, a tribute to Ty Jordan & Aaron Lowe. The hardest project I've ever done. It was so much bigger than football. Yes we taped off every face like this to airbrush them. I said no 3 or 4 times cause I didn't think we could finish it time... Cody said we had to... probably the most exciting game I've ever seen in person. The game started off kinda slow for the Utes. In the second quarter they brought my family and Ty & Aaron's families onto the field to recognize us and give us helmets.. everything changed, you could feel it. It was like Ty & Aaron were there. The Utes slowly came back and won that game with 48 seconds on the clock Cam scored on the 2 point conversation to win 43to42 over USC... it was magic, it was emotional, it was bigger than football... Forever22

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

@BHrev01 Thank you. It always amazes me what this has become. I'm so blessed to get to do what I do.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

I'm working on finalizing concepts for this year. Doing football helmets for a team is so much different than fine art or sports art.. my art is 1of1 everything can be perfect. Team helmets are a combination of making the team happy, looking good on TV and figuring out how to reproduce them 150+ as fast as I can. Thats where masking and stencils come in. Masking is low tack vinyl that holds in place and you can peel off. Stencils are a plastic shield i hold in place. These are a few pictures from the 2021 Utah helmet. I use those and still freehand airbrush to finish them off.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

@gamedaytze Sorry i don't do mini helmets. Really don't have time to. Very cool

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Salim Asrawi 18x24 airbrushed on panel. This is a commission I did for @wearewarriorrising several years ago as a thank you to Salim. He is a co-founder and President of Texas de Brazil restaurants. They are a big supporter of Warrior Rising and help Veteran’s dreams come true of being business owners. Warrior Rising helps Veterans start and run their own businesses helping them find purpose and a mission after they leave the military. I'm honored to have a small part in such a wonderful organization.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Spent the morning at the Petrified Wood Gallery in Ogallala. Great group of Art students from South Platte highschool in Big Springs.

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Custom A10 Warthog shoes for Cowboys Great Chad Hennings. Chad was an A10 pilot in Desert Storm with 45 mission combat missions. He was awarded the Outland trophy playing for the AirForce Academy. Was Drafted and played for the Cowboys after his military service. He won 3 Superbowls with the Cowboys. He was elected to the College football Hall of Fame in 2006. He was the Guest Speaker in Iowa for Warrior Rising last year and I got to paint him some shoes and meet him. Very inspiring person and speaker. He even let me hold one of his SuperBowl rings..

[Armando Villarreal Studios @AVStudios]

Bo Jackson Autographed football helmet. We used to do a lot of shows at the MGM Grande in Las Vegas. This was something I did for a SuperBowl show years ago. #bojackson