Golden Meadow Grasshopper Trucker Hat
by @dekasso
Late summer, one jump from the water.
A golden grasshopper perched on a dry grass stem, in ochre, umber and wheat over a blue-violet haze, for hopper days on the river.
A golden grasshopper clings to a seed-headed grass stem, hind legs cocked, antennae swept back. It is coloured in golden ochre and burnt umber over a slate blue and dusky violet haze, with pale wheat grass rising beneath.
- Golden grasshopper on a seed-headed stem
- Burnt umber veins, spines and segments
- Slate blue and dusky violet backdrop
- Pale wheat dry grass rising below
- Cream highlights catch the light
The cap
One design, four caps. The front panel is what the paint or the dye sits on, so it changes the hat.
Trucker
The house cap — structured mid profile, foam-and-mesh back, snapback.
Specs
- Profile
- Mid profile
- Build
- 6-panel · Structured — buckram behind the front
- Crown
- 3½ in (8.9 cm)
- Visor
- Pre-curved, 2¾ in (7 cm)
- Closure
- Snapback
- Adjusts to
- 21½–24 in (54.5–61 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Natural cotton twill
- Sublimated on
- White polyester foam
Rope cap
Structured five-panel with a near-flat brim and a cord across it.
Specs
- Profile
- Mid-high profile
- Build
- 5-panel · Structured
- Crown
- 4 in (10.2 cm)
- Visor
- Near-flat, 2⅞ in (7.3 cm), contrast rope
- Closure
- Snapback
- Adjusts to
- 21½–23¾ in (54.5–60.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Stone cotton twill
- Sublimated on
- White polyester twill
Dad hat
Soft, low and unstructured — washed cotton with a strap back.
Specs
- Profile
- Low profile
- Build
- 6-panel · Unstructured — soft front
- Crown
- 3¼ in (8.3 cm)
- Visor
- Curved, 2¾ in (7 cm)
- Closure
- Strap back, brass buckle
- Adjusts to
- 21–23½ in (53.5–59.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Washed khaki cotton
- Sublimated on
- White polyester twill
Five-panel camp
Flat brim, low crown, packs flat in a vest pocket.
Specs
- Profile
- Low profile
- Build
- 5-panel · Unstructured
- Crown
- 3¼ in (8.3 cm)
- Visor
- Flat, 2½ in (6.4 cm)
- Closure
- Strap back, side-release clip
- Adjusts to
- 21½–23½ in (54.5–59.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Field olive nylon-cotton
- Sublimated on
- White polyester
Fit
| Cap | Profile | Crown height | Visor | Adjusts to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trucker | Mid profile | 3½ in (8.9 cm) | Pre-curved, 2¾ in (7 cm) | 21½–24 in (54.5–61 cm) |
| Rope cap | Mid-high profile | 4 in (10.2 cm) | Near-flat, 2⅞ in (7.3 cm), contrast rope | 21½–23¾ in (54.5–60.5 cm) |
| Dad hat | Low profile | 3¼ in (8.3 cm) | Curved, 2¾ in (7 cm) | 21–23½ in (53.5–59.5 cm) |
| Five-panel camp | Low profile | 3¼ in (8.3 cm) | Flat, 2½ in (6.4 cm) | 21½–23½ in (54.5–59.5 cm) |
One size per cap. Run a tape around your head just above the ears, keeping it level — anything inside the range above will close on it.
Two finishes
The same design, made two ways. Pick one in the panel; the cap and the quantity are yours to choose too.
Hand airbrushed
$85 for one hat, on a trucker
Painted to order — would ship in about 2 weeks
How it is made
- How it is made
- Sprayed by hand through this design's own stencils, one layer at a time, each left to dry before the next mask goes down.
- How it looks
- Soft gradients and hand-cut stencil edges. Every cap is a little different.
- What it sits on
- On a natural cotton twill front.
- Durability and care
- Water-based paint, heat set and sealed. It takes rain and a season on a boat; spot clean with cool water, never a washing machine.
Sublimation printed
$32 for one hat, on a trucker
Printed to order — would ship in 5–7 business days
How it is made
- How it is made
- The design is printed in dye onto transfer paper, then pressed with heat so the dye soaks into the polyester fibres.
- How it looks
- Full colour edge to edge, and identical every time.
- What it sits on
- On a white polyester foam front — sublimation only takes on white polyester.
- Durability and care
- The dye is in the fibre, not on it, so it will not crack or peel. Gentle wash, air dry.
The artwork
A grasshopper grips a bent stem of seed grass, every leg spine and wing vein picked out in burnt umber. Behind it, slate blue and violet drift like heat over a bank, and pale blades of dry grass fan up from below.
Wear it on a hot afternoon when the meadows click with hoppers and the banks are gold. From across the river people see a bright insect and a cool blue sweep; up close they find the ribbed belly and the dark, glossy eye.
Cream highlights do the real work here. Laid thin and late along the hind leg, wing ridge and abdomen rings, they turn a flat ochre shape into a body with weight and sun on it.
What arrives
- The hat
- A care card
- On a hand airbrushed hat, a numbered tag naming the water it was painted from, when the design names one
Looking after it
Hand airbrushed
- Spot clean with cool water and a soft brush. Never a washing machine.
- Keep it out of a hot car for long stretches — heat-set paint is tough, but a dashboard in July is not a test worth running.
- Reshape the brim by hand while damp.
Sublimation printed
- Spot clean, or gently hand wash in cool water. No bleach.
- Air dry. Do not iron the print.
- Reshape the brim by hand while damp.
- The dye is in the fibre, so the print will not crack or peel.
Details
Airbrush palette
- Colours
- golden ochre, burnt umber, slate blue, dusky violet, pale wheat, cream
Details
- Category
- Grasshopper
- Subject
- grasshopper
- Style
- realistic wildlife illustration
Make it yourself
The palette
- Golden ochre
- Burnt umber
- Slate blue
- Dusky violet
- Pale wheat
- Cream
The layers
6 layers, in this order. Each mask comes off and the paint has to dry before the next one goes down.
- Haze
- Shadow
- Grass
- Body
- Detail
- Highlight
The kit's stencil set is cut from these layers; with the cutter (12 hats and up) you cut your own from this design's layer files.
How to mix each colour
Golden ochre
2 parts yellow, 1 part brown, a drop of black
Burnt umber
Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
Slate blue
White with blue and a touch of black, about 4 : 1 : ½
Dusky violet
2 parts blue, 1 part red, a drop of white to keep it from going muddy
Pale wheat
Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
Cream
White with a drop of yellow and the smallest touch of brown
Setup
- Ventilation or a spray booth. Water-based paint still throws a fine mist, and you will be breathing it for hours.
- A half-mask respirator rated for paint mists. A dust mask is not one.
- A compressor with a moisture trap, set and tested on a card before you start: wet air spits water into the paint.
- Reducer and a cleaning pot within reach, so a clog is a ten-second fix instead of a ruined panel.
- Spray a test card for every colour before it touches the cap. Colour reads differently wet, dry and on twill.
Prep
- Lint-roll the front panel. Every fibre left on it prints as a speck in the paint.
- Mask the mesh, any seams you want clean and the whole visor, underside included, with low-tack tape and paper.
- Stretch the crown over the cap jig so the front panel is taut and curved the way it will be worn. Spraying a slack panel flat distorts the design when it is worn.
- Spray one light coat of transparent base so the colour sits on the fabric instead of soaking into it.
Layer by layer
1 · Haze — 0.5 mm · 25–30 PSI
slate blue — a soft blue sweep behind the insect, carried down across the lower panel
Mask None on the panel itself: the mesh and the visor are already masked from the prep.
Colour Slate blue — White with blue and a touch of black, about 4 : 1 : ½
- Needle
- 0.5 mm (a 0.35 mm works, it just takes longer)
- Pressure
- 25–30 PSI
- Distance
- 6–8 in from the panel
- Passes
- 3–4 light passes, building the colour
- Dry
- 10 minutes, or 60–90 seconds with a heat gun on low, before the next mask goes down
Tip Fade wet to dry and never lay one heavy coat: twill wicks paint sideways and the edge blooms.
2 · Shadow — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
dusky violet — deeper violet pooling under the stem, the belly and the grass tips
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Dusky violet — 2 parts blue, 1 part red, a drop of white to keep it from going muddy
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
3 · Grass — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
pale wheat — thin dry blades and a seed-headed stem rising from the bottom edge
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Pale wheat — Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
4 · Body — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
golden ochre — the grasshopper's head, thorax, folded wings, legs and ribbed abdomen
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Golden ochre — 2 parts yellow, 1 part brown, a drop of black
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
5 · Detail — 0.3 mm · 18–22 PSI
burnt umber — segment lines, leg spines, wing veins, antennae and the dark eye
Mask The hand-cut subject stencil, inner pieces first, then the outline piece.
Colour Burnt umber — Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
- Needle
- 0.3 mm
- Pressure
- 18–22 PSI
- Distance
- 3–4 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes per tone, light to dark
- Dry
- 10 minutes between tones
Tip Light tones first: a light colour over a dark one needs many coats, a dark one over a light one needs two.
6 · Highlight — 0.2–0.3 mm · 12–15 PSI
cream — bright edges on the hind leg, wing ridge, abdomen rings and grass blades
Mask None: freehand, with a shield card held against any hard edge.
Colour Cream — White with a drop of yellow and the smallest touch of brown
- Needle
- 0.2–0.3 mm
- Pressure
- 12–15 PSI
- Distance
- 1–2 in from the panel
- Passes
- Freehand, in short controlled strokes
- Dry
- 10 minutes, then check it before you cure
Tip Low pressure, close in and moving: stop the stroke before you release the trigger.
Step by step
Clean the panel and mask the outer edges. Mist slate blue in a loose diagonal sweep behind where the insect will sit and down the lower panel. Start around 20 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 15–20 cm away; treat these as a starting point.
Let it flash dry. Without a mask, add dusky violet into the low areas and under the future stem at 18 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 10–15 cm, building it in light passes.
Cut a grass mask with thin blades and the seed-headed stem. Spray pale wheat at 18 PSI, 0.2–0.3 mm needle, about 8 cm, keeping the blades crisp. Lift the mask while the paint is still soft at the edges.
Cut the grasshopper silhouette as a positive mask and place it over the stem. Fill the body, legs and wings with golden ochre at 20 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 8–10 cm, two thin coats.
Using a detail mask or freehand at 15 PSI with a 0.2 mm needle about 3–5 cm away, add burnt umber segment lines, leg spines, wing veins, antennae and the eye.
Shade the underside of the abdomen and thorax with a light burnt umber haze at 15 PSI, 6–8 cm, so the body reads round.
Add cream highlights with a 0.2 mm needle at 12–15 PSI, 3–5 cm away, along the hind leg, wing ridge, abdomen rings and a few grass tips.
Let the piece dry fully, then heat-set it following the paint maker's directions before the hat is worn.
Cure
- Heat set at 300°F / 150°C. Water-based textile paint is not wash-fast until it is heat set.
- Cap press: 3–5 minutes with a teflon sheet over the design.
- Or heat gun: 2–3 minutes per panel, keeping it moving 2–3 in off the fabric so it does not scorch.
- If you have neither, air cure for 72 hours before the cap touches water.
Seal
- Two light coats of matte fabric sealer, UV-resistant, from 8–10 in, 15 minutes apart.
- Leave it 24 hours before the cap is worn.
- Never a gloss sealer on cotton twill: it shines, cracks along the creases and looks like a sticker.
Clean-up
- Flush the brush with water, then airbrush cleaner, until it sprays clear.
- Strip the needle and wipe it toward the tip, never away from it.
- Never soak the brush body overnight.
Common mistakes
- Spraying ochre too wet makes it creep under the mask. Use thin coats and let each one flash.
- Heavy umber turns the body muddy. Build detail lines in light passes and stop early.
- Skipping the shadow layer leaves the hopper flat against the haze. Add violet under the belly and stem.
- Handling the panel before heat-setting smudges the fine lines. Give it the full drying time.
Tips
- Keep the blue and violet soft and uneven; a patchy haze reads as air, a flat fill reads as a wall.
- Practise the umber leg spines on scrap first. Short flicks with the trigger pulled back give clean tapered marks.
- Save cream for last and use it sparingly. Five or six bright edges give more life than a full outline.
- Paint the stem before the insect so the feet appear to grip it rather than float on top.
Every kit size
Trucker · kit for 1 hat
$218
Bought separately $243 · you save $25
Includes Starter airbrush set · Cap jig · and 7 more
Every item in this kit · 9 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$9
Stencils
- Pre-cut mylar stencil set for this design — 6 layers$18
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 2 oz — one per colour in this design$36
- Transparent base and reducer, 4 oz$7
- Low-tack masking film and ¼ in tape$8
- Matte fabric sealer, 4 oz$12
Equipment
- Starter airbrush set — 0.3 mm dual-action gravity brush, mini compressor, braided hose$129
- Cap jig — holds the crown taut while you spray$24
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
Trucker · kit for 12 hats
$1,061
$88.42 a hat
Bought separately $1,206 · you save $145
Includes Dual-action gravity-feed airbrush · Quiet compressor with tank and moisture trap · Cap jig and two spare crown forms · Tabletop spray booth with exhaust fan · and 11 more
Every item in this kit · 15 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$78
Stencils
- Desktop stencil cutter, 12 in — the "stencil printer": cuts mylar from this design's layer files$299
- Stencil mylar, 7 mil, 12 × 12 in$22
- This design's layer files, every layer (SVG)Included
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 4 oz — one per colour in this design$84
- Transparent base and reducer, 16 oz$16
- Low-tack masking film$18
- Matte fabric sealer, 16 oz$28
Equipment
- Dual-action gravity-feed airbrush, 0.3 mm$135
- Quiet compressor with tank and moisture trap$179
- Cap jig and two spare crown forms$64
- Tabletop spray booth with exhaust fan$149
- Cleaning pot, brushes and a half-mask respirator$99
- Heat gun for curing$35
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
Trucker · kit for 12 × 12 hats
$3,083
$21.41 a hat
Bought separately $3,628 · you save $545
Includes Two dual-action gravity-feed airbrushes · Production airbrush · Twin-piston compressor with tank and two regulators · Production spray booth · and 13 more
Every item in this kit · 17 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$756
Stencils
- Stencil cutter-plotter, 24 in — the production "stencil printer"$649
- Stencil mylar, 7 mil, 12 × 12 in$85
- This design's layer files, every layer (SVG)Included
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 32 oz — one per colour in this design$288
- Transparent base and reducer$49
- Low-tack masking film$54
- Matte fabric sealer$89
Equipment
- Two dual-action gravity-feed airbrushes, 0.3 mm$270
- Production airbrush, 0.5 mm, for base fades$95
- Twin-piston compressor with tank and two regulators$329
- Production spray booth, two fans$289
- Three cap jigs$192
- Cleaning station, respirator and spare cartridges$139
- Cap heat press for curing$279
- Drying rack, 24 caps$65
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
The creator
Remixes
No remixes yet — make your own version.
Where this came from
trucker hat · made
0 — nothing entered the score yet, at the Derby's published weights, since . Views are not counted.
- grasshopper
- hopper
- dry fly
- fly fishing
- trucker hat
- meadow
- summer
- insect
- ochre
- slate blue
- grass
- wildlife art