by Cherrilyn Pearson
Airbrushing can be a most rewarding and pleasurable art form. It can also be the most aggravating, irritating thing you will ever attempt. The desire to work with the airbrush is only the first step. The airbrush is a tool, as with any other tool, learning its limits should be a part of your basic lesson plan. Many people see a artist producing T-shirts or other art work and think Hey that looks easy forgetting or not realizing that the artist has spent much time and money mastering his airbrush technique. If you do not wish to put in the time and effort with the airbrush you will most likely give up. However with practice and time you can produce some really great art.
Once you have decided you would like to dive into airbrushing you will need a few tools to start with. I am not going to get into the types and styles of airbrushes, compressors or paint. I am only going to give you a general list of items that you will need to get started. Our forum is a great place to browse and learn about these products.
You will need:
Airbrush
Air Source with pressure gauge
Paper Towels or Pellon
Some to paint with (paint, ink etc.)
For the time being that is all you need. No one has to go out and buy thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Learn how to use what you have and then add as you go.
Once you have your airbrush and air supply you will need to "get the feel" of your airbrush. Learn to control it, or it will control you. Study the diagrams supplied with your brush, so you will know how to take it apart and put it back together. Read the book... LOL Do that first instead of last. Hook up you air supply to your airbrush and practice starting and stopping the air flow, pulling the trigger back and forth. You want to teach yourself to do this as second nature. Trying not to stop and start abruptly. A word about air pressure (psi). Different materials require different air pressure settings to achieve the best results. 10 to 20 psi works great for inks and thin material but 30 + psi is required for the VL and most fabric paints. This is a area where experimentation with your own equipment will guide you. You will be able increase you psi settings as your speed in painting increases. I am using a Anthem airbrush and silk black by Aqua Flow at 50 psi.
When you are ready to paint add paint to your airbrush paint cup or bottle. Just a small amount will do to start out with. For those who don't have any paint handy, you can use water and food coloring. Hey it is cheap, handy and easy to clean the brush when you are finished for the day. Get your paper towels out and start by just spraying a bit of paint through the airbrush onto the paper towel. Don't be concerned about trying to do anything specific, just press for air, ease back on the trigger and get the feel of it. OK, see it is not going to bite you.
There are drills that are recommended for beginners. These drills help to build your control and confidence. Once these drills are mastered they will make your life so much easier. Most of the artwork you will be doing will contain some or all of the strokes you will learn while doing the drills. No one likes the drills, but they are NECESSARY.
Some are as follows: It is recommended that each drill should be done at least a hundred times. Make dots and then connect them with lines. Make little dots and then big dots. The trick is to get the size and position you want where you want it. Just a note to you. In the middle of these drills, no one said you can't get a bit crazy and doodle. LOL These drills are tough on the patience and doing a bit of silly stuff in between will help you relax. Relaxing is important and will come with time and practice. Try not to be to hard on yourself. Rome was not built in a day.
Okay you have painted dots and dashes and daggers until you are sick of them.. did you paint them some more? Good. Another fun thing; try painting the drills with your eyes closed. The things we think about when bored.. LOL
Here are a few rules to remember, I came up with some of them the hard way: Don't throw the airbrush.. bad to do and costly. Don't loan your airbrushes, unless you can afford to have them repaired or replaced. Don't lay your airbrush down on its side with the paint jar attached. Don't forget to flush (clean) out your airbrush after practicing. It is often not necessary to completely dismantle and clean your brush after painting each time, but you do not want to leave paint in the brush over night. I have seen where others say they leave their brushes attached to the paint bottles when using textile paints. I do not disagree with this practice IF they are going to be using the brushes the next day. However, if you are not sure when your next session will be CLEAN the brush. If you become tired or frustrated stop for the day. Don't try to force yourself, it only adds to the frustration level.
I am sure there are many more tips that others can share with you regarding your journey into airbrushing. I also know that you only need to ask and there are lots of folks that will try to help you. Remember to keep your questions specific and clear.
Okay you have practiced and want to try to make something that sort of resembles art. There are a lot of ways to begin. This is one of the simple methods. If your drawing skills are not the best. The first exercise (wait don't shoot me) will allow you to paint a picture, but will also help you to learn control lines and blending techniques. Get a hold of a coloring book, trace a couple of the drawings on to the paper towel. Remove the page from behind the paper towel and proceed to paint the picture. It is okay, for now, to draw the lines in with a marker. Just practice filling in the color. Trying to stay within the lines. The goal is to paint the color in so it is smooth looking. Try adding a bit of color over one another, to see the effects. Try adding a bit of shadowing to give it more appeal. Trace another with pencil and practice airbrushing the lines instead of using a marker and then coloring it. This is a simple fun exercise that will build your skills. Yes you can still use the food coloring.. Red, Blue, Yellow and Green.. Red/Blue = purple, Red/Yellow = Orange etc.
Another is a free hand exercise that is fun and will cover just about all of the drills mentioned above. It is the freehand beach scene. I know you have seen them, they are still one of the most popular requested designs.
Keep it simple:Sunset, Water, Beach, Palm Tree. While you will need to start practicing you lettering we are not concerned with it at the moment. Only the picture itself.
The sunset and the water will give you the blending and fading practice and the beach and Palm tree with give you line practice and dagger strokes.
Start off with a horizon line (where the water meets the sky), then determine where your shore line will be. Once you have determined this you simply blend the water color to the beach and the sky colors from the horizon line up.
Once the sky and the water have been placed you then add you beach color. Then the palm tree and a few sea oats or grass if you like on the beach. Now, you can also paint in the palm tree and sea oats if you are using black or dark color for them.
I did not go into placing clouds or waves or any of the hundreds of the other details that can be added to this type of scene. This is just to practice. I don't really care what colors are used, try them all. You will learn what colors will look great together and which will look like mud. You can even do the whole scene just using one color. Color theory is not a part of this article. Manuals can be written and have been on color theory and color rules. This article is about just fun!
Let me address something that I found very frustrating and difficult to deal with when learning to airbrush. Worrying about what I wanted to paint or what I wanted to do with the airbrush. Unless you are already in the art field and want to use the airbrush to enhance your art, try not to worry about these things. Just paint to paint. Everything else will come with time and you will know it when it happens. Everyone is different and what is wonderful to one is a pain in the neck to another. Don't try to fit into someone else's mold, let yourself discover your niche'. Some folks pick up the airbrush with the intention of starting a business, others just want a fun hobby. Both of these are great reasons. Just remember you get out of it what you put into it.
Good Luck and HAVE FUN with it.
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