Years ago I studied with an amazing painter by the name of Jack Reilly. He taught me how to use an airbrush, and really see color. I studies with Jack for several years, and learned a lot. Eventually Jack left the studio, I took over the studio and the students. I taught surfboard makers, car painters, illustrators, fabric designers, model makers, and special effects guys. I taught a beginning airbrush class, and learned a lot also from my students with all of the different applications they were using.

We used an H1 Paasche airbrush, it being a single action. The single action brushes are very easy to use for beginners. You press a button and that gives you spray, then you use the appreture setting at the tip to give you line/spray width. To start out with, I find it’s a lot easier to work with your paper or canvas hung on a wall, you standing in front of it level. Instead of worrying about learning over and spilling ink or paint out of your airbrush, with the artwork on a wall your body can move an adjust. It’s very important to keep a good stance, loose, and be able to move with fluidity. You are strifing for fluidity with the use of an airbrush, so when you FEEL fluid this helps your work. Bend at the knees a bit, and plant your feet apart even with your shoulders. You will feel steady and in control, a good thing to be while airbrushing.

Look through a magazine for a photograph of folded or draped fabric in a solid color, or shoot a pic More…

The airbrush paints available in the market today are non-toxic and water soluble. They are used in applications like temporary tattoos, automotive, modeling, fabric and by custom surfboard makers. They are available in craft shops, stationery shops as well as art stores. I find it very easy to use craft and textile paints and if you learn the basics, it becomes even easier.

These paints come in two different colors i.e. the opaque and the transparent types. The opaque is usually referred as the base color, non transmitting or the impenetrable to sight. They have a higher amount of pigments and can clog your brush easily at the tip. Whereas the Transparent paints allow light to pass through it so that other objects or bodies can be seen distinctly.

Some of the airbrush paints include: acrylics, gouache, and water colors. These are water based colors that come in tubes and in pre-reduced form. Acrylics are available in both transparent and opaque colors, they are easily thinned and cleaned using water. They are used in painting clothing and textiles. sign paints, oil paints and cratex colors are reduced with spirits or turpentine. They can be opaque or transparent depending on the level of reduction.

To apply a airbrush paints on fabrics, first you will need to try it on paper or canvas as you may well know, colors turn permanent on drying. Clean the leather by rubbing with alcohol or spirits. Spray a mild base coat of Opaqu More…

What ever happened to Fay Wray? We’ve lost her in the tunnels of time, but the new starlets out there are just as gorgeous as Wray ever was- and we do it with a little bit of air! Sounds light? You’re right! Airbrushing! The flawless coverage and natural translucency that airbrush makeup offers is a huge step in the evolution of makeup art.

When the average person hears the word airbrush, we think of a car being painted, or the final stages of prints for magazines that are finessed into perfection. Today, these processes are accomplished digitally. The model’s print (who already happens to be stunningly gorgeous) is color corrected, her teeth are made whiter, her pupils enhanced, her lashes made thicker, her skin tweaked to perfection, her legs thinned out and elongated. It’s quite an artificial process and it leads me to the conclusion that I – or any farm animal for that matter… could probably model for Vogue. However, what would you say if some of these adjustments could be made on your face instead of on your picture? I said prove it!

As I watched the tiny droplets leave the airbrush gun and dance in the air before landing on the subject’s face I was intrigued. I was sold when I saw a pretty great result dry into flawless More…