The airbrush world is unique among all the other visual arts in that it generally emphasizes technique over content. It attracts individuals at the grassroots level, who often prefer skulls to figurative art and beach scenes on T-shirts to landscapes on canvas. Is there anything wrong with that? Not at all. That is the world I came from. But this...
There are many opinions on setting the "right" air pressure for the airbrush, but there is no "one size fits all" psi setting. There are just too many variables. Different airbrushes require different pressures, which depend on the paint chemistry and the amount of reducer in the paint, and some claim even the relative barometric pressure plays a part. Too...
Here, we talk about the main regrets of an artists' experiences. This applies to all art forms, including airbrush, oils, as well as the performing arts.1. Undervaluing work - Most artists see only their mistakes when they look at their work, and assume the client sees the same problems. Unfortunately, this results in the artist assessing the value of their...
Since there is so much controversy regarding how to maintain the airbrush, I'll share some of my thoughts and procedures about how I keep my airbrush functioning without blockage while never having to disassemble it. The first rule that one must adopt is a simple one and relates to the laws of physics. Virtually all airbrush paint requires air to dry and goes through phases,...
Sooner or later you are going to make a painting error. Don't cry, because you have options. 5 of them to be exact. Option 1 - Give up. Walk away from the painting and never return. Option 2 - Start over. Begin a new painting. Hopefully you made the mistake early on, before you had too much time invested. ...
We've all had our struggles rendering hair or grass. No matter how much detail we add, it just doesn't look right, and we just can't put our finger on the problem. We fear that it will forever look like it was drawn by a child. The main problem here is that we are trying to render what we know instead of...
How an airbrush is damaged by disassembly and reassembly. . You often hear the claim that an airbrush must be disassembled for cleaning after each use. . You've also heard the other side claiming that disassembly damages the airbrush and you should not disassemble the airbrush, except to repair it. . How exactly does disassembly wear out an airbrush? . The...
What you need to improve the most. There are many things to consider when trying to improve your art skills. There's airbrush control, choosing a subject, composition, surface preparation, understanding the medium, proportions, edges, value and color, to name a few. All are important, but one area overrides them all when it comes to importance: observational skills. Without the ability...
Have you ever tried to correct a portrait mistake with white, or a buffered color, only to discover an ugly gray spot appearing at the repair site?You've been a victim of the blue shift: A phenomenon associated in airbrushing with light paint over dark. The mechanism is not clearly understood, but it manifests in frustrating ways.Up until now, I haven't...
Recently there has been a campaign for re-packaged cheap airbrushes manufactured in China, the most notable being the Gaahleri airbrush line. Lots of people bought into the advertising, which promised a professional level, inexpensive airbrush full of "groundbreaking" innovations. Aside from the cheap price, none of these claims turned out to be valid. Let's start with these two claims: The needle...
