Airbrush Basics

[Shadowwing]

I happen to have a old Paasche airbrush set sitting around...had it for years but never used. Mainly because I had no idea how to use it, and nervous about messing it up. So can anyone help me with learning how to use it?

I'd like to know what kind of paints I can use in it, and how can I prepare paint for use in it.

Also, do I need special enclosure to use it (so I don't have paint blowing all over the place).

Any other tips and tricks will be greatly appreciated.

[Sogbad]

Ah the good old Airbrush, I used to airbrush a lot, but that was before I became digital , and the last time I wheeled out the old airbrush I couldn't believe how much of a pain masking was, but anyway….

If you never use the airbrush then it doesn't matter if it gets messed up :wink: .

Paint, as long as you make it to a milky consistency you can use it, too thick and it won't spray well and will clog the airbrush, too watery and it won't give enough coverage and may run. I used to prefer Rotring inks, but that was because I was lazy and liked to use it straight from the bottle, and used gouache for light colors that needed to be opaque. You can use acrylics but they tend to dry very quickly and tended to clog the airbrush quicker than other paints.

Unless you spraying large areas you don't need to have an enclosure, if you are spraying a lot, and especially if you are using certain acrylics you might want to get a mask.

The next question is what type of airbrush is it, single or double action. Single action has a one direction button, you push it and the more you push it the more air and paint comes out, a double action has a dual direction button, you push down to release more air and pull back to release more paint. The double action allows you much more control and is the only real choice if your going to do illustration work.

Once your up and running you need to practice to get control over the airbrush, practice painting lines of consistent width and color, practice painting vignette lines that fade in and out and vary in size. Then practice painting flat areas of color, and vignettes, all as smooth as possible. The type of illustration that an airbrush is most suited too rely on these basic skills.

After you have a basic mastery of the airbrush you need to explore the wonderful world of masking, the tedious but essential process used to control the wayward paint. There's 3 main types of mask, loose, film and liquid. Loose masks are cut from any material and are held in place as you paint, they give a softer edge to the painted area, film is expensive and is used for shaper edged area's, it's a transparent self adhesive film that you apply onto the board and cut, 'carefully' with a scalpel. Liquid mask is also expensive and is as the name suggests a liquid that you paint on to mask small detailed areas, when you've finished painting you rub the mask off.

Anyway I hope that gave you a little information, there's plenty of books out there and they all pretty much have the same basic information about how to start airbrushing.

[Seedling]

Read the label information on any paints you use *very carefully*. If a particular color says “do not use with airbrush”, then take that seriously. Certain pigments or dyes, when inhaled, can give you cancer or other nastiness. And even the harmless stuff can give you black lung over time. Just blow your nose and look at the color of your snot after using an airbrush for an hour and you’ll see what’s going into your lungs. Yummy.