The Creative Cauldron - Article about Airbrush Basics
The Creative Cauldron - Article about Airbrush Basics: "Airbrush Basics
by
Jeff Colburn
The airbrush is an amazing artist's tool, and you would be hard pressed to find anything that makes more realistic atmospheric mists, clouds and cast shadows. I've seen some airbrush artists make clouds that look so real you could swear they're drifting across the image as you watch.
In case you don't know what an airbrush is, let me explain. They come in various styles, but basically it's like a very small paint sprayer. It has a spray nozzle in the front, just behind that is a cup for holding paint that is about the consistency of water and at the end is a hose that pressurized air flows through. The pressurized air goes out the front of the airbrush, and along the way feeds the paint into the air stream, which you spray onto your painting surface.
One nice feature about the airbrush is that you can use almost any liquid pigment. Acrylic, watercolor, gouache, ink and tempera paints all work well with airbrushes. The pigments in watercolors work exceptionally well with airbrushes because they are so small that you will have little or no clogging, no matter how fine of a nozzle you use.
If you decide to use watercolors as your medium, it's best to avoid tray colors. Since tray colors sit next to each other, it's easy to accidentally dribble a little of one color into another. Instead try tube colors. Tube colors are less likely to be contaminated by another color . Just squeeze some into a paper cup and start mixing with water. After creating a mixture of about 50/50, you can simply pour it into the airbrush's reservoir.
When using acrylics, avoid metallics or glitter paints as these particles can clog the nozzle. There's nothing as frustrating as getting the exact image you want, only to have to repeatedly stop to clean out the airbr"
by
Jeff Colburn
The airbrush is an amazing artist's tool, and you would be hard pressed to find anything that makes more realistic atmospheric mists, clouds and cast shadows. I've seen some airbrush artists make clouds that look so real you could swear they're drifting across the image as you watch.
In case you don't know what an airbrush is, let me explain. They come in various styles, but basically it's like a very small paint sprayer. It has a spray nozzle in the front, just behind that is a cup for holding paint that is about the consistency of water and at the end is a hose that pressurized air flows through. The pressurized air goes out the front of the airbrush, and along the way feeds the paint into the air stream, which you spray onto your painting surface.
One nice feature about the airbrush is that you can use almost any liquid pigment. Acrylic, watercolor, gouache, ink and tempera paints all work well with airbrushes. The pigments in watercolors work exceptionally well with airbrushes because they are so small that you will have little or no clogging, no matter how fine of a nozzle you use.
If you decide to use watercolors as your medium, it's best to avoid tray colors. Since tray colors sit next to each other, it's easy to accidentally dribble a little of one color into another. Instead try tube colors. Tube colors are less likely to be contaminated by another color . Just squeeze some into a paper cup and start mixing with water. After creating a mixture of about 50/50, you can simply pour it into the airbrush's reservoir.
When using acrylics, avoid metallics or glitter paints as these particles can clog the nozzle. There's nothing as frustrating as getting the exact image you want, only to have to repeatedly stop to clean out the airbr"
posted by The Man at
6:37 PM
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