Now that we have our airbrush, compressor and paints we are ready to set ourselves up. Make sure you add an air hose and an airbrush stand to make things a bit easier. Also if you have an easel, you can use that. Once you’ve connected everything up, switch on the compressor and set the pressure gauge to 30 psi or 2 Bar. This is usually our operating pressure.

In order to be a good airbrusher we have to feel comfortable with the airbrush in our hand, which means Practice, Practice and more Practice.

Some simple exercises, practiced on a regular basis will improve airbrush control and make you feel more confident. First things first. Pour some water in the airbrush paint reservoir. Now press down on the trigger for air only. With the trigger pushed down to the max, as shown below, slowly pull back. Can you see how the water stream starts off small then large? This is the basic airbrush operating procedure. With the trigger still pushed down, slowly push it forward and notice that the water stream is becoming smaller. Once you have pushed the trigger completely forward the water has stopped and you can release the trigger. We always keep the trigger down for air and slide it backwards and forwards for paint, still with the trigger in the downward position.

 

This is a basic exercise and the foundation of our airbrush work. It’s a simple straight line and it requires some co-ordinated control. We will post a little video of these practice exercises in the video section in the near future. Take two sheets of A4 paper, tape one down to prevent the air blowing it away. The other is for testing the airbrush and paint. We always have a test sheet next to us when we are working on projects. It’s a good habit to get into. Put some paint into the airbrush pot.
Now, just as you did with the water, test your airbrush on your test sheet. Remember to keep the air on all the time as you pull back for more paint and slacken off for reducing the paint flow. Look at the paint on your test sheet. If there’s too much grainy texture in the paint then you probably need to add more reducer to your paint.

Fig. 1

 

Don’t worry if you get it wrong, it takes alot of practice to get a nice paint flow. Usually today’s water based paints come with paint ready to spray, so it should give you an idea of the paint consistency you will require. Try and spray a line from left to right at various distances from the surface, as shown in Fig. 1. We usually have our students do this excercise for an hour so we can check their technique. It’s amazing how much they can improve in such a small length of time. Now do the excercise from top to bottom and from bottom to top.. This is a great warm up exercise before you start any projects. Soon it will become as easy as using a pen.

 

One of the most important factors in Airbrushing is the realationship between the airbrush and paint. Sometimes the airbrush is playing up, the paint is grainy and spluttering. You pull back on the trigger slowly and nothing happens. Suddenly a volume of paint shoots out and spoils your work. This is a common problem and the reason being is that the paint needs more reducer added to it. How much? Only you can tell. Keep adding and testing on your test sheet untll it flows smoothly.

 

To master the airbrush, you should have complete paint control once you start pulling back the trigger. In other words, the instant you pull back, paint should start to leave the airbrush. On some occasions you will pull back the trigger and once you reach half way, only then, will paint begin to flow. This is usually due to a dirty airbrush or the paint is too thick.

 

Fig. 2

This next exercise should help you with paint reduction and to target your airbrush. It’s a very simple exercise and all you will need is some paper with squares. Simply airbrush the smallest dot you can on the cross hairs of the squares. As shown in Fig.2. You will have to practice on this one, but it’s a very important exercise. Part two of this exercise is to paint in the square, whilst trying to reduce any paint over-spray. Remember that to get in close and achieve tight detail, you will have to add lots of reducer to your paint. Also it’s important to note that you don’t have to attain full coverage of the square straight away. Build it up with gradual layers.

 

Fig. 3

Another fun and useful exercise is to take a news paper and colour in the lettering as shown in Fig. 3. You can learn so much from these exercises regarding paint consistency and trigger control.The important thing about improving your skills is to persevere and if you enjoy it, you will progress quickly. Remember, we’ve all been there.