Airbrush Painting Instructions

Spraying too much paint too close to the paper will cause dripping.

An airbrush gives you tremendous flexibility when you are painting. You can paint large surfaces quickly, apply tasteful gradients, and use patterns cut through plastic much more effectively with an airbrush than you can with a regular paintbrush. Becoming proficient with the airbrush involves mastering a few basic techniques that you will find yourself performing frequently in your future work. It is best to practice these techniques on spare paper before attempting to actually paint something.

Things You'll Need

• Dual-action, internal mix airbrush
• Airbrush hose
• Air source (mini compressor or propellant can)
• Pre-reduced airbrush paints
• Bristol paper or drawing paper
• Frisket
• Sharp blade

Instructions

1. Attach the airbrush paint container to the airbrush, following the instructions given for these components. You might want to use black ink or paint only while you're becoming familiar with airbrush technique.

2. Attach the mini compressor to the airbrush regulator, using the airbrush hose. Again, follow any specific instructions given in these components' user manuals.

3. Aim the airbrush at the paper.

4. Push the trigger down for air. The further down you push the trigger, the more air will be fed into the airbrush.

5. Pull the trigger back for paint. The further back you pull the trigger, the more paint will be fed into the airbrush.

6. Hold the airbrush a couple of inches from the paper and spray a small dot of paint onto the paper. This dot should be solid and opaque, but should not drip at all. Practice adjusting the rate or air and paint until you can reliably produce small dots that don't drip.

7. Hold the airbrush about half a foot from the paper and spray a thin, straight line. Many beginners leave globs of paint on one or both ends of such lines, caused by unsteady hand movement. Practice moving your hand steadily until you can reliably produce thin lines with no paint globs on the ends.

8. Spray back and forth across the paper, with the airbrush half a foot from the paper, from the top gradually down to the bottom. Each pass should overlap the one preceding it, with the end result being a steady gradient that moves smoothly from black to white. It will probably take a few tries to get this right.

9. Peel the backing layer off the frisket and place the frisket over the paper, smoothing out any bubbles from the middle out toward the edges.

10. Cut patterns in the frisket with a sharp blade. You need to be able to cut through the frisket without cutting into the paper, so the blade needs to be really sharp.

11. Spray paint onto the frisket to create hard lines on the paper in the locations where the frisket has been cut. This technique is similar to stenciling when working with screen prints.

12. Peel the frisket off the paper as soon as you are finished with it. Leaving it on too long could make it difficult or impossible to remove. Place the frisket on its backing paper for later use.

References

• Art Talk: Guide To The Airbrush