How to Make a Beginner Airbrush Stencil

Series Summary

The first airbrush machine was a hand operated compressor developed in 1879 by Abner Peeler in Iowa to be used for artistic purposes. The modern airbrush works by passing compressed air through a filter pump, which then creates a reduction in air pressure, or suction, which allows paint to be pulled from a connected reservoir. The high pressure of the air turns the paint into tiny droplets as it passes a very fine paint-metering component. The effect is a very smoothly blended one that mixes a variety of colors in a seamless way. Airbrushing has been used by many artists for photo retouching, murals, makeup application and for detailing cars and motorcycles. In this free video series, learn how to make and use airbrush stencils. You will get some great tips so that you can create fantastic airbrush art. Learn the supplies and materials you need to get started. Get advice on creating beginner, novice and advanced stencils. Find out how to use positive and negative stencils. Also, learn how to hold your stencils in place. So, what are you waiting for? Find the inner airbrush artist in you!

Video Transcript

"Okay, if you've been following along, you've probably gotten pretty good with your airbrush and now you want to take it to the next step. We're going to use some stencils. We're going to start with a very simple, very basic, anybody can make a stencil like this. And you can use it for multiple, multiple, multiple things. First off, you're going to need pencil, pen, whatever you feel most comfortable with drawing with, you're going to need a sharp knife, I prefer the exacto knife as they call it, there's other companies that make them, with a number eleven blade. Make sure it's brand new whenever you cut your stencil. And go to your local drug store, find cheap poster board. You can use paper and stuff, but the problem with the paper is, is it gets a little, it sometimes it gets ruined the first time you use it. You want to use something that you can use over and over again if you're going to do this on a multiple shirt thing. Say you got your kid's softball team and you want to make a bunch of shirts for them just for fun for a parade or whatever. You're going to use it over and over again, use some poster board because it's got like a wax, waxy film and it's, and it seals up pretty good. First thing you're going to do, take the board, you're just going to draw a circle. Find anything that's round. You want to leave yourself around the edge pretty good where you can't get any over spray. Take your knife. I'm not going to spend a lot of time trying to make it perfect. Usually you do this laying on a table or something like that. I don't recommend doing it on the wife's coffee table. Make sure you cut through. If it rips like that, just come back and clean it up. You got a good circle to make a ball. Thank you."