Air Brush!

[MartinRedmond]

I want to learn genuine air brushing. What do I buy? Is it worth paying for lessons?

-Thanks!

[davejohnsonart1]

Unless you'e doing t-shirts, why bother?
Seriously, I think most illustrators have abandoned airbrushing for photoshop. I just threw away my air compressor when I moved (I don't think any of my airbrushes work anymore anyways).

[drugmassacre]

it's still used a lot on cars or toy customizing

[HellboyOne]

And make-up artists use them.

[davejohnsonart1]

Well don't forget nail artists!

[Neneuche]

I had to learn it in college. I wish they tought us to use a wacom instead. They made us buy it. I hated that class. And we had bad ventilation too. Oh, the fun migraines!! 30 people airbrushing simultaneously is not the best thing for your lungs.
Si tu veux, j'ai encore la mienne avec le tuyau et quelques peintures. Je crois qu'il faudrait remplacer l'aiguille en dedans mais c'est genre 20$. J'ai pas de compresseur.

[davejohnsonart1]

Si tu veux, j'ai encore la mienne avec le tuyau et quelques peintures. Je crois qu'il faudrait remplacer l'aiguille en dedans mais c'est genre 20$. J'ai pas de compresseur.

What?

Most of us here don't speak French, or French Canadian! I work in package design, so I'm aware that there's a difference!

Here's what you said thanks to Freetranslation.com:

If you want, I have again mine with the pipe and some paints. I believe that it would be necessary to replace the aiguille in inside but this is kind 20$. I have not any compressor.

[HellboyOne]

She's talking to Martin, who does speak French.

[FlipMcgee]

Actually been thinking of getting into it for awhile now. It has a bad rep amongst many with van art, martini & olive paintings and all but I want to learn it and use it more for painting sculptures and making mixed-media art in sketchbooks. I took a dirt cheap weekend intro workshop that's run by a local art store and learned enough to know the basic equipment, types of paints you can use and compressors. There was a hands on portion and I didn't find it that overly complicated to use but it's a messy process considering you have to re-load the paintcup, adjusting the spray as you go, tool maintenance, etc. I asked the instructor if he recommends special vents and he downplayed potential hazards (the mags make a big deal out of it he says). Which I agree with especially when you can just use non-toxic watercolors or dyes. If you plan to paint your car or a bunch of crash helmets with industrial grade paints and solvents, that's when you have to wear the gas mask and hazmat suit

I know what I need to get equipment-wise, it's just a matter of saving up the cash for it because I don't want to start cheap and buy plastic airbrushes and noisy compressors. On-line art stores might have descriptions for their airbrushes, like which one's best for which use (hobby, fine line control, big huge guns for cars, etc.).

[MartinRedmond]

Thanks. Yes, I wanted to become a fingernail artist. That's exactly it. I just think airbrushed pieces when done right look better than computer airbrushed pieces. I want to do stuff like the old sports Atari cartridges:



I just find it hard to make gradients in Photoshop with the brushes.

[davejohnsonart1]

Bob Peake did some of the best airbrush illustrations ever.

So did Charles White (the white one).