Saturday, November 17, 2007

A Better Set-up



I realized pretty quickly that I would need MANY hours practicing the handling of my airbrush, so I got myself a chair and a table. Much better. I don't know what I'm doing, just repeating dagger strokes and dots and shading over and over and over, and some lettering, too. And I tried to draw another girl freehand, but on this smaller scale (thus, VERY fine control is required). It's amazing how technical an airbrush can be. One thing I discovered is that I needed to thin my paints with water much more than I was, as in 1 to 1 or even 2 to 1, water to pigment. The needle tip still clogs a bit after a few minutes, so I must clean it over and over. Is this normal? It happens mainly when I'm doing a lot of LIGHT work, just spraying tiny amounts up close. I think maybe it's normal. Like everything, you must learn to clean it efficiently and quickly, and get back to work. Takes about 30 seconds, I guess. ...
Man, don't let paint dry inside your airbrush! It gets everywhere, especially is it's too thick. If it's too thick, it doesn't atomize properly, so, later, you find dried chunks THROUGHOUT the gun. Another way to solve a too-thick paint problem: increase the air pressure. Unfortunately, my compressor has only one setting.

1 comment:

Esly Carrero said...

apparently.. over at Fasen's @ Universal (where they always use airbrush) they seem to ALWAYS be spraying water as soon as they are finished with each color.

Cleaning it can be a pain. I guess that's why Keelan & the rest of our Disney crew don't use it!

But it looks like it can be a lot of fun.. despite the mess. :0)