If you have ever watched someone airbrush a T-shirt, car door, wall, etc. and thought it looked pretty complicated, well guess what? It’s not all that hard to learn really. You don’t even need to know how to draw or even paint but you can learn how to airbrush just about anything you want, with the three P’s, patience, practice and persistence. Remember, nobody knows how to do anything until they practice and through trial and error and it’s the same with airbrushing.

Before you get started, it’s a good idea to know what it is you want to airbrush since this will determine what type of equipment you will need to purchase. You should also know the equipment is going to cost you a bit, you know the saying “You get what you pay for?” Well this really applies when it comes to airbrushing equipment. A good airbrush will start at around $60.00 and up to $140.00. Buying anything cheaper will only cause you pain and sorrow in the end and you may even give up airbrushing all together. A good airbrush will last you a long time, and make your learning experience a good one.

You will need the following to get you started in airbrushing....

· Airbrush

· Air compressor

· Air hose that fits your airbrush and your air compressor

· Airbrush holder

· Paint

 Airbrush Definitions

Internal Mix—Combines air and paint in the tip of the airbrush

External Mix—Combines the air and paint after they leave the airbrush. The volume of paint is controlled by a knob on the airbrush.

Action—This is the function of the trigger on the airbrush and controls the affects and spray pattern of the airbrush.

 
A single action airbrush sprays paint when you press the trigger and stops when you release the trigger. You can control the amount of paint coming out of the airbrush by the paint volume knob. The problem with the single action airbrush is that in order to increase or decrease your paint flow you have to stop what you’re doing and adjust the volume knob, this is a very time consuming way to airbrush anything.

A double action airbrush allows you to paint consistently. Pushing down and pulling back on the trigger at once gives you air and paint at the same time. The amount of air and paint applied is determined by how far back and down you push the trigger. These airbrushes are good to use when you need to constantly adjust the spray width and volume of the paint being used.

 It is best to use paint that is specifically made for airbrushing. The pigments are ground finer for airbrushes. This will be much easier to learn and experiment with. Once you get the hang of airbrushing, you can use any kind of paint you want however, you will probably have to thin it out first.

 There are three different styles of airbrushes.

1. Gravity Feed stores the paint cup above the airbrush and gravity pulls the paint into the needle tip. This is the most popular style of airbrush.

2. Side Feed stores the paint cup on the side of the airbrush but allows the cup to rotate 360 degrees. This style is good if you’re going to paint in hard to reach places or painting over head.

3. Siphon Feed pulls the paint out through and tube and into the airbrush. This style allows you to use larger size cups or bottles allowing for larger amounts of paint to be used.

 
This article is just the basics in airbrushing 101 and will hopefully get you started in the right direction of airbrushing.