The airbrush is one of the most versatile art tools there is; it can be used alone or with other methods, such as hand painting, colored pencils, chalks, etc.  Some of the areas in which airbrush techniques can be applied include: fine arts, fabrics, wood, glass, custom auto painting, temporary tattoos, plastics, cakes & cookies, fingernails, metals, candles, cosmetic applications, stenciling, & wall stenciling, just to name a few.  You will find fabulous airbrush designs on items such as skateboards, safety helmets & skis, as well as beautifully patterned furniture, glass panels & platters.  In the following sections I will be helping you with technical advice & ideas on the use of the airbrush.  

Holding Your Airbrush:

Let me begin by giving you some very basic instruction on how to hold the airbrush.  You hold an airbrush as you would a pencil, thumb on the left side of the brush, index finger on the trigger, & your middle finger on the right side of the airbrush shaft. Your hand should be relaxed & soft with not much arch to the index finger.  The fleshy part of the first digit is on the trigger, not the very tip. You want a soft relaxed hand & a low extended trigger finger.  Adjust your hand forward or backward along the shaft to adapt the airbrush to your hand. You are now ready to begin.

Triggering Your Airbrush:

You can paint with an airbrush by using a stencil (template) or free hand. Free hand painting produces a soft edge.  Using a stencil produces a hard edge.  Start by free hand painting some lines , the closer you are to the object you're spraying, the finer the spray pattern.  A fine line is produced when holding the airbrush ½ -inch to 1-inch from the object.  A larger spray pattern, such a sky or a shadow, is sprayed a distance of 5-inch to 6-inch from the subject matter.  When using a double-action brush (two actions to make it spray) the two actions are - push straight down to start the air & pull back on the trigger to gently to begin the paint.  This back & forth (pull back - paint on, push forward - paint off) is the most important motion you need to learn to correctly control the air and paint flow.  Pushing the trigger forward turns off the paint, pulling back gently increases the amount of paint.  You rarely pull the trigger all the way back.  The air should remain on even after you turn off the paint.  

To help you remember the sequence, I have coined the word  “AMP”, which stands for AIR-MOVE-PAINT.  AIR - depress the trigger straight down.  MOVE - start moving your arm (any motion, linear or circular).    PAINT- gently pull the trigger straight back.  If the paint comes out too forcefully, push your finger forward; don't forget to keep the trigger depressed, keeping the air on.  When you finish the initial spraying, turn the paint off by pushing your finger forward (air is still on as long as the trigger is depressed). Never just let go of the trigger , if you do the trigger will snap back and trap paint inside the airbrush and the next time you depress the trigger you will get a dot/splatter of paint.   So , be sure to PRACTICE TURNING OFF THE PAINT.

Never use a “scrubbing” motion when spraying.  It is best to pass with a sweeping motion from left to right, or practice a following motion that relates to the shape of the item you are spraying. Turn off your paint at the end of the pass, return to the beginning & start the paint again.  The color value (darkness) is built up gradually with several passes; do not just pull the trigger further back, adding more paint , you’ll create a drippy mess. 

Cleaning Your Airbrush:

Airbrushes sometimes clog. To keep the paint flowing, occasionally you’ll need to remove the bottle of paint from the airbrush, pull the trigger all the way back & blow the residual paint into a paper towel.  You can also clean the tip of the needle by pulling the paint off with your fingernail. If your airbrush doesn't have a needle that extends beyond the tip of the airbrush, then I recommend saturating a paper towel or cotton swab with airbrush cleaner & gently wipe around the tip.  You can also use an old paintbrush or soft toothbrush dipped in airbrush cleaner , swirl it around the tip until the dried paint is removed.  Even a small amount of dried paint on the needle tip will affect the spray pattern, SO KEEP IT CLEAN!

When you are finished painting for the day, empty the paint from the color cup (if using a gravity-feed airbrush) or remove the bottle of paint from the airbrush adapter (if using a bottom feed airbrush).  Tap the excess paint from the color cup or airbrush adapter into a paper towel.  Using a spare bottle for airbrush cleaner, attach bottle to the bottom feed airbrush and spray cleaner through the airbrush until it sprays clear (for a gravity feed airbrush, add cleaner to the color cup).  Place the paper towel over the tip & gently pull the trigger back (this back flushes the airbrush).  After back flushing for a few seconds, remove the paper towel from the front end of the airbrush and spray out any residual cleaner.  This should clear out any remaining paint.

Remove the airbrush needle from the back of the airbrush, wipe gently with a paper towel dampened with airbrush cleaner, slowly reinsert the needle into the airbrush, and tighten the needle chuck.  Your airbrush is clean and ready for the next session.

You do not need to dismantle the entire airbrush each time you use it.  If you have a badly clogged airbrush ; disassemble the head assembly (see manufacturer's instructions) & soak the parts over night in cleaner.  A small tapered toothbrush (purchased in the dental dept. of your drugstore) can be used to gently clean the soaked parts. 

NEVER SOAK THE ENTIRE AIRBRUSH . THE VALVE ASSEMBLY SHOULD NEVER BE IMMERSED IN CLEANER OR WATER.

About Paints:

Any paint can be sprayed through an airbrush as long as it is thinned to the consistency of milk or water.  You can thin paint with the appropriate thinner, using water (for water-based paints), turpentine or lacquer thinner for solvent-based paints. Any properly reduced paint can be sprayed through the airbrush but I suggest you use a good quality paint with lots of pigment or you will lose the hue and have anemic looking colors by the time you thin it down enough to spray through the airbrush. In the beginning, I strongly recommend using airbrush-ready paints, such as Badger’s Air Opaque or Air Tex.  These paints are specially formulated for airbrushing and will produce the desired results.  Once you become familiar with the airbrush, feel free to experiment with paints!!  You can spray all sorts of properly reduced paints through the airbrush including acrylics, watercolors, enamels (water or oil based) lacquers, inks, fabric paints, oils, and even varnishes.  There is no limit to what you can spray!!  From fine arts to base coating wood and metals, the range is unlimited.

Stencils & Templates:

Just as free-hand painting produces soft edges & is ideal for blending & shading color, stencils produce hard edges, whether you’re using a tacky film stencil or a hand held  "found stencil"; items found around your studio or home are wonderful items to begin with!  Examples are- doilies, lace, silk flowers & leaves, feathers, patterns made with a hot glue gun applied to water. Be creative , look around & experiment. The stencils can be loose or sprayed with a repositional spray to create marvelous stencils for room stenciling, etc.

Hopefully I have started you thinking about picking up that airbrush and it's not as intimidating as you think & it's a glorious amount of fun! 

Click here for more information on specific airbrush products available at your local Michaels store. For project ideas using the airbrush, click here.