Greetings from West Cork!!

S

SarahFIrl

Guest
Hi all, another newbie here! Am a practicing artist (of sorts) and I have just purchased my very first airbrush and compressor. Not knowing better, I ended up with a detail brush, 0.2-0.3mm, but hey - it sprays paint! Think I already damaged the needle tip though trying to get paint off it :( Am using Wicked Detail by Createx after getting properly frustrated at thinning liquid acrylic ink with window cleaner. Thanks YouTube.

Anyway, am not a big fan of dots and lines (urgh) and I am already having good results doing dagger lines and practicing stencilling and shading the SAME skull cut-out I made from a cereal box. Hey, it works and I can see my improvements on each one, happy days! Skull #15 this afternoon, but nowhere near ready to show anyone anything yet. Still getting a handle on thinning/reducing and air pressure. Already don't like stencils but my hand isn't steady enough to freehand anything bigger than a grape yet! Looking forward to trying out some more colours once my 0.5mm brush arrives, hopefully it won't be too long in the post.

So, nice to find what seems like a very friendly forum of airbrushers. The plan is to eventually move onto airbrushing metals and plastics (bikes and helmets, of course), however it does mean learning to draw stuff I don't like. Like skulls. Lots of them. I'll have loads of questions as I don't know anyone else who is airbrushing near me as a hobby, only a super talented guy who does airbrushing for a living thirty miles away.

So, if anyone has any advice or supreme wisdom for a newbie that isn't already on the 'net, please feel free to let me know!

Sarah F
 
Welcome aboard Sarah - glad you are having a good time with it, because that is what it is all about. I would suggest doinv dots ands lines, I know they are boring; however, they are the fundementals everything is built on. Maybe, only do them for 5 - 10 minutes before you move onto something fun. Welcome aboard and enjoy
 
Thanks for the advice, however hard I tell myself 'do the dots and lines', flowers and names and butterflies come out of the airbrush. Maybe I should buy another one!

Maybe I should just have better willpower.
 
Welcome home Sarah , Now post up those beginning pics so we can help guide you where you want to be.
For the most part none of us just picked up an airbrush and made a master piece.
Yes dots and daggers are boring that is why you paint skulls :D or what ever hits your fancy .
We do not try to belittle anyone here but try to help them see where they can improve and grow.
Nothing wrong with making you own stencils out of old cereal boxes. As far as a home made reducer all you need is water Alcohol and glycerin.
25% of the bottle size is alcohol, 75% of it is water and 1 drop per ounce of glycerin.
W500 works the best but for practice the home brew works great and saves money and we all know saving money is a good thing.
So you have a 2 in 1 airbrush :D Bonus ,
 
SarahFIrl said:
Thanks for the advice, however hard I tell myself 'do the dots and lines', flowers and names and butterflies come out of the airbrush. Maybe I should buy another one!

Maybe I should just have better willpower.
Click to expand...
If flower and names and butterflies is what is coming out of it and you are happy with that then go for it .
soon when the addiction of the airbrush sets in you will have 20 or 30 airbrushes :D
 
Don't say that Mr.Micron! My hubby is already having a pop at my latest 'hobby', I'm a creative soul and love trying out new mediums, from crochet to sandcircles. I've one more airbrush on order, but I'm sticking to cheapy chinese ones for now. Luckily I got abottle of Createx airbrush cleaner as well as a small bottle of reducer in a paint set, so I'll use that stuff for now.

It's fab to see so many people being so welcoming! I tell you what, I promise to post up something I've done within a week...
 
SarahFIrl said:
Don't say that Mr.Micron! My hubby is already having a pop at my latest 'hobby', I'm a creative soul and love trying out new mediums, from crochet to sandcircles. I've one more airbrush on order, but I'm sticking to cheapy chinese ones for now. Luckily I got abottle of Createx airbrush cleaner as well as a small bottle of reducer in a paint set, so I'll use that stuff for now.

It's fab to see so many people being so welcoming! I tell you what, I promise to post up something I've done within a week...
Click to expand...
Also get you a bottle of Createx Restorer , It will break down any dried paint in the nozzle , Only soak the nozzle in it , and filter it back in the bottle when you are done. It will last a long long time
 
SarahFIrl said:
Don't say that Mr.Micron! My hubby is already having a pop at my latest 'hobby', I'm a creative soul and love trying out new mediums, from crochet to sandcircles. I've one more airbrush on order, but I'm sticking to cheapy chinese ones for now. Luckily I got abottle of Createx airbrush cleaner as well as a small bottle of reducer in a paint set, so I'll use that stuff for now.

It's fab to see so many people being so welcoming! I tell you what, I promise to post up something I've done within a week...
Click to expand...
You husband will get over it airbrushing is a way of life :D
But we try to make everyone feel welcome , Granted I do miss a few of the new folks on welcoming them to the family but I am old LOL
 
OK, will try my supplier in the North to get the restorer. Will wait until my next order of paint though I'd say. Shipping is expensive! I used the Createx airbrush cleaner to soak the nozzle tip and the air cap today as I couldn't get the airbrush to pass paint and after twenty mins it did great. Now to find out how to grease it all back up properly after cleaning it so thoroughly. The trigger is still covered in grease, does any ohter part at teh front end need grease too? Will any lubrication do? (Have WD40, chain lube, etc etc)
 
Sorry for the typos, fingers move faster than eyes when typing.
 
Another welcome from the UK, you will love here this is a brilliant forum for learning with a lot of very helpful people ready and willing to provide support :)
 
Welcome :). Dots and lines are extremely boring (we've all been there) but I'd advice to do atleast a couple of them before getting distracted by the butterflies comming out of your airbrush :p. You'll need to build up muscle memory which will take ages without doing dots and lines.
 
SarahFIrl said:
OK, will try my supplier in the North to get the restorer. Will wait until my next order of paint though I'd say. Shipping is expensive! I used the Createx airbrush cleaner to soak the nozzle tip and the air cap today as I couldn't get the airbrush to pass paint and after twenty mins it did great. Now to find out how to grease it all back up properly after cleaning it so thoroughly. The trigger is still covered in grease, does any ohter part at teh front end need grease too? Will any lubrication do? (Have WD40, chain lube, etc etc)
Click to expand...
Grease ?? SUPER LUBE, or glycerin works well too.
No WD anything or chain oil.
If that mixes with the paint or get in the air chamber game over on a painting .
Mainly good old vaseline rubber out on the tip of your finger is all you need a super thin coating . start on the needle about 1 to 1.5 inches form the tip and go back to the end of the needle. on the trigger I just lube the pivot point on it and that is all I lube.
 
Thanks so much for the advice, Herb! Wasn't sure at all how to lubricate the airbrush or where to do it. I take it I avoid where the needle nut holds the needle in the handle area?
 
Hi Sarah, fom a south coast brit. I don't know anyone else who airbrushed either, and learnt through trial and error and the advice and support of the good folk around here, so don't be shy about showing any practise or experiments, it could save you so much time, and no trolls, only friendly advice on how to improve.
I learnt to paint on bikes, and Wicked is ideal for that. One word of advice, practice on the surface you will mostly be working on, hard surfaces behave differently.
Also like the rest of us it seems you have the bug :) so if you are in this for the long haul, then a branded brush not only makes learning easier, but is
infinitely more reliable (many Chinese ones don't work at all or only work for the first few tries, and damage really easily.) , more consistant, and will last for years and years. Once you know you love ABing those branded brushes actually save money in the long run, even though the Chinese ones seem like a cheap option to begin with.
Enjoy :)
 
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