AB Virgin - Just joined.

P

pristic

Guest
Hi

Name is Peter and I just joined. Been watching the tutor for some time and love the art so if finally decided to get out and do it.
Working out which brush to buy and then I'll start posting some of my developments.

Great site and so much info. THANKS!

Cheers
Peter from Schofields NSW
 
Welcome!! Since your a "virgin" airbrusher all I can tell you is;

#1 Don't be afraid, it won't hurt!

#2Lube your needle!!

#3You WILL enjoy your first time!

#4You can DO it as much as you want and no one will think bad of you!

#5You should always wear protection (respirator)!

#6And it is perfectly fine try as many different things that you want, and I encourage you to try and do it in as many different/awkward positions as possible to get the hang of it!!

Lol, just playing around!! Welcome to the forum! We are all nice people on here and don't hesitate to ask questions!
 
Welcome to the site Pete there is a few from Sydney area here so feel at home.
 
Hey airbrush virgin from the uk. Don't know what your budget is, but before you splash out on a gun to pop that cherry, go to a shop if poss and caress a few, to see if you like the feel of it in your hand. You generally get what you pay for, so get the best you can afford as the experience will be much more satisfying, but don't go for something too tarty as it'll take someone more experienced to get it purring. And until you perfect your technique, go for an all rounder, once you've developed a good rythym you can go for something more specialist later on.
 
Hey Everyone,

Thanks heaps for the welcome!
Seamonkey your a crack up... thanks everyone.

So I went out to Airbrush Australia in Penrith today to see some work and some brushes, etc.
Found myself having a good chat to Wayne and was quite helpful. I will do the 2 day course as soon as I can.

I bought a 0.35 gun (Their own 'brand' but was quite a bit cheaper than the name brands, some Wicked Colours Paints, hose, etc... got home and couldnt wait.
I have a 170litre briggs and stratton powered compressor, the thing is a beast, and was used for framing houses, rattle gun on the cars, etc. She handled 15psi very well, so I was happy and the hose is a direct connection yay!

Googled, found something my 6 year old son wanted on his skateboard and thought I would just give it a good ol' try.

I have NEVER airbrushed before, I have a pencil knife, did my best at a stencil out of A4 paper and went at it.
Found that I have to really control the amount of air (too much, spiderweb, too little and it spatters, reduced the paint pretty well I think... just shot black today, only had limited time before kids took over again.

Here it is, not finished yet, but enough for my first time, and yes, my first time ever, ever... im pretty happy with it but jeez I got alot to learn. Cant wait. I wish my compressor wasnt petrol, would love to go work on stuff in the evenings.


<EDIT> First ever here. Cherry popped, you guys are right, I really liked it.

AirbrushSkullFirstOne.jpg



Cheers,
Peter
 
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it looks like the boys have got you headed down the right track and i'm not silly enough to get in the middle of a testosterone frenzy, but welcome aboard :)
 
Lol, c'mon you SA guys love being in the middle... thats what I hear anyway. I actually have family in SA, somewhere, Elizabeth years back but in the hills now.
 
ok, first attempt pic added to the original post.
Still have to finish teeth, shadows, etc etc

Give me feedback! I cut the stencil myself and was happy with that too lol
Daughter wants a butterfly, with lots of colours... omg!

Pete
 
Good start with that skull stencil, the shadowing is the harder part but when you learned to controll the airbrush and your paints im sure
you can make it. I also started out just with stencils, some bought ones some i cut myself from paper or overhead projector sheets. Im
still not so good when it comes to freehanding stuff, it looks so much easier in the videos then it really is lol. Best is to practice the tutorials
here and you will get it all into your blood :) .
 
Thanks, I had to have a go at 'something' and discovered that (as is said in the tutorials) doing the exercises REALLY does help lol.
Some of the cracks, etc are 100% dagger stroke, the shadowing is the blended line, etc. Definately have to practice the lessons thats for sure. I have an A3 pad of white paper to work on. Prob is I found the paper kind of drags some of the paint through (bleeds some edges)

What paper do you guys practice on?

Pete
 
See , that didn't hurt at all. And now since you got the first awkward time out of the way, you will enjoy it more and more every time you do it! Also now that you have done it, how does it feel everyone is talking about what you did!! Lol!!! I think you did a good job. You cut the stencil and didn't butcher it either! Some advise would be do not spray it so dark, do a very light mist of black and then free hand the rest. If you go in and shade this attempt it will be extremely dark because you may never be able to get the cheek bone lines faded out. Remember you don't really want to really define the lines (such as the cheek bones and the teeth) unless you want to make it cartoony. This I a good start but try to go soft with the paint on the next one and use your shading as practice for control of the airbrush!!
 
Thanks Seamonkey, you are 100% mate, I started light then kinda looked at it and said 'hmmm, put more on' and then had nothing to work with for shading, etc.
I think I also need to over-reduce the paint. I used 5 drops black to 4 drops reducer (wicked 0100) and watching vids notice guys do everything from 2:1 all the way to 1:2 so I guess I have to muck around with it. I will DEFINITELY keep practicing and start with the basic steps.
 
You know what, there is something I am concerned about. I cleaned the gun, backflush, etc. Then when ALL finished I took out needle and cleaned it (still had heaps of paint on it) finding that Wicked water based has lots of tip drying!
So, what can I lube it with? Seamonkey - #2 in your list lol
 
Hi, im using " Needle Juice " from Badger for my airbrushes. But you will still have tip dry, but not as much paint will stick on the needle when you pull it out.
I also use it for all the rest of the mechanical parts of the airbrush so its all operating smoother.
 
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