Practice, practice and more practice...... Don't try to be a technique ho! People are coming up with different ways of doing the same thing all the time. You'll run yourself ragged just trying to keep up with the latest trends.
What's more important is the end result, not how you got there. Some people are purists and think that anything but an airbrush applied to your work is cheating.
Others will use whatever they can to achieve the results they seek.
Then there are others who don't even consider airbrushes as an instrument to make art and consequently, airbrushers not as artists either. (Thank God that's changing). You get the gist of what I'm saying though.
I guess what I'm saying is this, use whatever techniques help you achieve the look you are wanting to get. There really isn't a short cut. It just does boil down to practice, practice and more practice and finding what works for you and your style.