First the background or the subject ?

[Diegojavbau]

I see that in different artwork some artist start pintind the background and sometimes do the subject first , this obey some technique rule and depends on the reference (soft or hard edges for example) or is just personal taste of the artist ?

 

[Mr.Micron]

I see that in different artwork some artist start pintind the background and sometimes do the subject first , this obey some technique rule and depends on the reference (soft or hard edges for example) or is just personal taste of the artist ?

For me I look at what is the hardest to do . sometime it is the back ground other times it is the main subject of the piece. Sometimes it just what kind of mood I am in.
So I say more personal choice.

 

[Diegojavbau]

You satr in with the hard part or leave it to the final ?

 

[Strictly Attitude]

I think it goes into the planning process working smarter when you airbrush. If you are going to have hair for example working in a background around every strand would be hard and usually ends up in a background that effects the picture I have a couple examples I will post for you were I have made this mistake. Here I did the background first then the subjectin this picture I did the background after the portraitunless I went in and masked the whole portrait off I ended up with the light spot around it as I didn't want the black to effect the already painted portrait especially when you have long strands of hair. I work on claybord which erases easy and if I do the back ground first I can erase the over spray. Now when I did my Roger Williamson Painting I did the background last and it was un effected as I could use shielding easily to protect my artwork. It had allot of flat edges and some round ones. It really comes down to how you plan out your artwork.

 

[Mr.Micron]

You satr in with the hard part or leave it to the final ?

I start with it , Why if I screw it up I have not lost all the time spent doing the rest of the piece.

 

[Diegojavbau]

Thanks for the fast and clarifying responses !!!!

 

[ayr-worx]

Mr. Micron - That is exactly what I tend to do. If it screwed up, then not much time lost. Lol...

 

[RebelAir]

It doesnt really matter in most cases m8, when first starting out I'd suggest going with Herbs suggestion, if something overlays the background like SA mentioned then it would be a good idea to finish the background first..me I like to do a little of both and build up the entire picture together, this way I find it easier getting all the tonal values and focus issues right..If your background is going to be blurry (IE Sprayed from further out) then its a good idea to mask of the main ref and then just blast the background in to avoid overspray issues..If your working with transparent overlay I find it easier to do the main ref first then work around it..But really does depend on personal likes or dislikes..Once ya spend a few years though on the gun your confidence is there, knowing that if you say leave the eyes till last ( Say for a portrait and generally considered the hardest bit) you'll still get em right, mistakes do still of course happen.. So sometimes I'll still do such parts first just in case..Again it just depends on how confident you are and how well you can control issues and overspray..

 

[Diegojavbau]

Thanks RevelAir , great tips !!!

 

[flycatchr]

Hi Dieago
(I am VERY new to airbrushing art - I normally do the stencilled tats)
Rebel air has good points - I was advised by an artist to do the darker, further backgrounds first which is what i found myself doing - for a slightly different reason - I find that the softer background (light or dark) done first gets my eye and hand in so that I am more comfortable doing the finer, closer stuff next. Hope this helps

 

[Squishy]

I realised today that I probably should have done the background first on my competition piece. What a plank!