Hello from Norfolk, VA

P

paulreed

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Hello everyone ! New to the airbrush... I'm a graphite pencil artist, or I try to be, and have been looking for a way to add some color to what I do. Tried color pencils, pastels, water and acrylic with brush, just couldn't achieve anything I liked. My wife bought me an airbrush kit for my birthday, so I've been giving it a real go, but I'm really going no-where so far. I got an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS with a Smart Jet compressor and some Com-Art paints. It's fun, but I can't seem to tame the wild hair trigger, I mean Wow, barely pull back on it and paint flies everywhere. It seems to be too fast of a method for me, but I'm not giving up yet. I love the smooth transitions from lights to darks (light to shadow) and the realism I see in airbrush art - an effect that so far I've only been able to achieve in black & white graphite. (I must admit, I feel I'm wasting my time trying to learn color because I'm a fairly descent pencil artist - but I'm so bored with shades of grey.) I learned about this forum from the Airbrush Tutor when I found his vids on youtube looking for instructions.
 
Welcome to the forum from NH.

You will find that precise trigger control takes a lot of practice. Airbrush every day for 20-30 minutes, use the Airbrushtutor practice pages, they are a good training aid. Don't just try to jump into anything. Since you said you did pencil work start monotone. Most of us work with transparent paints to very slowly build color. This can take some time. In a month or 3 of regular practice you should start to see improvement, depending on how often you practice, then slowly try more advances things. This is the correct road to go. Many do not and get frustrated, like myself before finding this forum, and will give up for a time. Stick with it and practice often . Post up some work so others can critique and help you move along the path to airbrush enjoyment.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
Welcome to the forum from Birmingham England, Like WLM said it's not simple but with practise the skill will come fairly quickly. You never stop learning though. Check out the Airbrush Tutors videos, he has basic tutorial videos to help you gain control of your airbrush. You will find this invaluable when learning. You can then progress onto his more advanced techniques once you have mastered them.

Lee
 
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Hi Paul,
Welcome to the forum. You've got a good head start to airbrushing by having a very good airbrush, the HP-CS is excellent for learning and will be your workhorse once you've got into it.

Com-Art are easy to use paints (just remember to shake them very well) and once again brilliant for starting out because you can use them straight from the bottle. The white however is a nightmare and I bought Createx Illustration white to use with my Com-Art setup, it's not brilliant but it's better than the Com-Art white.

Never use a Smart jet compressor but it's a good name so I'm sure you will be fine with that.

So you've got a great start with your equipment, the next step is what the guys above have said, practise and patience.

Transparent paints tend to be easier to airbrush than opaque's and will give less tip dry. They also will not cover up your drawing underneath which is what you are wanting. Mess around with the air pressure, the lower it is the less likely you are to get spiders but more likely to have bad atomization. Once you find the right air pressure for the paint you are using and practise your strokes you will feel more confident. Use light layers and build up the colour strength, this give you more control.

Don't give up yet. As you are already an accomplished pencil artist I'm sure airbrushing could take your artwork to a whole new dimension. I can't draw and I went from airbrushing a basic face to a passable monotone self portrait in 5 months.
Good luck
Mel
 
Welcome home Paul
I agree with Mel on Com-Art , it will add color and ready to use straight out of the bottle.
 
Welcome to the family!! I agree with the com art thing but to me they seem really thin right out of the bottle ad your trigger control needs to be ready, lol!! I blasted paint by barely moving the trigger the first time I used them.


Even Yoda had to train to be a Jedi........ I'm just better looking ;)
 
Thanks everyone ! I thought maybe the hair trigger was a fault of my gun. Glad to know it's supposed to be that way!
 
welcome from honduras,hope you can call this place home as i do!!!
 
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