Hopefully not too old to learn

M

MBeattie

Guest
I'm 70 and an almost retired physician looking for something as an avocation. I've never had any training in art, though I would occasionally draw a crude diagram to explain something to a patient. A couple of months ago my wife asked me if I could repaint a wooden parrot figure we had on the back deck. It had been sitting out in the Florida sun for several years and was badly faded. It looked as though it had been crudely airbrushed originally, so I got on line with Amazon and found a 3 airbrush Master airbrush kit with a starter Createx paint set. I was able to "crudely" touch up the parrot and found the airbrushes to be nifty tools. I became more interested and checked out sources on the internet and found the very useful Airbrush Tutor videos and downloaded his practice templates.


After a couple of weeks of dots, lines, daggers and blends, I took on the eye. I guess it came out passably (if you're about 200 feet away!). I did learn a lot, particularly about thinning, cleaning and practice, practice, practice. The Createx paint seemed too thick and I couldn't get consistant results thinning so I located some Golden Airbrush Colors that seemed to work better for me. Also, after reviewing a lot more comments, particularly about airbrushes themselves, I thought I might do better with a better quality brush. So I picked up an Iwata HP-CS. It is very nicely manufactured, has a better feel and is much better at handling paints of varying viscosity. I've done more dots, dashes, daggers, blends and the eye. The Iwata is definitely better but I feel it is the density of the brain holding the brush that is my biggest problem.


I also tried to illustrate my dog. What a joke! Fur is hard but eyes are going to be my nemesis. I think our brains are really designed to evaluate eyes - even from a distance. Just a miniscule variation in the pupil size or light reflection makes or breaks the whole picture.


That about sums it up. I am open to advice about anything. I will be scouring the comments in the forum for tips and, I know, practice, practice, practice.
 
Welcome to the forum M, I'm glad your here cos it makes me feel like the kid, lol

Your never too old to learn, your own text proves that, might have something to do with your physician skills but you managed to analyse your own faults and clearly know what you have to work on, so I reckon you'll be an easy student at least.

Everything you need to know is here, but your more than welcome to pick the occasional brain when you need to.

Oh and "practice practice practice" isn't quite good enough, it should be "practice practice practice, and then a lot more practice" lol

Have fun learning.
 
Hi MBeattie,
Welcome to the Forum and your never too old to learn something new especially if it's fun :)

You've got yourself a great airbrush with the HP-CS and the Golden Airbrush paints are supposed to be great too. Just to give you a heads up the Golden Airbrush Colours are going to be discontinued at the end of this year and the new Golden High Flow Acrylics will replace them, they are available now in the USA. I'm in Europe so I have to wait till September before I can get my hands on some High Flow paints.
Cheers Mel
 
Welcome to the forum from NH.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
Hi from the uk MBeattie, you're only as old as the person you feel. Got a whole crowd here ready to help, so shout out if there's anything you are struggling with, or need to know.
 
welcome from honduras,hope you can call this place home as i do!!!by the way it is never late for anything!!!keep the great job,you have done something most of us can´t recognize easily...mistakes!!!:angel:
 
Welcome. Even with the shakes and jitters from my coffee addiction I can paint with the airbrush. I'm a little younger but found the airbrush very easy to learn and quite rewarding.

I too have restored some yard art. It's a relaxing project and something you can hang.

I started almost the same as you. I now use HoK urothane paint. It requires an area with good ventalation and the use of a respirator. Candies are just so easy to use.

If you stick with water based and want to do portrait work on paper or canvas you may want to try com-art paint. Start with transpearant smoke and do some monocromatic work. It helps to learn the basics.
 
Welcome MBeattie, from another newbie just 4 years your junior and don't feel I will have any problem learning but may not ever be any good.:playful:

I tried my first attempt with paint to night and it could have been a lot worse. I for one would like to see the parrot as that sounds like a good place to start patching up things.
 
Hi Doc M and welcome to the forum. You've come to the right place. There are a lot of friendly people here and we are always willing to help. Be sure to post your pictures so we can watch your progress. You will find that your paintings will improve quickly as you learn the right balance between air pressure and paint reduction. Oh, and your never too old to AB, just have a good time doing it and don't give up. Cheryl :)
 
Welcome aboard doc, from Calgary, and you're never too to learn something you enjoy :)
 
Welcome home MBeattie , Nice to add you to our family.
Never too old to learn if your young at heart. It seems you are young at heart because you are given it a go.
Post up your practice work would love to have a look .
 
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