Please help a beginner! Paints,thinning,general ab:ing

[TwinbrotherStudio]

I'm reading your post and here's a few things to keep in mind. You need to sand the surface with around 400 grit to 600 grit max. Anything beyond 600 grit is too fine for automotive surface work. The paint needs to stick to something. Second, your airbrush might be too fine for the paint you push through it. Iwata Microns needs very fine paints. I used an Iwata HP-C Plus and am able to spray at 20-30 psi with Createx Colors and Createx Wicked paints on canvas. That's fine enough for me. There may be nothing wrong with your airbrush but there may be something wrong with the airbrush and paint match up. You don't need the highest end airbrush to do stellar art. I started with a Paasche VL and now use the Iwata HP-C Plus exclusively and freehand everything on canvas. As for transparents and opaques for your monchrome portrait, mix up 4 shades of grey from light to dark. Switch back and forth between the lights and darks depending on the shade you need and paint opaque everything. That is the technique I use and the reason I use it is you can hide any mistakes if you make them. It also gives better texture than painting transparent. Visit my gallery for examples of my work:

http://www.airbrushforum.org/gallery/albums/recent-works-twinbrother-studio.584/

Most important, know how to thin your paints and know what air pressure works for the viscosity of the paint. All my work is with Createx Colors and Wicked 100 Reducer and I spray between 20-40 psi, depending on the viscosity of the paint.

 

[hamaf]

I just started preparing another portrait, I will try your method. The paint/thinning/pressure issue is now gone, tip dry is not a problem at all anymore, I also found that once I got my reduction right, cleaning my airbrush is a lot easier! Thanks for your help!

"Switch back and forth between the lights and darks depending on the shade you need and paint opaque everything."

This is going to help me alot. I didn't think I can do that, because of the blue shift problem, but seems to work very well.

 

[TwinbrotherStudio]

Here is the problem with blue shift. The problem lies in the black. Transparent black is on the red side and opaque black is on the blue side. It is much more obvious when you go over with white, which brings out the coolness of the opaque black. Just doesn't look right compared to transparent black because white is on the warmer side. To fix this, mix up 50% opaque black and 50% transparent black and use that black. That will neutralize the cool and warm of the blacks, minimizing the cooling effect when applying white over black. Hope that helps.

 

[jluksic]

iv'e been doing thisfor a little bit.painted cars for 28 years.figured i trie airbrushing im doing ok for now useing wicked paint.my air brush is a micron and a dager by divilbis.im haveing a hard time getting good hair like detail.any help would be appriceated

 

[TwinbrotherStudio]

I don't recommend a Micron for beginners. Microns are awesome for very fine lines, but it requires expert thinning. I would suggest the Iwata Eclipse for beginners. It uses a bigger tip and allows thicker paint to flow through the nozzle. I use an Iwata HP-C Plus and use it exclusively for both broad strokes and detail work. It's very versatile, in between the Eclipse and the Micron. Most of my lines don't need to be that fine, just fine enough.

If you want to use the Micron, you need to thin the paint a lot and work around 20-30 psi for thin hairline strokes. I use Createx fabric and Wicked paints almost exclusively.