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EDGECRUSHER
Guest
if i had someone to show me wat to do then i think i would pick it up alot quicker but seeing as i have only dne about 6 portraits im doin alot better than some i have seen and im not sayin mine are good at all, far from it but you need to cut me some slack as im very new to it all. so help me out peeps
I'm with you, Stu. I'm in the same shoes. I've gone through several of these airbrush sites because it is so hard being new asking questions from artists who are so far ahead. I'm prolly gonna get flamed for saying this but I can not make myself do those 'exercises' all the teachers suggest. I have. But they last about two minutes and then I have to do something else. I like to learn EVERYTHING the hard way. I just can't help it. Which is why I suggested you just keep doing what you're doing. Don't get too caught up in the extremely technical suggestions, that stuff will come eventually. But you as well as my self just need to get a good grasp of what your airbrush can do exactly, which is the control issue. For example, being able to make precision dagger strokes which all look exactly the same, consistent and intentional is what I consider control. Whether you get to this point with conscience effort while painting your portraits or do it making hundreds of 'strokes' on paper is up to you. I do understand that muscle memory has a lot to do this sort of thing as well. Maybe since your present paper is lacking a bit, it would be more prudent to just use it up doing 'exercises' until you can get some thicker stuff at the end of the month and then see how things improve.
Another idea which I eventually turned to; practice with monochome paintings until you are more consistent. For example, use violet which is very easy to build up to an almost black shade and can give you lots of practice with shading and textures without having to worry about what crazy effects the colors your using are having. Just stick with the transparent violet. I've found I can start a lot of pics with this then change over to accent with color later.
IMO you are doing great and things will look tons better with some good substrates. Especially from our perspective.
BTW I don't remember if you mentioned what brush and paint you are using?