What is cheating??

P

pcsmart01

Guest
Hi people,
let me just say I am a total noob to airbrushing, I have done a course a couple of years ago, I have quite a bit of equipment and I'm keen to learn to actually become proficient at it someday.
Since I am a bit of a gadget freak I tend to get anything that I believe can assist me with the things I'm into. So far apart from the usual array of Airbrushes, masking tape, compressors and a few learning DVD's, which I'm sure a lot of you people have. I also have a vinyl cutting plotter, a stencil cutting tool and a data projector which I think aid a great deal into how quick I can create a pretty decent end product. I have seen a few YouTube sites in which they say that they never use stencils and I get the feeling that many airbrushing purists would consider devises like these cheating.
I do realise the need to be competent at freehand, and I’m lucky to be good enough at art that I can draw someone and it actually looks like the person I’m trying to draw, but with tools like a data projector I can draw the same person in a fraction of the time.
So my question is as long as you don’t ignore freehand skills are tools like stencils, data projectors and plotters cheating??
 
not cheating at all mate, you're very lucky to have such resources at your fingertips - these are a professional's best friend and are often much faster and more accurate than the old cut it out by hand ways. You aren't cheating, you're being creative. mix that with fee hand airbrush and you have a very healthy marriage
 
is a carpenter cheating if he uses a power drill instead of the old manual one ? or uses a powered sander instead of sandpaper and a cork block ? No, it just the use of the appropriate tool to make the job easier, the end product is what is important. If you are proud of what you have produced then everyone elses opinion should be redundant.

Its like saying if i use a packet cake mix its wrong..... yes, i can make them from scratch and do, but sometimes time is short, so i 'Cheat' does anyone complain? No !
 
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Nothing is cheating unless someone else is doing the paintings for you. Everything from stencils to projectors are tools of the trade. Even doing freehand there are times you will use a spray shield to save certain areas of your painting.
So no cheating , Just using the tools available to you to get the job done right.
 
I think people forget the origins of the airbrush and what it's main use was for back in the day.
Illustrators used them to produce things like realistic assembly drawings of machines, cars, toasters you name it. The primary way of using them was with frisket and masking, very little if any was done freehand.
Free hand gained popularity with the hobbyist or abstract artist who was happy to do other art other than hyper realism, and besides that freehand is much faster.

As mentioned above, tools are tools and how you use them to get results is your choice as long as you get the results you strive for. If you use stencils a lot now that's fine, you will eventually start using them less and less as your skills develop but I doubt you will ever do away with them altogether as they are handy to just tighten up part of that edge here and there.
Cheers,
Mick.
 
Here here. I've used dryer sheets, hair nets, 2" paint brush for hair or whatever is handy. It doesn't matter. You do what you need to get the project complete. Paint on.
 
YES its all cheating...Your not allowed to use anything besides a blindfold, a straw, a mouthful of paint and a strong breath LOL..Soz couldn't resist...

Its art matey, however you choose to tell your story is your own business...Whatever you need to tell that story is art :)...Don't stress about using anything to make life easier..There are some out there that would suggest it was cheating, but that's their choice, how you choose to do it-is yours :)

Mate if I had a plotter here I'd be the first to take advantage of it and I know of quite a few "traditional" oil painters that use a projector...Only difference is they won't admit it LOL..Good luck and have fun :)
 
Have to agree with all the above ,so use what you need .
 
I just go my opaque projector and I showed my wife how it works. She then asked "Isn't that cheating?" And I said now, it just speeds up the process. Instead of spending hours trying to draw an object/person in proportion, I can do it in minutes and safe alot of time. I will not use it for everything, but when accuracy and time is a must, I will use it.
 
pcsmart01, just remember, the people who generally scream "That's cheating," are those who actually don't know how to draw or paint. Artists throughout history have always used whatever means necessary to produce their artwork. Albrecht Durer devised a grid system to unlock space, and used it frequently to get proportion and perspective correct. He developed this system just before the Renaissance, and the world saw an explosion in the art world of 3 dimensional images. Odd coincidence, I don't think so. In fact, artists always use some system to create images.

Use whatever means necessary to create the image, and if anyone tells you you're cheating just reply, "I'm in good company, all the greats "cheated."" lol
 
I think people forget the origins of the airbrush
Mick.
Sorry Mick but ......if you look at ads for airbrushes back in 1920's Paasche :http://www.airbrushmuseum.com/airbrush_lit_ad_1920_paasche_ab_ap.htm or this one here: http://www.airbrushmuseum.com/airbrush_lit_ad_1921_paasche_indust_amerbuild.htm and last but not least :http://www.airbrushmuseum.com/airbrush_lit_ad_1915_paasche_dd_treat.htm
All three of these ads show anything but Illustrator doing realistic drawings. The first is for photograph tinting, the second house painting and the last sign painting.
But for those who want to learn and see a good history of the airbrush go here: http://www.airbrushmuseum.com/
This site was posted on a few other forums I belong to mainly after someone stated the exact same thing you did that back in the day only Illustrators used airbrushes.
Love the front cover on this ad, That is why I posted the pic .
Okay enough school time ,
Mainly thing is what ever it take you to do the job the way you see it in your mind (with out getting some one else to paint it) is not cheating.
 

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not cheating at all mate, you're very lucky to have such resources at your fingertips - these are a professional's best friend and are often much faster and more accurate than the old cut it out by hand ways. You aren't cheating, you're being creative. mix that with fee hand airbrush and you have a very healthy marriage

hey mitch , what is fee hand airbrushing? did you mean airbrushing with you feet. im just curious, i would like to learn that technique my friend:friendly_wink:
 
Sorry Mick but ......if you look at ads for airbrushes back in 1920's Paasche :http://www.airbrushmuseum.com/airbrush_lit_ad_1920_paasche_ab_ap.htm or this one here: http://www.airbrushmuseum.com/airbrush_lit_ad_1921_paasche_indust_amerbuild.htm and last but not least :http://www.airbrushmuseum.com/airbrush_lit_ad_1915_paasche_dd_treat.htm
All three of these ads show anything but Illustrator doing realistic drawings.

True but, did you notice how those advertisments were produced, with the exception of the guy on the chair and maybe the house, they aren't photo's ;)

I guess 'origins' may not have been the right word to use but my point was that Illustrators, of which there were many in those days, used airbrush in exactly the way it was used in those ad's to produce those ab images. Have a look through any old text book of the day for example, it's only been in the last say 20-25 years (i.e. since the computer became mainstream) that photography, image manipulation ans 3d modelling has taken over as the main player in this field as it's become more cost effective.

Anyway, to produce tight artwork like that you need to (i.e. it's easier to) cheat and use frisket/masking :)

Cheers,
Mick.
 
WHAT THE HECK? AcE you told me using a straw/blindfold/moutful of paint was the only way I would be a true master!!! LOL!!!! WAX ON.. WAX OFF!!!

I am not sure what is considered cheating... I see myself as unable to COPY anyone else.. I do use others ideas to make things I like. But due to skills, I can only make my version.
I think as long as you are happy with what you make, then it is not cheating at all.
 
I also agree with the others that its not cheating. When you look at alot of youtube videos of famous and other very good airbrush artists, they mostly use a stencil and then work with freehand skills to make them look even better.
As im a beginner i also use alot of stencils that i cut myself for skulls for example and i also try to add more and more freehand everytime. I would like to have a plotter too, cause all the cutting by hand is a pain in the butt sometimes lol.
And from a beginners point of view i think a painting made with a stencil that looks good is more motivating for you then a total freehand painting that looks like crap lol. And about using a projector i think thats even less cheating as it
could be considered for a stencil, cause here you still have to work everything with your airbrush, and im also pretty sure that by far not all famous airbrushers are also good in drawing stuff, and they also use a projector or something else.
 
Nothing is cheating unless someone else is doing the paintings for you.

pffft! If you go by some of the old oil painters, their apprentices painted under their instruction and the master signed their own name on them!
 
"Nothing is real, Everything is permitted" by Ezio Auditorie

When creating an artwork, you are already creating and illusion, when people look at it (depending of course on the accuracy of the piece) they see what you want them to see.

"All roads lead to Rome" who cares how you get there?...
 
Dang Wiki, do not tell everyone my secrets... for a few piece of rawhide, my dog does all of my paintings!!! LOL!!!

But an interesting POINT... an architect gets all the credit when others build his design. I never thought of it that way.

Very interesting point.
 
Dang Wiki, do not tell everyone my secrets... for a few piece of rawhide, my dog does all of my paintings!!! LOL!!!

But an interesting POINT... an architect gets all the credit when others build his design. I never thought of it that way.

Very interesting point.

I send my wife to buy my paper and paint, is that the same, lol
 
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