Airbrushing fine lines is probably one of the main challenge  for beginner airbrush artists.

I am sure you agree with me when I say :

Airbrushing fine lines is really hard.Paint splattering, discontinued lines, lines that looks like electrocardiogram rather than straight lines…you name it! It can be a nightmare for a beginner.”

Or is it?

In this article I am going to give you some quick tips that you can use to improve your ability to airbrush fine lines and see results immediately. And the end of this post there will be an exercise  (and an exercise sheet to download) which I suggest you do over and over again to improve your technique at airbrushing fine lines, because after all, nothing will replace practice!

If you wonder what is the  best airbrush to do fine lines, I can tell you  that you  don’t necessary need to buy an airbrush  like the  Custom Micron or any Airbrush with a 0.23 or 0.18 mm  needle\nozzle combination to do it. Don’t get me wrong, it is certainly easier to spray a fine lines with the thinner needle, but there is other factor to consider. In my opinion, what does really matter when trying to achieve fine lines is practice, practice and …practice! It is only by practicing that you will become more proficient airbrushing fine lines.

How to get fine lines with airbrush?

As I previously said, the needle size is not the only factor that will determine your ability to airbrush fine lines.There are many different elements that you need to take into consideration if you want to be able to airbrush fine lines.

Experience & Skills

The more you practice the more you will build confidence and improve the control you have over the airbrush trigger. This is true for beginner airbrush artist but also for experienced artists. It is always recommended to warm up and practice few stokes before starting a new project. An experienced airbrush artist is able to airbrush fine lines with any airbrush really. Using a quality tool will just make the task a bit easier.

Distance from the artwork

To airbrush fine lines, the airbrush need to be very close to the surface you are painting. Sometimes you need to be just few mm from the surface.The farther away you are from you project, wider the line will be.

Airbrush Lesson: Broad spray from distance

Speed

The trick here is not to be hesitant. Keep moving, slowly,  but never stop. Try experiment and see how the speed affect your lines.

Angle

It is best when to hold your  airbrush perpendicularly to the surface.

Needle\nozzle  size

Even though skills in my opinion has the biggest impact on your ability to airbrush fine lines, the use of a quality and suitable airbrush would help producing fine lines. Smaller nozzles  size reduce over spray. This means that there is less “fuzzy” spray and therefore finer lines. But the nozzle size does not dictate the thinness of the line, it just makes it easier to accomplish.

Properly thinned paint

It is important to get the right paint texture and viscosity. Your paint should have the consistency of milk. For this exercise I would recommend you use paint that are ready-made for airbrushing like Iwata Comart airbrush paint, Createx paint, Dr ph martins airbrush paint or Golden airbrush colors.  If using and airbrush with a very thin needle like the Iwata Custom Micron , you might need to thin the paint a bit to get a finer line.

Clogging

Clogging happens when  a small quantity of paint dry at the needle tip. It will build up  and eventually clog the airbrush. When you notice dry tip, just pinch the dry paint off the needle and keep going.You can remove the needle cap (end cap to protect the needle)  of your airbrush to expose the needle so that you can remove the dry paint easily.It is also allow you to get nice and close  and do fine details. Just be careful not to damage the needle or prick yourself with the tip.

Remember when using a dual action airbrush, keep pressing the trigger (releasing air) until you cut of the paint release by moving the trigger back to the starting point. This will prevent your airbrush from clogging by leaving paint inside the needle. If you have regular clogging issues and know that you are using the right technique, you can try using an airbrush thinner or a flow improver.

Needle condition

If your needle is bent for instance, this will prevent you to airbrush fine lines.

Air pressure

To achieve fine lines, you need to airbrush at a consistent low pressure. Try to set up your compressor at approx 20 PSI and see how it goes. If you are using an airbrush like the Iwata Custom Micron with a 0.23 mm needle, you would be able to drop the pressure and thin the paint a bit more than if using an airbrush like the Iwata HP-CS with a 0.35 mm needle. If you find that the paint is splattering, just increase the pressure a bit. With the experience you will be able to find the right balance.

Exercise: Airbrushing fine lines.

In this exercise you will learn how to airbrush fine lines. By doing this exercise, you will improve your triggers skills. You will learn when to pull the trigger to release the paint and when to close it.

Download the Airbrushing exercise sheet. There are two parallel lines on the exercise sheet. Try to airbrush lines in between those two lines.

Proper sequence of action when using a dual action airbrush for fine lines:

1. Air on

Hold your airbrush about 1/2  inches from the surface. You can use your free hand as a guide or a spacer. Press the trigger down and keep it down up to sequence number 6

1. Air on: hold you airbrush 1/2 inches from the surface

2. Start moving

In order to be able to airbrush thin lines you will have start moving the airbrush before you start pulling the trigger for paint. Give yourselves a run up of  about 2 inches and always keep moving the airbrush. By doing so you will avoid one of the most common mistake for a beginner:Dog bones.

Airbrushing dog bones

Let me explain. You don’t want to wait for the paint to come out and move, then stop. keep moving all the time

3.  Paint on

Once you go past the first vertical blue line, pull the trigger backwards to release the paint and keep moving your hand to the right.

4. paint off

Once you reach the second vertical blue line, push the trigger forward to stop the paint, still keep moving away from the artwork.

How to airbrush thin lines

5. move away

Move airbrush away from the artwork

6. air off

Now you can stop the air by moving the trigger up

Conclusion

In this lesson you have seen few tricks that hopefully will help you to master the thin lines. Keep practicing over and over and you will improve your muscle memory.

Keep experimenting with distances, pressures and speed. Notes the effects those variables have on your lines and try to find the limit of your airbrush. Try to draw a lines releasing more paint at the same speed. Now keep the same amount of paint and go faster…Experiment!

Drop me a comment and let me know how you are getting on!

The post Airbrushing fine lines [Free Airbrush Lesson 3] first appeared on AirbrushGeek.

Airbrushing Dots:

Distance & Paint density

The spray of an airbrush has a cone shape. When airbrushing a constant level of paint , the distance you hold the nozzle of the airbrush from the artwork will have an  impact on the density of the paint. The closer you are from the artwork, the more concentrated the paint will be. On the contrary, the farther you are from the artwork, the more diffuse the paint will be.

Practicing the Dots

For this exercise, you can download the Airbrush Exercise 1 practice sheet. . The dots is one of the basic exercise that you need to do in order improve the way you control your airbrush.

The distance between you sheet and the nozzle should be between 1 or 2 inches. You can use you free hand as indicated in the airbrush lesson 1 to support your airbrushing hand. That way, it will be easier to keep the distance the same all the time. Try to target exactly the point were the lines are crossing each others.

Run a line of dots from left to right, and then from right to left. Always keep the dots consistency in size and density. You can,  every 2 lines, increase the size of the dots, but always keep the dots size the same for the entire line. To do so, just increase the distance a little bit. Remember that the spray pattern will become more diffuse and light. You can compensate by spraying a bit longer.

This is a very good exercise for your hand-eye coordination. You will see how good you are at aiming a specific target. Print several of the Airbrush Exercise 1 practice sheet    and practice , practice, over and over again.

Set the air pressure on your compressor to 25 PSI.

Start by pressing down to trigger to release air, then slowly pull the trigger back to release the paint.

REMEMBER: Keep the air on! keep pressing the trigger to release the air  until you cut of the paint release by moving the trigger back to the starting point. Work slowly and to avoid being hesitant.

Sequence of action with a dual action airbrush when airbrushing dots:

1 Air on (Press the trigger down and keep it down up to sequence number 6 )
2 Aim at your target (target the points were lines are crossing)
3 Paint on (slowly pull the trigger backwards )
4 paint off (When you are happy with the dot size and consistency, push the trigger forward)
5 move away (move airbrush away from the paper)
6 air off (trigger up)

airbrushing dots

The post How to Airbrush Dots [Free Airbrush Lesson 2] first appeared on AirbrushGeek.

This first lesson will teach you how to hold your airbrush properly.

I suggest that you use some sort of inexpensive support to practice on at first (like newsprint) or even some large sketch pads. Make sure you buy large ones as you want plenty of space to practice.

Once you will get the hang on it, you will be able to move on and use better quality.

As for paint, don’t use craft paint but rather use airbrush ready paint like Createx airbrush paint, Golden airbrush colors  or Dr ph martins airbrush paint. It will make your life easier.

Material Needed for this series of Airbrush lesson:

•  A dual action airbrush
• An airbrush compressor or a CO2 tank for air source
• Airbrush paint like Iwata Comart airbrush paint, Createx paint,  Dr ph martins airbrush paint or Golden airbrush colors.
• An easel if you want to practice standing up.

How to hold an airbrush

Don’t be intimidated by the airbrush. If you practice the right way, you will be able to start using an airbrush in no time. It is crucial that you develop good habits from the start when you begin to use an airbrush.

First, it is important that you learn to hold the airbrush the right way. It doesn’t matter if you are right-handed or left-handed.

Hold the airbrush in your hand just like a pen or a pencil, your thumb and middle finger are for support on the stem, and the index on the trigger finger form a pyramid .

The key thing is to be completely relax, and let the airbrush fit comfortably into your hand.

The index finger on the trigger forms a
pyramid which bends inward

It’s important not to let the index
finger being out because the finger must
slide with the trigger not pull it

Make sure the thumb is not parallel to the axis of the air hose.

What to do with your other hand?

• If you coordinated enough and manage to airbrush using only one hand, you can use the other free hand to hold stencils or masks…or maybe drink a cup of tea!.
• If you are using and airbrush with a large bottom feed cup, you could use your other hand to hold the cup to give an extra support and help you a bit when you start to get tired.
• Some people use their free hand to hold the wrist of the airbrushing hand.This will improve the stability when airbrushing
• Another way to improve the stability is use your free hand to support the airbrushing hand:

How to hold your Airbrush: The support hand

•  If the air hose gets in the way, you could wrap it around your airbrush hand

How to hold your airbrush: wrapping the hose around your arm

 How to control a double action airbrush

With a double action airbrush, the airflow is controlled by pressing the airbrush trigger and the paint flow is controlled by pulling the same trigger back. The more you pull the trigger back, the bigger the paint flow is, making the spray pattern wider.

Set the air pressure on your compressor to 25 PSI.

Start by pressing down to trigger to release air, then slowly pull the trigger back to release the paint.

IMPORTANT: keep pressing the trigger (releasing air) until you cut of the paint release by moving the trigger back to the starting point. This will prevent your airbrush from clogging by leaving paint inside the needle.

Also, don’t try to control the air pressure by moving your index finger up and down on the trigger. Remember that you are pressure is set to around  25 PSI on your compressor.

Proper sequence of action when double actioning:

1 Air on (Press the trigger down and keep it down up to sequence number 6 )
2 Start moving (Always keep moving the airbrush)
3 Paint on (pull the trigger backwards and keep moving)
4 paint off (push the trigger forward, still keep moving)
5 move away (move airbrush away from the artwork)
6 air off (trigger up)

Proper sequence of action when airbrushing

Airbrush Practicing:

It is important to practice, even if you are an experienced airbrush artist. before going ahead with your piece of artwork, it is a good idea to warm up a bit and perform some basic airbrush exercises.

If you keep practicing over and over again some basic airbrushing exercises, you will notice that they will become second nature over time and you will be able to do them without thinking.

Airbrushing TIPS:

There are four different elements that you need to consider when practicing your strokes :

• The distance from the tip of the airbrush to your artwork: the further away you are,the more diffused and lighter your spray pattern will be. The closer you are , the thinner the lines will be and the less paint volume you will need.
• The speed at which you are moving across your work. The slower you work, the more concentrated the paint will be.
• The amount of paint coming out of the airbrush. The more you pull the trigger, the more paint is coming out.
• The Air pressure use to spray the paint

Practices lines

Use the proper sequence of action to draw a precise line. Open the air, and go slowly from one side of the sheet to the other, gently pull the trigger  and gradually increase the flow of paint. Briefly fix the position of the trigger keeping the line thickness and finally slowly reduced the paint flow of the line fading it out until there is no line. Close the air and once

Do it one more time: open the air pull the trigger slowly, fix it return it back and close the air

Open the air, pull the trigger slowly, fix
it ,return it back and close the air.

At first, you might draw lines that looks more like electrocardiogram than straight lines. This is perfectly normal because you are not used to work free hand at slow speed. With a bit of practice,this discomfort will pass  and your muscles will get used to it,the arm will stop shaking. The lines will be smoother and smoother as you go.

It is important that you train yourself to work at slow speed, especially if your lines turned out jagged. Train your trembling hands and suppress the temptation to draw at a faster speed until you manage to draw straight lines.

What you need is stable control when you use your airbrush, so only increase the speed when you know how to control the airbrush.

The post How to use an Airbrush: Holding an airbrush properly [Airbrush Lesson 1] first appeared on AirbrushGeek.