In the beginning … by Kim Moody
… there were home made paints and cave walls . But over 45,000 years things have changed .
Although invented in 1898 , the airbrush didn ’ t become popular as an art form until the 1930s . Mixing paint with pressurised air for application to the surface was the trendy new way . Surely one of those fads that would soon fade away …
Nowadays airbrushing is epitomised by the custom vehicle industry . Super realistic designs , flames , and skulls adorn motorcycles and cars . But the airbrush can be used in many painting situations - spray tanning , designer make-up , nail art , as well as canvas paintings , ceramics , faux effects , and just about anywhere that will take a painted finish .
Way back in the 90s ( the 1990s , not 1890s !) I was given basic tuition in airbrushing when we had our ceramics studio . David Hoff ( Duncan Enterprises , Fresno , CA ) taught us to apply realistic animal fur , and other techniques to ceramic ware , but little else .
But these are skills I ’ ve neglected since , so I went back to school . I spent two days at the Airbrush Academy in Evesham , on an intensive beginners course with Mick Neill . Mick has been airbrushing for 25 years , he has been a spray painter in the automotive industry for just as long , and is an acclaimed artist in oils and acrylics . His desire to pass on his skills prompted him into creating the Airbrush Academy over five years ago , and now provides the best tuition available in the UK .
Mick is a very down-to-earth and direct Brummy , who is open and free with his knowledge , and will answer any question directly .
Day 1 was the basics . How to hold the airbrush comfortably , so that I didn ’ t get aches and pains in my hand , how to mix / thin the paint , and the basic strokes needed to achieve the desired looks .
The only way to get it right is practice . ( Ask any one-stroke painter ) So we did , and by the end of the day we had produced our first piece - the apple .
Day 2 , we recapped on what we learned , and practiced again . This time we gradually put each stroke to use in our elegant eye picture . By lunch we had worked through the techniques a couple of times and were ready for the final piece . wrong … I think we did OK .
Mick took away the drawing paper we had been practicing on and replaced it with a synthetic art paper ( Yupo or Polyart ). He explained that at £ 7 per sheet we were not expected to get it
Anyway , in my desire to get more knowledge , and hopefully , skill , I ’ m going back at the end of June for the Intermediate course . I ’ ll let you know what happens .