The whimsical feeling of a cloud easily matched, the ability to duplicate multiple textures, and to experiment with found items, are all valuable reasons to use an airbrush in your art. Not to mention airbrush allows an artist to paint surfaces that are not brush friendly including metals, plastics, and t-shirts. For those seeking to become an airbrush artist it will cost you to start.
You can start on the cheap for about $100.00 if you visit discount hardware shops like Harbor Freight, and this will get you tools to start, these are not the best tools but work fine for a casual user. In order to get deeper into the hobby of airbrush it will cost you 350.00 dollars on the low end for a nice airbrush and a compressor. It is recommended to get a quite compressor because a loud one can make an artist jump in the middle of a fine detail, and may lead to many scratched projects. Paint is also a consideration, the premixed stuff is the best way to go, and costs about 3.00 a bottle. It is water clean up paint, so it is easy to use and easier to clean out of your brush. Finally it is always nice to have a double action airbrush which allows for control of paint flow and airflow which allows for thick and thin lines at your finger tips. As an airbrush artist you can experiment with texture like never before.
One texture that will have others at awe is the cloud texture. This is very simple to create. What you will need is Cotton batting, rip out a chunk, and lay it flat on the surface to be painted. Make sure to pull the cotton out on the edges a little, and to leave voids in the middle. You now have something airbrush artists call a stencil. To use the stencil simply spray the paint over the stencil on all the edges, and don’t forget any voids in the middle of the cotton. This will leave a cool cloud shape on your surface. This is a simple technique that can be used for a variety of stencils. Lace is also very nice stencil and very elegant.
Stenciling is one of the advantages of an airbrush and expert airbrush users quickly learn the separate craft of stencil making. Stencils are basically cutting out the negative space of an object in different layers, and when you put all the layers together you have something that looks like the original image. Many pre-made stencils are available, and make life simple for the individual who hate taking the time to cut their own.
Learning how the airbrush works and sprays is a matter of practice, I recommend learning how to control the amount of spray and the line sizes before you move into painting detailed paintings. Don’t be afraid to try airbrush, it can make a painted canvas that much better by adding textures that were other wise ignored, including killer clouds which you can now make.