Airbrushing!

First of all we started by setting up our work area and ensuing our surface area was covered to prevent paint from getting onto our clothes and on the furniture. We then learnt how to construct and deconstruct the gun which I found pretty simple and easy to follow.

To construct an airbrushing gun you must start by carefully placing the needle into the end of the gun by threading it through the designated hole. You must be very careful when doing this as it is very easy to bend the tip of the needle and this then won’t be easy to use, as the needle is used for the direction of the paint flow. Once your needle is in you can secure it with a needle cap and then place and attach the handle over the top. Once this is set up you can attach it to the compressor.

Once our guns were all set up we used water based paints (as these are really thin in consistency and won’t clog up the needle) and had a play around using the gun and getting used to how to work it.

To use an airbrushing gun you start by plugging it into the compressor which compresses the air. You then have to carefully pour some paint into the colour cup and press down and pull back the trigger to produce the paint and the air. (Pressing down the trigger produces the air and pulling back the trigger produces the paint so you have to do both at the same time.) The more you pull back the trigger the more paint it will produce. To get more coverage you have to go closer to the skin and to sheer it out you go further away. This is a really good way to get a smooth gradient.

To mix colours in the colour cup we used a technique called back bubbling and this is where we had two different colours in the cup and you cover the end of the gun (where the air and paint comes out from) with your finger, and this causes the paint to bubble and therefore mixes the paints together.

When washing your airbrushing gun you must use hot water as this will break down the paint. Start by running it under the tap and letting the water run through the colour cup and down inside the needle as this is where the paint is most likely to build up. Then press and pull down on the trigger multiple times to ensure the hot water gets throughly inside the gun. Once the gun looks clean and the water starts to appear relatively clear you must deconstruct your gun and throughly wash all the parts. Then dry everything with a towel and reconstruct ready to use again.

Becky x