Airbrushing

[Rizzex]

Hi, I was wonderin if anyone here knows anything about airbrushing (not the photoshop kind) and whether it is possible to get really decent looking illustrations that way.

I was reading about Simon Bisley and it mentioned that he used air brushing quite a bit but when I look at some of his paintings I really cant tell what he used.

For example:

http://www.arthistory.cc/pics/simonb..._bisley_20.jpg

Some of it looks like it might have been airbrushed - the armour etc. while some appears to be acyrlics or watercolors.

[Sifu_Ho]

http://www.adcookfineart.com/index.html
http://www.goodevestudio.com/frame.htm
http://www.stevedriscollcustoms.com/

http://www.jwbart.com/newworks/index.htm

i think Frazetta and Giger use airbrushes


air brush is another tool that you can use that has advantages and disadvantages but some amazing things can be done with them

[jrr]

i'm pretty sure frazetta didn't of if he did, it wasn't in his popular pieces. maybe in those pillowbook illos probably not.
here's two i totally did that use airbrush
travis charest
and Drew struzan

[Seedling]

Frazetta was an oil painter. I seriously doubt he ever switched to airbrush, because you don't put oil-based paints through airbrushes. And us oil painters are awfully snobby about switching to inferior mediums. ;-)

Rizzex - the airbrush is traditionally a tool of illustrators. It can be used to make very realistic images. It also produces very flat results, which is good for work that is intended to be reproduced in print.

On the down side, you can get black-lung by using it, because you're breathing the paint. Black lung is what coal miners suffer from. Additionally, if you don't read the warnings on the paints you use, you can expose yourself to cancer-causing agents.

In my opinion the airbrush should be thrown away entirely. . . er, I mean it is best when used in combination with other mediums, such as acrylics or watercolor.

If you want a final result that looks best in person and isn't going to fade, use oil paints. If you don't care about the physical image, use a computer program and spare your health.

[Elwell]

Frazetta using an airbrush has to be one of the funniest things I've ever heard.
Pure airbrush as an illustration medium peaked in the 70's-early 80's with artists like Philip Castle. Most illustrators who use it do so in combination with traditional brushwork, for layng down background gradations and softening areas (Bob Peak, Michael Whelan, Alex Ross). Almost any printed illustration you see today that looks "airbrushed" was probably done digitally, as the things airbrush does well (soft even gradations and hard edges) are easily mimicked. Mark Fredrickson, for instance, has gone completely digital.

[jfwalls]

I used an airbrush for over 10 years, but it was usually mixed with other media. I did do pure airbrush paintings, but they were heavily inspired by Giger, and turned out to be better at teaching me how to use the airbrush rather than having quality art.

The difficult thing with an airbrush is to make it NOT look like a cheesy t-shirt painting. When used properly, and mixed with other things it can do some great things. For example: I did a really nice colored pencil rendering of some plants, but decided the BG contrast needed to be lowered. I cut my stencil, and dropped a layer of transparent blue over the BG. Worked great! Took me about 45 minutes though, and with a computer it would have taken me 10 minutes.

Sadly, I mostly use my airbrush for painting models that I build.

[bat]

I run an airbrush Yahoogroup and have for several years. I keep it as spam free as possible. It is usually quiet, but full of helpful people. If you want to join just type something in the reason to join that makes sense (I ignore applications that either are vague or gibberish). You can find it here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/airbrushing/

[Bowlin]

If I remember correctly, Bisley usually uses inks, doesn't he? It's been a long time, but I believe he uses brush work with a combination of inks (and proably acrylics, i'm guessing).