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Airbrush make-up is cheap, fast, effective, and was first used in the film industry in 1959 in the film
Ben Hur, where make-up artists used airbrush make-up to quickly apply make-up to a large cast.
But whether you are doing make-up for film, TV, or other art mediums, such as airbrushing a giant
Punisher Skull onto the hood of my SUV, airbrush make-up equipment requires regular
maintenance in order to work properly. So here are a few tips and tricks that I've learned over the
years.
1 - A SUGGESTED MUST - If there is any one specific rule to force yourself to learn, it is this:
Make sure your airbrush paint bottles are not only clog free, but make sure their vent holes aren't
clogged either. If you don't, then you are going to experience backfires, as in "all-up-in-your-face"
paint explosions. It's hilarious to everyone else, but it is insanely infuriating and causes a mess
that you will often spend way too much time having to clean up. And everyone knows that when
working on a film set, time is money.
2 - Guitar strings. If you play guitar like I do or know someone who does, ask for or just steal their
old guitar strings, use your own old ones or just buy some (they aren't that expensive). I suggest a
regular set of 10 gauge strings for electric guitars. Yeah, I know that you can buy those little, metal
pipe brush cleaner sets, but they tend to break quickly, and are more expensive. When buying
guitar strings, as long as you don't buy those "ONLY slicks" kind of guitar strings, you are going to
get three slick, unwound guitar strings (that will be the three thinner ones), and you'll get three
rough, wound guitar strings (being the three thickest ones of the set). The thin strings have long,
bendable needles for cleaning/clearing out the thinnest, tiniest parts of your airbrush guns. The
thick, wound strings have more durable pipe cleaning/clearing use because of their almost
"saw-like" ability to get even the toughest gunk unlodged. Cleaning out your paint bottles (the
nozzles and tubing into the bottles) is especially easy with the thickest guitar strings. Even more
amazing is that you can keep the strings whatever length you need to. Cut 'em short, keep 'em full
length, you'll see that each string is wound at one end around a small, donut of a grommet. You
can run thread, string or a twist tie through the grommet ends to keep them altogether in your kit.
3 - Twist Ties....the wire kinds that come on your loaves of bread. Carefully peel off the paper
over the wire ties, and you can use them for the thin needs that I discussed above. This is more of
a dire straights, need-something-right-away kind of hack for you, but when you're in a crunch for
time it's good to have alternatives.
4 - Get the highest percentage grade of (rubbing) alchohol that you can find. Actually, you'll
probably find it in an electronics store or a paint store. Not only does high grade alcohol work as
your release for using skin illustrator style make ups...it works the same way if you pour a fraction
of it into any water-based airbrush paint. It makes it stay on the skin better. The downside though,
it also makes it stay in cloth better too, so be careful with that big time.
5 - Many people choose to just powder their airbrushed work instead of hitting it with fixer sprays
or sealers. This isn't a bad thing, but in this case, do remember that the translucent (supposedly)
or talc powder that you'll use, is actually a matte white color and can lighten your colors. For
example: if you painted someone red, after powdering they will look more purple or pink toned. So,
if you still want to powder, you should experiment with what colors work better with a white
powdered end result and/or how to achieve whatever final colors overall or try to find a translucent
powder close to each color you will be airbrushing.
Hopefully, these few tips can help you keep your equipment in working order for your next project
and help you get the look you're going for.
Airbrush (Cover Image) by maury.mccown
Airbrush Equipment Image by fotoparceiros
Ben Hur, where make-up artists used airbrush make-up to quickly apply make-up to a large cast.
But whether you are doing make-up for film, TV, or other art mediums, such as airbrushing a giant
Punisher Skull onto the hood of my SUV, airbrush make-up equipment requires regular
maintenance in order to work properly. So here are a few tips and tricks that I've learned over the
years.
1 - A SUGGESTED MUST - If there is any one specific rule to force yourself to learn, it is this:
Make sure your airbrush paint bottles are not only clog free, but make sure their vent holes aren't
clogged either. If you don't, then you are going to experience backfires, as in "all-up-in-your-face"
paint explosions. It's hilarious to everyone else, but it is insanely infuriating and causes a mess
that you will often spend way too much time having to clean up. And everyone knows that when
working on a film set, time is money.
2 - Guitar strings. If you play guitar like I do or know someone who does, ask for or just steal their
old guitar strings, use your own old ones or just buy some (they aren't that expensive). I suggest a
regular set of 10 gauge strings for electric guitars. Yeah, I know that you can buy those little, metal
pipe brush cleaner sets, but they tend to break quickly, and are more expensive. When buying
guitar strings, as long as you don't buy those "ONLY slicks" kind of guitar strings, you are going to
get three slick, unwound guitar strings (that will be the three thinner ones), and you'll get three
rough, wound guitar strings (being the three thickest ones of the set). The thin strings have long,
bendable needles for cleaning/clearing out the thinnest, tiniest parts of your airbrush guns. The
thick, wound strings have more durable pipe cleaning/clearing use because of their almost
"saw-like" ability to get even the toughest gunk unlodged. Cleaning out your paint bottles (the
nozzles and tubing into the bottles) is especially easy with the thickest guitar strings. Even more
amazing is that you can keep the strings whatever length you need to. Cut 'em short, keep 'em full
length, you'll see that each string is wound at one end around a small, donut of a grommet. You
can run thread, string or a twist tie through the grommet ends to keep them altogether in your kit.
3 - Twist Ties....the wire kinds that come on your loaves of bread. Carefully peel off the paper
over the wire ties, and you can use them for the thin needs that I discussed above. This is more of
a dire straights, need-something-right-away kind of hack for you, but when you're in a crunch for
time it's good to have alternatives.
4 - Get the highest percentage grade of (rubbing) alchohol that you can find. Actually, you'll
probably find it in an electronics store or a paint store. Not only does high grade alcohol work as
your release for using skin illustrator style make ups...it works the same way if you pour a fraction
of it into any water-based airbrush paint. It makes it stay on the skin better. The downside though,
it also makes it stay in cloth better too, so be careful with that big time.
5 - Many people choose to just powder their airbrushed work instead of hitting it with fixer sprays
or sealers. This isn't a bad thing, but in this case, do remember that the translucent (supposedly)
or talc powder that you'll use, is actually a matte white color and can lighten your colors. For
example: if you painted someone red, after powdering they will look more purple or pink toned. So,
if you still want to powder, you should experiment with what colors work better with a white
powdered end result and/or how to achieve whatever final colors overall or try to find a translucent
powder close to each color you will be airbrushing.
Hopefully, these few tips can help you keep your equipment in working order for your next project
and help you get the look you're going for.
Airbrush (Cover Image) by maury.mccown
Airbrush Equipment Image by fotoparceiros
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