About Airbrush Paint

The moment you begin to airbrush, the best option will be to use the airbrush paint which is modified especially for airbrushing. Golden Airbrush Colors and DR PH Martins are to name a couple of the paints. Airbrush made paint is characterized by pigments which are much finer in these colors. They are finer in comparison to the craft paints and using this type of paint will just be an effortless task.

Though while learning the basics of airbrushing one can use craft textile paints, it will be convenient and more enjoyable to use the airbrush body paint if you are learning for the first time. Airbrush body paint can be differentiated into two categories namely, Transparent or Opaque. During the learning process, one is free to use any of the types but since the transparent colours are usually thinner than the opaque ones, they might appear to be easily applicable with an airbrush.

OPAQUE
colours are the type that do not allow any light pass through it. While spraying with the help of an opaque colour above another colour, the first color is meant to be covered by the second color and will not blend. The transparent colors have less pigment than the Opaque colors. This is the very reason why the opaque colors are likely to clog in the airbrush and then gradually dries up at the tip of the needle.

TRANSPARENT
is the category of color that allows light to pass on through. This allows the bodies within paint to be seen directly. Transparent colours can be easily blended, in order to create new colours. For instance, red with yellow will produce orange color.

WATER COLOURS
is a type of paint that has water as the base. It is the best type to be used with an airbrush. The water colours available in pre-reduced form are air-brush ready and also available in tubes. The water colours can be further diluted by reducing them with distilled water which will make them transparent paint.

GOUACHE
It is also know as Tempera. The water based paint with white base pigment makes it even more opaque. However, with a white pigment though it one may find it difficult to use Gouache through an airbrush as opposed to the water colour.

ACRYLIC
This is a type of paint available not only in transparent but also in opaque forms. A number of companies manufacture Acrylic airbrush paint. However, it is recommended that you select a brand which manufactures paint meant for airbrushing. Most companies usually supply a thinner along with the paint or you can reduce the acrylics with water. Sometimes the cleaning is generally done with water, cleaning agent provided by the manufacturer. The acrylic paint has a lasting effect on most surfaces but it is essential to find out the surface preparation before the application.

As far as the Gouache is concerned, please ensure that it does not dry itself out in the airbrush. It's best that you clean out the airbrush after using Gouache colors. Textile paint is another kind of acrylic paint which is meant for application on textiles like jackets, sweat shirts, T-Shirts etc. Most of the textile colors need heat setting to derive a permanent effect. For top results, it's recommended to check the specifications of the manufacturer.