Posted by Barbara Schilling on July 12, 2002
Barbara SchillingWell, here I am again, for the third time, trying to screw up enough courage to tackle an airbrush job that I first created in about 1987. It is of a metal temperature probe with 2 sets of screw threads, a "nut" and of course the long barreled probe. It is on a sandblasted sign we are repainting for the 2nd time. Talk about longevity.
I scanned the photo of the original job and made a color and a black and white print of the object in question to use for mixing my color values. I painted the base in one of the medium values which is a blueish gray at about 50%. Now I am ready to detail with the airbrush using 85% and 10% values. (Nearly black and white, but not quite.) I don't know why I always put this stuff off. I find I THOROUGHLY enjoy it once I am in the swing. Oh, well, it's a "use it or lose it" kind of thing. And the thing I need to use is my COURAGE. (afraid of failure? I only have to put more paint on to fix any screw ups!)
Ok, I got the shadows done before dinner, and it wasn't even painful. Now I'm going back out to the shop to put in the highlights. I'd forgotten how stuffy that darn NIOSH filter can be!
I made a new "cleanout can" for running thinner through the airbrush without filling up the room with the fumes. I took a 4 lb. coffee can with plastic lid. I cut a 3/8" diameter hole in the middle of the lid. I spray the thinner into the can through the hole. I can dump the spent thinner into my brush cleaning thinner when done. Only minimal airborne thinner escapes.
It is satisfying to see the metal probe come to life.
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads