First Timer, Looking For Ways To Practice

When airbrushing ..... go light. Too many beginners and some old timers put the paint on too thick.



Kerby...

 

Go light like Kirby said you can add you can’t take away
But let’s get these two in the freezer mounted first
Bong put the cart before the horse
Get some good reference for atonomy and paint reference
Study in depth the colors in depth
Each scale
Look at head alignment
Fin alignment
Position of the mouth
Best advice is study your subject

 

Print some black and white pic on paper of different species of fish. Learn how your airbrush works on spots, vermiculations and broad spraying. I say paper cause you can just throw them away and once you feel confident with that , get a reproduction. Now study references real close. Look at scale details. Break down your references more and try to recreate that. Once you feel real comfortable doing that, paint your fish.
The biggest issue with airbrush work is learning what your brush can and cannot do.
If your getting an Iwata and if it’s a top of the line ( 2mm tip) dont ever spray and kind of pearlescent or metallic paint through it. The flakes will destroy the tip and your detail work will hurt. Besides those nozzles are like $30.00 .
I will also add , spend the money to have on hand : extra nozzle, needle, O ring or packing screw replacement. Cause if you drop it more than likely your tip is shot. If it’s bent, DONT PULL IT OUT. It’ll only ruin the nozzle. Cut it or grind it off, then pull it out. Save yourself some bucks.
Also you can remove the cone on the Iwata ( you might buy one too cause if you drop it , gremlins take it and you’ll never find it lol) so that you can get even finer sharper lines

 

How about that screw that holds the needle ,can't see it ,how is that even made

 

That’s where the O ring is or packing screw lol
Yep made a screwdriver for that one lol

 

When you or someone you know goes fishing and fillets some fish, save the skins off the sides. Throw them in a bucket of water to get the slime off and scrape off any remaining meat or tissue on the back. Glue the skins, (five or ten of them would be perfect), to a piece of styrofoam or even a piece of plywood. Staple or pin the edges to hold them flat until the glue dries. When dry after a few days you have all the test samples you want to try different painting techniques. Try this method with different species to hone your skills without spending the time to mount a fish every time. You can wipe off the paint with lacquer thinner and start over. It's much better to have scales and texture to paint over than a flat surface.
There is no shortcut for practice.

 

This advice really makes sense. Thanks for posting!

 

Didn't know Rick was using lacquer paints ,thought he was a water guy ,watch Matuska on face book they show how to use createx a great water based paint

 

Yes life tone is water ,polytranspar is lacquer or water

 

Yes your right sorry I'm wrong,in the WASCO catalog they sell life tone lacquer and water ,my confusion

 

It's a tough thing to learn for sure,