Airbrush Technique Issue 12

Ok, you want to paint airbrush tattoos and make a few bucks painting at summer events like block parties and festivals. You have always heard that to make money you have to spend money, nowhere is this truer. Lets go thru some of the equipment, supplies you will need. First on our list will be the air source; a compressor that doesn’t make a lot of noise is best for this application. You want to be able to hear your customers, as do your neighbors at the event, you don’t want to upset them for not being able to hear his/her customers. Many of the venues will require you use a quite source of air for your airbrushing. If its just you doing the tattoos you can use a small compressor that has a minimum of 1/8 hp and .9cfm, but if there are two of you painting you will need a larger capacity compressor with at least 1/4hp and 2.0cfm. A small compressor that uses the airbrush as its on-off switch is fine for one painter and can be found for under $300, a larger silent compressor that can power two airbrushes can set you back from around $400 to $800. Next on our list are airbrushes and you will want several in your set up. You are not going to make any real money with one airbrush even if you are the only one at the event doing tattoos, the time it would require to change colors would put a big dent in the actually time you spent making money, airbrushing. Choose a bottom feed double action airbrush so you can attach the paint bottle on the bottom; they hold more color (paint) than a color cup. Six airbrushes is a good start, but you may want to add more as you go along. Spares are nice, that way if a brush quits when your busy you can just pop another in its place and keep on painting. Colors you should have to start with are black, white, red, blue and yellow. You could include one other color or use the sixth airbrush as a spare. Quality airbrushes can cost from around $50 to over a $100 depending on make, model and where you purchase it. Now you will need a manifold, this will allow you to use one compressor for multiple airbrushes. With a small compressor you can have as many airbrushes as you wish attached to the manifold as you are only using one at a time, with a larger silent compressor two or more airbrushes can be used at one time. You can buy a manifold or make your own from 1/4 inch plumper pipe. If you use NPT quick connects at the manifold you can unhook and hook up your airbrushes fast and easy. You will also need a place to set your airbrushes (airbrush holder) with the bottles attached. Here you may have to make your own set up. I use 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe attached to my manifold. There is really no paint made for the body, we use water based airbrush make up which is made just for body painting and alcohol based airbrush body inks, which we call “paint”. The water based make up is for the face, hair or body and washes off with soap and water. Alcohol based inks are for on the body only, they come off with alcohol or body lotion. If using alcoholbased inks, use 91% or higher alcohol for cleaning your customers tattoo site before you start painting and to clean the airbrushes at the end of the day. When using a bottom feed airbrush you will need an adapter cap for your bottles; the bottles you will put paint in and attach to your airbrush. Most manufactures will sell you a cap for their bottles; I prefer the plastic caps, as there are no rust problems you’ll have with metal caps. Stencils, you will need lots of stencils. Many beginners want to use stick on stencils and there are a lot of companies selling these. Most professionals prefer not to use these, as they get really gross after a few uses. Most folks doing tattoo’s use stencils without sticky backs and learn to walk their fingers down or across the stencil as they paint to hold the stencil in place. You can make your own stencils with material found in craft stores or you can purchase pre-made stencils. There are many stencils to choose from I recommend buying from several companies to get just the right stencils for your area or event. Finally, you will need a stand or table to set your stencil, airbrushes, etc on. As there are as many ideas on this as there are airbrush artists, I’ll leave this one up to you. Just make sure it’s both portable and sturdy. With all the above you should have just about everything you need to get started, except of course customers. AIRBRUSH TECHNIQUE MAGAZINE DIGITAL We now bring our great news stand airbrush , kustom painting magazine to you in this digital format. No waiting for the mail man, no shipping costs get your technique together today and subscribe to Airbrush Technique Magazine digital. Order your subscription via secure server from the magazine web site: $19.97 for six issues www.airbrushtechniquemagazine.com http://www.airbrushtechniquemagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Airbrush Technique Issue 12

Airbrush Technique Issue 12 Contents Gerold Radmer Mick Cassidy Hairydidit Jammer Jim Ferraro Patrick Charuel Kicks Jack Giachino Neil Roth Mike Ellwood

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