Airbrushing PYOs…

[Ssthisto]

[Ssthisto]

I know that the production models are airbrushed, but is anyone who’s not directly affiliated with Windstone doing airbrushed PYO models?

Any tips for someone who’s got an airbrush kicking around and wants to try working on slipcast porcelain before buying a PYO she doesn’t want to ruin?

[Skigod377]

Quill airbrushes. Perhaps she can help? And lokie, too!

[Mimi]

And here’s an airbrushed PYO that Yelth did: http://www.windstoneeditions.com/galleries/index.php?cat=10034

I think she did a beautiful job on it.

[Algy]

Practice practice pratice!

And yes, testing out on an el cheapo makes for perfect practice.

[Lokie]

Congrats on the airbrush.

I’ve never painted an entired PYO with an airbrush, just used it on little areas to achieve a faded effect so I won’t be able to give you many tips or expert advice. I have used it on a few resin horses though.

If you have never used one before, definitely practice a lot on something you don’t mind messing up a bit on. Good thing about painting with an airbrush is as long as you don’t spray to thick to fast, you’ll be able to keep practicing on the same piece (or repainting a flubbed paint job on your final piece) because the airbrush’s thin layers lets the statue retain much of the detail even after many coats.

This advice comes from my own personal preferences but you might find another technique better. I like building the intensity of a color through several passes of the airbrush instead of trying to spray it on thick and dark immediately. This lets the statue keep much of the detail so there isn’t accidental pooling and also lets me control the color intensity on the edges of that layer with more ease. Also, I paint the color/s I don’t want to take precedence (or feel receded) first in the layers and the ones I want most prominent last and build the layers inbetween accordingly. Although this may seem like obvious advice, with the airbrush it requires doing some planning beforehand because nothing is more fustrating to me then when I decide at the last minute I want to add a new color “inbetween”. Grrr… possible, but I end up reaplying some of the top layers again.

Good luck, and sorry I wasn’t more helpful. I’ve owned mine for a little under 10 years but use it infrequently. I’ve always modified my techniques through trial and error with no real training. I’m interested in hearing how others airbrush their PYO as well as how Melody does the production pieces so I can learn some new techniques and have some professional advice.

[Author]

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