I promised more how to lessons on Airbrush so long ago and I am only now getting back to the task. I have been very busy with my fine art paintings and web design. So right now I am setting up my studio with a fan as I nagged you to do to protect your health. I have a body shop that wants to work with me doing the primer and clear coating so I am back in the business of painting bikes and cars. I will give you a view of the projects as I do them, with how to pointers on materials and techniques. My lessons will come in the form of works in progress.

The first thing you need if you are going to airbrush cars or bikes is a really professional body shop. Maybe you are a body shop person and are set up for the prep, primer and clear coating but if you are not, you need to find a shop to be your partner. I tried painting guitars long ago and found I did the art perfectly but I was terrible at the clear coating. In the first place you need the kind of spray set up that allows a totally clean environment so stuff won't settle on the wet paint. You need huge fans to suck the paint out of the air and you need to be a professional. This is not a job for a novice. So just know that you need these things and I will not be teaching you that part of airbrushing on vehicles. I worked with a shop on the east coast and now I am lucky enough to find an excellent group of people that will be collaborating on my new venture on the west coast.

The second thing you need is to buy the tools and supplies. Hands down Iwata is the best airbrush for pencil thin lines to a stroke of about 1/4 inch.  I recommend the Iwata HPB. I used my acrylic airbrush paints after testing them with a shop. If you keep your paint thin this works beautifully with one shot clear coats. Now they make acrylics just for airbrushing cars. I just bought a brand called Auto-Bourne. The colors are beautiful. I will let you know how they spray after my first job. I bought a recommended frisket. I got a good respirator, goggles, hood and airbrush cleaning supplies so now I am ready to go. I will be painting a trunk lid which will be delivered primed and ready to paint on Thursday so I will be posting pictures of the job by this weekend. I will show you pictures of a stencil transfer. I still have not decided what to paint for my demo piece. Maybe something Oakland Raider related as I live in Raider Nation.

Here is a picture of a bike I painted about 15 years ago. This Jerry Garcia fan wanted to look at his heroes face as he rode his bike. It is a little weird to see a gas cap popping out of Jerry's forehead but my customer was happy.