Airbrush questions

Im just recently started to play around with an airbrush gun that a friend has im art major student recently graduated and never had try it before im a graphic designer and enjoy creating new designs in photoshop and on paper all the time but i really like the fun of the airbrush gun I don't know anything about it though hope you can can help
What is the best airbrush gun for body art and tattoos any suggestion on brands and compressors i want to buy my own and practice and then maybe take it to my school i work with elementary kids to make some creative body art for them can you guys help and where are the best pages to buy body art paint for airbrush thank you

Oh boy! Starting from the beginning can be the best and worst - if you get a "package" from a site that sells everything all together you know it will all work together, they probably have instructions and information for you, and you know you will have everything you need. However it costs far more money starting up - but it might end up costing less in the long run vs option 2..... buying one thing at a time and potentially making choices that later on you find useless. Option 2 does have the advantage though of being pieced together slowly and spreading out the cost getting items only as you need.

Just like with any skill, you will find nearly as many opinions as people involved. As a starting place might I suggest reading what has been written on the forum already about airbrush:
http://www.facepaintforum.com/search?search_keywords=airbrush
I'd also recommend taking a class - a good class will give you the opportunity to try out a variety of airbrushes to see your preferences, as well as compressors and mediums - a fourth part of airbrushing you might not have considered is stencils and shields - it is essential for getting sharp edges.

An excellent blend of your skill with graphic design and photoshop with airbrush would be to design stencils in photoshop, cut them out with a cutter, then be able to airbrush a design (or many layers of design) onto skin.



Airbrush 101... airbrushes and related items are divided up in many ways:

single action vs dual action - with single action the air and medium are controlled with the same trigger at the same time - less control than dual action where you can control both separately even though you are using the one trigger - if your trigger moves forward and backwards as well as up and down, it is a dual action

bottom feed (or side feed) vs top feed - this affects how the medium gets drawn into the airbrush to be sprayed - bottom and side feed are by siphon, top feed is by gravity

"ink" vs "paint" - the body paint "ink" is an alcohol based liquid that is meant for body (not face) use, but won't just wash off with water/soap - you either need to remove it with a remover, or let it wear off, or scrub it off - the makeup or "paints" out there are meant for the face, some might be more durable than the others (hybrids or silicones fit into that category) - - - there are many different preferences for which ones have preferred colours and staying power etc

compressor (with or without tank) or CO2 - carbon dioxide (CO2) is a preference of many who do festivals etc as a compressor requires power and a compressor can be louder - and you do want to be able to talk to your clients - however the compressor doesn't need to be refilled

sticky stencils vs non stick - there are some "single use" stencils out there that are made to stick onto the body you are spraying onto - this type is also used for the glitter tattoos - there is much more information in the portion of the forum devoted to that - there are also non stick acetate or plastic or mylar stencils - these are cleanable and reusable

This is by no means a comprehensive list of potential "gotcha's" - for instance I haven't even gotten into the variation on hoses and types of connections - but is hopefully a starting place.

If we are talking personal preference - I prefer dual action airbrushes, compressor (I have a relatively quiet one), alcohol based ink (I have lots of it and I prefer not to spray the face), and reusable stencils (I prefer flexible vs stiff for the most part).

Good luck!

wow your totally awesome I know is a lot of things i need to know but all the info you just game me was great you help me a lot with all the small issues i had and thanks for your opinion im thinking of buying this airbrush from a friend who only wants 50 dollars for both compressor and the airbrush just to learn a little more about it but i really thank you for all ur suggestions and the info

Sounds like an excellent deal - it would let you learn what you like (or don't) about it with very little initial outlay - my least expensive compressor (of 6) was $38 or so - and is relegated to "I'll use it if all of my others have failed but it is so noisy I better be desperate". And my least expensive airbrushes are in the $15 range (Harbor Freight) - I'd say that even if these were an inexpensive airbrush and compressor it would be a good starting place.

I thought of one more major thing I forgot to mention above - and you will want to look for one before spraying on people if your compressor doesn't have it - a regulator - this lets you alter the PSI (pounds per square inch) of the air flow - when you are spraying on a car or wood or even paper it isn't something that matters much, but on a person, you want to lower the air flow as much as you can (somewhere around 35 or so PSI can hurt someone's eyes - I prefer to work around 12-15 tops and even less on the face).