Airbrushing in the "Digital Age"...

I know several illustrators who used airbrushes for the majority of their illustration work two decades ago (or more), who now use only digital tools. Many "former airbrush artists" see little reason for anyone to bother with clunky ol' airbrushes that require constant cleaning, maintenance, and replacement parts.

But, there are reasons--good ones!

Just last week, I was asked to repair an arcylic (mostly airbrushed, with some "traditional" brushwork) painting for a fellow artist. She had a 40 x 40 inch painting that had a small tear in the canvas, and she needed it fixed, so the painting could be exhibited.

My first step was to "patch" the tear. I cut a small piece of unprimed canvas (from a scrap piece I keep on-hand for exactly that purpose) and attached the patch to the back of the tear using acrylic matte gel.

Once the patch was dry, I applied gesso into the "tear" from the front, sanding it smooth once it, too, was dry.

Then, using the airbrush, I touched up the "fixed" area, matching colours to the rest of the painting.

Lastly, a bit of "traditional" brushwork, and the repair work was done, and the painting looked like there had never been any damage to it at all.

When you have a project that can't be easily fed through a printer, or when you want to retain an original photograph, document, or painting (rather than ending up with a PhotoShop corrected copy), airbrushing is one good way to go about "fixing" original pieces.

I'm going to be using airbrushes quite a bit in my next several paintings, probably with both acrylics and oils. I need to figure out a good formula for an airbrush oil-paint medium. (I have a few ideas...)

A fun and sexy aside...

A friend of mine has been planning to have me do some body-painting on a model he's been working with for a while, but the three schedules (his, mine, and hers) haven't "meshed" 'til today.

Liora and I (along with his girlfriend, and a couple of the model's friends) got together at his studio this morning, and I did some body painting, and my friend did some ropework, and the ladies took pictures.

Everyone had fun, and we vowed to do it again, soon.

Don't know if this is going to lead to anything "professional", but it sure wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday morning!

"Arachnélégance"...

Here's what I am calling the "first finish" of Arachnélégance. At this point, it could be considered "finished" (it is on display at the MRP Gallery thru the First Friday in May, after all).

But (you knew there would be a "but", didn't you?!) I might put one more layer of transparent oils over the spider (to make it a bit more green-brown, and--hopefully--help it stand out even more from the background) after I remove it from the gallery next month.

I'll keep everyone posted, here...

hang on tight...

Here's the progress on the "Elegant Spider" (working title) painting.

12x16 inches, oils and airbrushed scrylics on GessoBord.


April First is getting closer!

I met with the owners of the gallery, and the curator, last Monday night. We measured the space. Fortunately (given that I'm not going to have a ton of work on exhibit) it's not a huge place, and I should have enough pieces so that the main display wall doesn't look too crowded, or (worse) empty.

I have several things to take care of tomorrow. They're probably going to take most of the day; I'm not expecting to get much done in the studio. But, Saturday and Sunday will be heavy studio days (they've gotta be!), and I hope to finish at least two paintings this weekend, and get two more much further along.

And, I started a new sculpture tonight!

(25 June 2001 edit: the sculpture referred to, above, has been destroyed. It was in Sculpey, and I plan to sculpt only in porcelain from now on.)

Birthday weekend...updates.

We're celebrating my birthday tomorrow; going to see "The Girl Who Played With Fire" in the afternoon, then out to dinner. I think I'm ready to be 44--but there are numerous things I want to accomplish before I turn 45. (The clock is ticking...)

I worked on the photo-retouching project for a few hours today. A friend I've known since the 8th grade dropped by this afternoon, and kept me company while I retouched the photo. That brought back some very old, good memories of times when he and I used to stay up late, with me airbrushing on the floor in my parents' basement, while he and I chatted about life, women, philosophy, women, politics, art, music, women...good times!)

After he left, Linda and I went for a relaxing swim, then I went back to work in the studio after dinner. (A declicious homecooked dinner, by the way!)

My studio is gradually getting more organized. I found several things today that I'd misplaced--including some parts to a shelf that I needed, so I could get some more CDs off the floor, on the shelf, and sorted. (With nearly 2,000 CDs, keeping them organized is essential to finding what I want to listen to, when I want to hear it!)

I spent quite a bit of time last week working on one of the "Face" paintings, and the photo-retouching piece, and the new spider painting. (The photo is a detail of the new spider, taken a couple days ago. The photo is shown approx. actual size. It's a little further along, now. I'm hoping to finish it this coming week, once the photo is fully re-touched.)

I have six prints uploaded to my Etsy site; I'm not going to offer any more prints for sale, until some of the current listings sell. The next piece I'm going to upload to Etsy will be a small original painting, probably of a spider, a small caricature, or perhaps a new spacescape.

I have two dozen or so small, ornate frames that I'm going to use to frame numerous small, original paintings. These will be offered for sale at Etsy. I won't be having these photographed, so there won't be any prints of these, anywhere. Anyone who buys one of these will have a true original, one-of-a-kind painting!

Blast(s) From the Past...

Night Must Fall, 1999, 20x30 inches, airbrushed acrylics on illustration board.

I'm going to be launching my new website soon, and there will be an "archive" page (of some sort), which will feature some of the airbrushed science fiction paintings I was making more than a decade ago--

--this kind of thing. (This painting was based on a photograph that was from photo-shoot I arranged years ago with a lovely young lady who was studying nursing here in Kansas City. My best friend had just moved into a new apartment, and his furniture hadn't yet arrived, so he, my ex-wife, and I spent the afternoon setting up various shots of our lovely model, at his new place, against the bare white walls...)

Another funny thing about this painting; my chiropractor saw it, and mentioned that it seemed that the model might have had scoliosis as a child (which, of course, she did!) Yeah, I was a bit flattered that I apparently painted this accurately enough that an accurate diagnosis could be made, just from my painting!)

Ironically, the portfolio that I submitted to the Kansas City Art Institute included mostly these airbrushed sci-fi pieces, but it was my experiences at KCAI which led me to the paintings I'm making now...