Airbrushing

So, it'd been awhile but i have airbrushed recently.
I kind of miss it because i was pretty good at it.
A coworker from my previous job asked me to airbrush these two wooden paddles she had and i just took my jolly good time with it... meaning...i didn't paint it till a year later cuz i'm a lazy jerk!!! Luckily she wasn't pissed and I quickly made this up for her at her request. It came out decent considering i have only airbrushed on tshirts and other fabrics.



I started with a sketch she had made of an oceanic/beach scene. Realizing her sketch was not good i decided to just use a basic beach design from experience. Bright colors, palm trees and script front. Can't go wrong with that.

I taped up the paddles as she wanted them to cross and the full design to be one.
Then i spray painted white so the colors would really pop. I had originally started on the wood but found the lighter colors were not opaque and figured that starting with a white canvas would be better.

Then i proceeded with the sky- using the spray can's lid as a mask for the sun and covered the top half with yellow.
The rule with Airbrushing with color as i had learned was "start with the lightest color" as adding the next darkest color would help blend better. You don't take black and then put red on top. You put red first then ad the black to create a gradient of red TO black. Same rule applies here. SO, yellow, then pink, then blue.

I used an old template with a straight edge to give me the horizon line with blue and then with the black, added the beach line and palm trees, then the text with the black.

Here is where i finally clean out my airbrush with a few sprays of water. Then i go back, add brown to the beach, swtich to blue for the water lines and drop shadow and then i'm done.

I almost forgot- in her sketch she had a small boat in the distance. Because my air pressure was so low (about 20-30psi because the paint didn't dry on the wood as fast as on a tshirt as the tshirt will absorbn paint) and because i was airbrushing straight ahead (as in not down towards the table) it was very difficult to make this shape without shakey lines.

Enter the handy dandy sharpie! I draw the boat with the sharpie and then fill in with the airbrush, add a small shadow and done!

To make the colors really shine and give the text some sharpening, i added a clear coat to the paddles and let it air dry a few minutes before delivering.

she was busy when i dropped it off so i never got to hear any critique- but i'm sure she'll love it. If i had to do it again there are some things i would have done differently- like i know how when she takes that tape off, she's going to have a solid line there which won't compliment the design, and i would have made the words in pencil after laying down the white, so that it would be perfectly lined up.
I also would have liked to have shine on the letters but the white airbrush paint, unused for two summers, had become too think to go through the gun. I think i should have added some seagulls in the sky too.... oh well!



Overall, i give myself a 4/5 stars. Only cuz it was a good LAST MINUTE project.