For airbrushing t-shirts, sweatshirts, denim and other natural fibers you first need to wash the material. By washing the material you will remove any loose fibers. Also washing the material will take care of any shrinking prior to placing your airbrush art design on to the material. So make sure that you have washed and fully dried your material before you begin.
Skin should be cleaned with rubbing alcohol to remove any oils from the skin. The skin's own natural oils will prevent the airbrush paint from successfully sticking to the skin. This will cause the airbrush art tattoo to come off to soon. The use of talc powder after the design has dried will help to keep oil from building back up and thus still ruining the airbrushed tattoo.
Metal should be wet sanded to give a rough grainy effect. This rough grainy effect will help the paint to adhere to the metal. With metal actually being smooth the paint will have a hard time sticking to the smooth surface. This is why it is important to wet sand the metal first. A base coat should be applied to the metal before any airbrush art design is started.
Your airbrush parts
The air cap and head assembly are on the front of your airbrush and they cover the tip of the needle. The purpose of these parts is to control atomization of the paint spray. Should these parts become dented or damaged in anyway you should replace them immediately. Damage to the air cap and head assembly will effect the performance of your airbrush. Thus like the needle you will be unable to create desirable airbrush art. Both the needle, air cap and head assembly can be purchased at almost any craft or hobby shop that sells airbrushes and airbrush parts.
Pay special attention to the threads on your airbrush. The threads are located on the head assembly and where the air hose connects to your airbrush. If these threads should ever become cross-threaded then you could end up with an air leak. An air leak will effect the function of your airbrush so make sure to take care not to cause any cross-threading in these areas.
Airbrush makeup art
So with everything being available for artist to use as a canvas for their airbrush art and with art being the taking of something and then turning it into a masterpiece, there is now a question posed. Is airbrush makeup just another form of airbrush art? Can the application of makeup with the use of an airbrush be art? Or is it still just the application of makeup that just happens to use an airbrush?
When looking at what airbrushing does when used to apply makeup, a lot of people do believe that this is a form of airbrush art. When make up is airbrushed on the effects of what it does to the subject can be really drastic. Take a woman who has flawed skin and airbrush a light foundation onto her face and you now have a woman with perfect skin. The great thing is that the foundation is light weight and barely noticeable. Airbrush makeup has been able to take a woman that is plain and turn her into an exotic beauty with the right application of certain makeup. The effects of airbrushed makeup are more natural but at the same time more dramatic than the use of regular make up.