By Dawn Omboy
Airbrushing is here to stay and not just a passing fad. You do not need to make a huge investment to get started and it is a good idea to have temporary creative products at your fingertips should a client decide on a last minute design. It just makes perfect sense to be prepared and many companies are now jumping on board to supply these products to us.
One important thing to remember is to always make certain to keep the needle in your airbrush gun clean. I usually clean mine with alcohol after each use. I use a small air compressor with a gravity fed airbrush gun, the ink reservoir is on the top. I have found for me this is the easiest way to go, it is also easy to change colors in between by adding some alcohol to the reservoir and running it through the gun, then a quick wipe out with a Q-tip does the trick for me. The most important thing is not to be intimidated by it so play and practice on a sketch pad to get used to it before trying it on a dog.
I recently went to visit my brother’s family in Atlanta and took Harry LaRue along for the ride. I also just so happened to have my small airbrush kit with me. So being the cool Aunt that I am, we set up an easel with a large sketch pad on the kitchen table so the kids could get in a little practice before turning them loose on Harry LaRue. I was so pleased to see these kids taking turns getting a feel for the airbrush and Buddie (10) and Linzie (12), both already knew what design they each wanted to put on Harry. So after a few minutes practice time we put Harry up on my brother’s kitchen table and Linzie went to work on her pink paw prints on Harry’s back. Then it was Buddie’s turn to airbrush. Harry was more than happy to be on the table getting attention, he loves those kids! In the end my two little creative artists had made a masterpiece of Harry.
So don’t be intimidated by this little old airbrush, it’s tons of fun and temporary. I was super happy that I did not have to bathe Harry when we got back home, Buddie and Linzie had done a great job. And Harry and I loved our day in Atlanta with family!
