beginners discussion

I Want to Do Airbrush. Where Do I Start?

First say to yourself what you want to be; and then do what you have to do“. Epictetus. Tweet This!

Sometimes I find a blog or forum entry where people are talking about airbrush in many different ways. One will tell that it is a good thing to spend your time on and another will try to convince you that it’s a perfect way to make money.

After reading many of these articles I got a strange feeling of the main purpose of this whole thing called AIRBRUSH.

It doesn’t matter if you just want to try it out or you manage to make money out of it already, the most important thing is that you do it because it is your hobby and you love your hobby. So, when you are going to start airbrushing, no matter what the reasons are, you have to ask yourself a question:

I Want to Do Airbrush, Where Do I Start?

Lets face it, airbrush for many of us is far from a profession (there is no university where you get a diploma), it is more like hobby where clever people manage to make an additional income. Additional in case that you have a day job already. Be honest, do you like your day job?

If you love you hobby and if you manage to transform this additional income into the main one, you can realize that you do your dream job.

Why Do You Want to Do Airbrushing?

1. I Want to Try Airbrushing.

In this case even if you won’t get very deep into it, your knowledge will be a bit wider and then you can show off in front of your friends that you know something.

The question is: Where Do I Start?

These days you can find a lot of information on the Internet. It could be a book or video (depends on what you prefer) from someone who actually reached some summits in airbrushing and who is a master in particular airbrush style that you like more than any other style. As a result you will find yourself doing your hobby just to get everyone around you and of course yourself into a good mood. Or you can find out that it’s not that awesome as you have thought it could be and you just quit it.

But if you decided to start anyway, first thing to do is to start gaining information. If you have a small knowledge about airbrushing, I recommend to start here. I also recommend to check other artists galleries just to get some inspiration, and for real nerds there is some “How to“.

2. Killing Your Time with Airbrushing

Yes you read it right. There are some people that just don’t know how to kill their time. I’m not saying that there is something wrong with it. It depends on your situation. I have a friend who has retired already and he has a lot of free time, so he decided to do airbrushing. And even though he’s older he can manage to get better and better all the time.

You don’t have to tell everyone that you do “this and that”, it sounds much better when you say “I’m learning something awesome!” This learning can last for months or years until you get enough of it. Maybe with some breaks in the middle. Maybe at the end you will find something that will suits you better.

I have heard about a man that had a long break in his hobby (15 years or so). He got back into it and he is glad he did.

So, Where Do I Start, if I just want to try it? There is no universal recommendation. If you are looking for something, you will find it. You don’t have to care about “the others” and what they think about your art. Maybe it’s not even art, yet.

You can get a lot of information from books, videos, pictures, etc. Suck it all up like a sponge and spend hours working on yourself, mastering your skills. At the end, I hope you won’t regret the time you’ve spent on it. It will be good if you end up as “a polished stone” that has some value (from your talent). If so, you should have at that time some of your friends or even their friends asking you to paint something for them. And believe me some of these people will be giving you money to do so. That’s the time when you should think about the third option.

3. Making Money with Airbrushing

If you are the case from previous paragraph or you just know that you have a talent that should have some appreciation or you just need to improve your financial situation.

No matter what reason you have to think about this option, again, the question is: Where Do I Start?

In financial matter, before you start making any money you have to invest. Where to invest? This question is easy to answer. Working space, equipment, knowledge, skills, portfolio, advertising, ….

Look what we get here, another question, where to start? again. Can you tell me how good are your skills in airbrushing? If you know that you need to learn more, then start there, start learning. Some people can do it themselves, some need a teacher. If you need a teacher find one.

Learn, Learn and once again Learn” V.I. Lenin. Tweet This!

Remember that without a bit of effort you won’t get anywhere. In case of making money you have to invest with no doubt. If you’re going to try it anyway with no investments made, don’t forget about other people that are willing to do so in order to progress further, as these people will be ahead of you (one or two steps) for sure.

If you belong to that small group of people that are able of self-teaching, congratulations, you are the one who can catch the smallest scintilla of knowledge suited exactly for you in this huge sea of sometimes useless information. I don’t want to go deep into details here. Do some research and you will know if you are able to make your hobby to become your business.

Your persistence and spent time will be rewarded for sure.

I would say that this can be applied to anything, not just airbrush but anything that can be learned and mastered (any hobby you have). If you have anything to say, leave a comment below. If you find this topic interesting, please share it with your friends, like it, tweet it and give a plus. I will appreciate any of your actions…

Cheers.

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2 Comments on “I Want to Do Airbrush. Where Do I Start?”

  • I found this enlightening, can’t wait to airbrush a set of flames on my Town Car !!

    • I’m happy you did. I’ll be also happy to see your flames ;)