They are everywhere, and seemingly no where when you need one. From the beaches of the Florida panhandle, the local mall or the great Smokey Mountains… Airbrush Artists are...
“The Peoples’ Artist”
Airbrushed portrait of Saint Teresa
On any given day you can walk through the doors of Anything Airbrushed plus or browse our website www.anythingairbrushed.com and be instantly transported into the world of art…and most people never realize it. You are surrounded by pieces of art that you are positive cannot be painted by the same tool that painted your “Spring Break 2004” t-shirt you bought in Panama City Beach. But they are...Portraits that look so strikingly real that you swear they are looking back at you. Helmets that are so creative that they could not have possibly been painted by someone. T-shirts that are so detailed they must have been digitally printed, but they all share one thing in common…they were all painted using an airbrush.
It seems that these days most people take airbrush artists for granted and never realize it. The airbrush artist is for the most part the only exposure the average person gets to a real life working artist on a daily basis. There is no such thing as a “Watercolor shop”, there is no such thing as an “Oil painting shop”, or “Colored pencil shop”, or “Pastel shop”…or even a “Computer generated artwork shop”…There are only “Airbrush shops” Which is why when the average person needs something painted or artwork created, the first person they think of is the local airbrush artist. Simply because they do not know how to find any other kind of “Traditional artist” because as I said no other medium has stores in a public setting strictly dedicated to that medium except for airbrush stores. This all simply stems from the fact that Airbrush Artists work in the public eye all day, every day. You do not see any other type of artists doing their work in front of the general public….airbrush artists do it everyday.
The airbrush is just another type of paint brush. It’s just another way of putting paint on a canvas. The airbrush comes in many shapes and sizes but for the most part they all work the same. Paint and air are combined and sprayed out of the tip as either a very fine line or as a wide spray - this being controlled by the artist. This application makes it the perfect tool for painting any surface.
Airbrush artists start each project like any other artist ...we stand in front of a blank canvas, t-shirt, helmet, motorcycle tank, wall...you name it. We pick up a pencil or piece of charcoal, look at our model or reference picture and start drawing...just like any other “traditional” artist. The only difference comes into play when we are finished drawing and ready to paint. We reach for an airbrush while a “traditional artist” reaches for a paint brush.
Airbrush artists have the ability to paint anything on anything. You can’t just walk into a silk screener and say ”I need a shirt printed for my grandmothers 80th birthday” Silk screeners don’t do just 1-2 shirts they do mass quanities. Where as an airbrush artist can do 1 or 100 shirts. When the average person wants a family portrait they can’t afford the likes of International portrait artist Igor Babailov… they come to us.
The great thing about being an airbrush artist is that it’s something new everyday. We often say that “our inventory is only limited by the size of our customers imagination” We couldn’t possibly think of everything we could paint because that is endless… on the other hand we don’t have to…our customers do that for us.
I would never have thought of painting an artificial leg… but we have … for a customer who wanted her leg painted for a Jimmy Buffett concert. I would never have thought of painting a tombstone or coffin but we have done those also. Not to mention the amount of shoes or batting helmets, motorcycle helmets and tanks, murals, backdrops, props of all shapes, sizes, subject matter and material and of course all types of apparel….and need I mention….Body Painting?…No other artist can do all these things with their chosen medium.
So the next time you see an airbrush artist, take a moment to stop, watch and browse their portfolio. You may be surprised at how much their work resembles something you saw in a Gallery….you know, that place where work by “Real” artists are displayed…lol
Read more Blogs here The Airbrush Customer
