Airbrush

Airbrush Occupation #1 – Fabric Painter

The airbrush has been used to paint and decorate fabric since its early days.  This tool is ideal for the application of fabric paint, dyes and stains, since the surface being painted is neither touched nor disturbed by a heavy buildup of paint.  Airbrush fabric painting quickly brings to mind the T-shirt industry. But today, above and beyond T-shirts, airbrush artists decorate a multitude of objects such as umbrellas, curtains, pillows and decorative items, scarves, sneakers, hats and jackets—just about any item made from fabric can be decorated or enhanced with the airbrush.

And, yes, T-shirt painting is still popular at fairs and festivals, boardwalks and beaches and resort areas throughout the world.  The quality of the work and design ranges from basic to highly elaborate and is influenced by the artist’s skill/ability, sophistication of the audience/locale and the price point.

To outfit yourself and learn how to airbrush on fabric is pretty straightforward.  But, as in all areas of art, professional equipment and practice are required.  Following are some hints and suggestions:

The most suitable airbrush for working on fabric is a bottom feed, internal mix, dual action airbrush such as the Iwata Model HP-BC Plus (www.iwata-medea.com).  This type of airbrush produces a soft spray, allows you to adjust the paint without stopping the movement of your hand and utilizes a bottle attached to the bottom of the brush as the paint reservoir. Artists have a number of bottles containing a variety of colors that allow for quick color change while working.

A compressor is usually used for an air source (www.silentaire.com).  Piston-operated compressors are the most durable and the larger, the better.  An airbrush requires at least ½ cubic foot of air (cfm) at 50 pounds per square inch (psi).  The fabric painter works at a higher air pressure than an illustrator, for example, to allow the paint or dye to penetrate the surface of the fabric.  A 1/2HP compressor or larger is recommended.  Of course you will need an air hose to attach the airbrush to the compressor as well as an airbrush holder to hang up the brush when not in use.

A recommended paint is Medea Textile Colours by Jurek, a pre-reduced and sprayable paint that is designed for fabric.  Note that these have been newly reformulated for use on leather, gessoed canvas, wood and metal, as well.   However, on fabric, paints must be heat-set for permanency.

Once you have decided to pursue airbrush fabric painting, you must practice.  It’s best to begin on an inexpensive soft paper such as newsprint. (See your retailer for Borden & Riley’s #NNP Novel Newsprint — www.bordenandriley.com; and Strathmore’s 300 Series Newsprint — www.strathmoreartist.com.)  Start with basic spray techniques such as dots and lines; move on to doing vignettes (gradations); and then practice what is called the dagger stroke, a line that begins thin, becomes wider and then ends thin.  If you are interested in T-shirt painting, you should also practice alphabets.  A customer will often request his/her name, a saying, etc., painted on the souvenir T-shirt or object.  Once you feel comfortable with the airbrush, buy a length of cotton fabric, stretch it on a wall and practice to get the feel of working on fabric.

After you’ve mastered the use of the airbrush and feel comfortable applying paint, you will be able to work on any fabric object either freehand or with stencils/templates or a combination of both.

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 18 No. 6 — April 2008