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AIRBRUSH ACTION

| MARCH–APRIL 2007

First,

I shot some reference photos with adigital camera and printed the best stoneand brick shots to use as reference. I’vefound that my work is much lessconvincing if I try to just “make stuff up.”My imagination simply can’t conjure up thevariety of form, pattern, shape, color andtexture that can be found in nature.

I cut a piece of Strathmore 240 Board tosize, leaving 1 1/2-inch borders all around.The board is 15- by 20-inches, and theimage is 12- by 17-inches.

On tracing paper, I measured off the brickshapes with a ruler and T-square since theyare so geometric. For the stones, I simplydrew them freehand on the tracing paper,and roughly indicated the main shadowshapes and some of the more obvioustextural elements. I taped off the borders of the board with blue painters tape—it’s cheapand works better than traditional maskingtape for keeping edges nice and clean.

On a paper plate (for quick and easycleanup), I mixed Liquitex TitaniumWhite, Yellow Ochre and Neutral Gray. Iwas aiming for a light khaki color thatwould serve as the foundation color for the

SURFACE:

Strathmore 240Heavyweight Illustrationboard. I love this board formost illustration work. It’s100% rag, is virtuallyindestructible, has a greatmedium tooth that holds paintbeautifully and is perfect forcolored pencils and any othermedium you want to throw atit. However, if you want towork reductively, meaningremoving pigment byscraping, erasing or sandingit’s not the best. For that youwant a hard surface such asFrisk CS-10 (when you canfind it) or a gessoed surfacesuch as Masonite.

AIRBRUSH:

Olympos HP 100B

COMPRESSOR:

Iwata Hammerhead

FRISKET:

Vinyl frisket, FriskMatte Finish; paper frisket(for working wet with spongesand spattering); Canarytracing paper and rubbercement in a specific, fabulousrecipe I learned about at anAirbrush Getaway workshop:(1 part two-coat rubbercement,2 parts one-coatrubber cement,2 parts Bestinethinner). This mixture providesthe perfect tack for frisket, andin combination with theUtrecht’s Canary tracingpaper, it’s waterproof and willnot allow wet media to seepunder the cut areas.

PAINT:

Medea ComArtAirbrush Pigments, GoldenAirbrush Colors and Acrylics,and Airbrush Extender,Liquitex Acrylics, and MatteMedium. (I am not a purestwhen it comes to paints; anyquality brand will do. I useacrylics exclusively because oftheir permanence, lightfastnessand the ease with which I cango from glazing techniques toopaque cover techniques, andfrom the airbrush to traditionalbrushes and other tools, suchas sponges, toothbrushes andruling pens.)

MISCELLANEOUS:

Sponges—synthetic sponges(old, beat up ones are best)and elephant ear seasponges—toothbrush, 1-inchflat watercolor brush, fanbrush, #4 and #2 round sablewatercolor brushes, enamelbutcher tray, 2-ounce plasticportion cups with lids (formixing paint), X-Acto knifewith #11 blades, and .003-milacetate for general masking

MATERIALS

TEXTURE

AIR

T E X T U R E

A I R

PART 1 OF 2

BY RICK LOVELL

www.airbrushaction.com

mortar on the brick side and the sandstonerocks on the other side

Using a 1-inch flat brush, I quicklyscumbled in a mottled background makingsure it was organic looking with lots of variation in color and value.

5a.

To create the look of stone as well as themortar between the bricks, I used acombination of spattering with a toothbrush,airbrush, and a fan brush. I scraped the brushesacross the handle of an old paintbrush, beingcareful not to pull the brushes toward me(which results in a nicely textured face andclothes). For finer stippling using the airbrush, Iturned the pressure down to almost zero on myairbrush regulator and pumped the needle backand forth.

5b.

In each of these techniques, I used lightcolors including white, and dark colors,including black, and many shades and colors inbetween. Variety is the key here; even mortarhas lots of colors and values all mixed in, and amonochrome approach will look flat and lifeless.

Next comes the sponge. Using a variety of colors and matte medium, I begin to createmore variation in texture with two differentsponges; an elephant ear sea sponge for finertexture, and a synthetic sponge for larger,rougher textures. I use a variety of colors indifferent strengths and levels of transparencyto give the effect of natural surfaces. My colorsare going from olives to pinks to purples torust colors. Again, variety is the key.

Here is the foundation texture for the stone.Lots of color and textural variation for the rocks.

And this is the mortar that will bebetween the bricks. Much more uniform and

1.2.3.4.5a.5b.6.7.8.

isn’t sticky enough to prevent washes andwet spatters from wicking under the edgesand ruining the work. For wet work likethis, I use Canary tracing paper, which iswidely available in art supply stores. Theadhesive is a concoction of two varieties of rubber cement and Bestine thinner (therecipe is in the Materials section above).Two coats of the rubber cement recipe areapplied to the back side of the Canarytracing paper and allowed to dry. Then, Iturn it over, careful not to let the gluedsurface touch itself (if it does, your donefor… it won’t come apart).Once it’s laid in position on thepainting, I carefully smooth it out from thecenter toward the edges, and rub it downwell with my hands to make good contact.Then, I use a fresh blade in my knife to cutout the bricks freehand; I want some wavesand imperfections in the cut lines so theydon’t look too perfect. I then remove thefrisket that is covering the brick shapes. Iwon’t need those brick shapes again, so Idiscard them. This image shows the piecewith the frisket in place with the brickshapes removed. I’m now ready to airbrushthe bricks.

13.

Using variations of Medea BrightRed, Sienna and Transparent Smoke, Ibegin spraying in the local colors of thebricks. I can be pretty loose here, as Iwant to avoid being too smooth or

AIRBRUSH ACTION

| MARCH–APRIL 2007

flat, because this is a manmade material.Because I airbrush with transparent colors,this texture will show through the brickcolor, adding to the naturally rough surfaceappearance of the bricks.

To transfer my brick and stone drawings, Iused Saral transfer paper in blue, which iseasy to see on the warm tones of thebackground, but subtle enough that it willnot be obvious in the final painting.

10.

In order to see where I am whiletransferring the sketch, I use a ballpointpen. If I used a pencil, it would be nearlyimpossible to see what I had traced over,and what I had not.

11.

Here’s the artwork with the blue linetransfer of the drawing. It’s just a map of theedges of the elements; there is no indicationof any texture or shading.

12.

Since the next step will involve bothairbrushing and working with wet spongesand brushes, I used homemade frisketinstead of the manufactured vinyl frisket.Vinyl is great for strictly airbrushing, but it

9.10.12.13.11.

T E X T U R E

A I R