I have a project that requires a gradient painted on leather, but I doubt a sponge will be capable of doing that. So I guess I have two questions.
A: Can the airbrushes take an alcohol-based dye?
B: Who would I speak to to learn how to properly use them?
@mreynolds will know that answer…
I cam teach you how to use airbrushes, however we only use acrylic paint on the airbrushes we have.
But i can certainly show you how to use one
I would be happy to learn if you are free. I’ve not used this kind of tool before, but it might be useful to know what to look out for in case I need to get my own solution for alcohol-based mediums.
Looking into the differences and it looks like the rubber seals in an airbrush might not play well with alcohol. So I may need to look into replacing those with teflon. That’s a good call-out.
I would love to attend an air-brushing class if you decide to put one on the calendar.
Mark - two issues - the airbrush equipment and the fumes. If a person brought their own airbrush and wanted to use the CA compressor(s), would they be permitted to use alcohol inks? Other solvent-based paints?
Why would that be any different than a solvent-based paint? For home use, i.e., not at DMS, many people routinely use solvent-base airbrush paints and lacquers and clean the airbrush with lacquer thinner.
Oh, I don’t know that it’s any different from other solvents. I only have a few minutes of googling to draw on, I just saw a few testimonials that rubber seals can break down in the presence of alcohol. I’m more bringing that up as a demonstration that I understand why we only use acrylics in the airbrushes.
There were actually two different issues, at least long ago. Not prioritized … one was overspray/fumes. The other was cleaning. Airbrushes don’t work well unless they’re maintained in pristine condition and there was concern that people wouldn’t clean solvent-based paints as well. And of course then you also need the solvent (like lacquer thinner).
EDIT: I use lacquer-based and enamel-based paints in my home airbrush. I don’t have an adequate ventilation system although I usually do it right next to the open garage door with a fan blowing out the door. I can attest that without an exhausted spray booth it does create a lot of noxious fumes!
EDIT2: I have used a lot of alcohol inks and haven’t really noticed any fumes. However, I have never used alcohol inks in my airbrush, so I can’t guess what that’s like when it’s aerosolized. That’s why I asked @mreynolds above if someone could spray alcohol ink if they used their own airbrush …
Thanks for the responses Chris!
Yeah, we’ve always restricted spraying in creative arts to just acrylics, mostly because it is easy to clean, and its not toxic (other than fine particulates in the air getting breathed in and all that good stuff)
Now in the workshop, with proper ventilation (we do have a mobile airbrush vent hood) it might be ok depending on other folks working in the workshop, but again not with DMS airbrushes. Those are strickly acrylic, regardless of spraying location.
Also yes, the majority of the airbrushes are in disrepair. I will take a look tonight and see if I have enough for a small class
Does this belong to CA? Where is it stored?
I think it’s on the shelves with the airbrush stuff. At least, that’s where I remember seeing it.
Typically its on the bottom row, far right of cubbies nearest the fine art cupboard