Body Art and Air Brush Paints

Good morning

i have just bought a compressor, and a fine art work airbrush gun to do some body work for myslef and others, and to be able to make costumes etc...

does anyone on hop have any knoledge of the paints, where is a good place to buy, good types, bad types, tips, tricks, hints or anything that will help me along the way?

i have some ideas of what i would like, but its all going to so far be down to trial and error to see if i can do it

please some one must be able to help me!

Hello mechy-moo

You can try here and here . I don't know the shops too well, so maybe look at the brands and see if you can find stockists closer to you.

In terms of tips, remember that people are crinkly, wrinkly, stretchy and flabby, so your designs may change. I would suggest not starting with detailed designs, rather beginning with colouring areas of skin to accentuate the body shape.



And you owe an email or a pm to a mate of mine, so get off your butt and do it!!!

thank you rozi

i have come across a couple of sites with paints and stuff, im just trying today to figure out which ones would be best to use!

i have pm'd him, im sure i have, ill go have a look again!

anyways

hows life lady!?!?!?!?!

Hi mech,
I do a great deal of bodypainting in my life as a makeup artist and I find that MAC water based airbrush paints are top notch. They are highly pigmented and don't block the valves as much as others. I am part of the MAC body art team so use these regularly for events however i'm not quite sure as yet if they are available to the general public. Call the MAC pro store on 02075349222 and go through to the mail order dpt, they will set you straight. They also do really fantastic cream based paint sticks and water based panstick, again the best i have used.They are definitely available to buy- quite pricey but well worth it.Happy paintin anything else i can help with just gimme a shout!!

ok

two questions

do they have a webiste?

i have just tried to hit up mac paints, and mac body art paints on google, and i dont think i got the right stuff..

also can you mix paints?

like mixing black and whites to make greys?

can you get paints with glitter in it?

have you used the Medea paints?

what do you think of those?

thank you

I've always used Createx brand paints. but any acrylic paint will do for body painting. The big advantage to Createx is the viscosity, straight out of the bottle and right into the airbrush, no worrying about mixing in any mediums.

One thing to keep in mind is the difference between the transparent and opaque paints but you'll have to experiment to determine your own preferences,, both adhere to skin well ( I'm covered in the stuff as I write this, as I am daily ) and wash off with soap and water. The metallics aren't the best for spraying, you may want to brush those on.

Don't forget to test the paint on the people you plan on painting a few days in advance to see if anyone has a sensitivity to any of the ingredients. Acrylics contain small amounts of formaldehyde and ammonia which are classed as irritants and it would be a shame if someone broke out in hives halfway through the evening.

I've been face painting children for some time now and I'd have to advise against using anything other than paints that are designed to be put on the skin. I looked at the Createx site and could find no recommendation for it to be used as a body paint.

In all fairness I've never body painted with a spray gun before but I've seen some allergic reactions on kids that properly designed face paints have brought on and they were bad enough. I just wouldn't risk it.

Yeh I don't think acrylics are suitable, if they're painted on at all thickly, (which in order to get the colour you need to do), they just flake off (trust me, I'm an art student).

For smaller designs try stencils

Face painting is a different story, I wouldn't recommend an airbrush for painting anywhere near the eyes. Suppose a little fleck of dried paint blew off the nozzle, and hit the person you were painting in the eye,,,at 100 kph.

Acrylic paint does work, and one of the advantages of applying it with an airbrush is the thin even coat you get. You'd be hard pressed to build up layers of paint to match the thickness that brushing it on would give. A thin coat is more flexible than a thick one, and you don't really need that much paint to get the desired colour.

Trust me, I've been making my living with an airbrush for the past 9 years.

Experiment

ok

so i have just gone over the creatix site, and while i can see mantion of teh creatix ones for textiles, i think as a beginner it would be best to stick to specified body paints untill i am a little more happy

at the mo, i am working with water on skin, and brick and terricotta (pretty much anything i can spray in teh back garden throught my airbrush

so currently i am trying to figure out the different nozzel settings, and what will give me a good spray so i can build up layers to make a good finish

i spoke to a woman from airbrushes.com today, who told me to apply finishing power to my airbrushed skin to give it a better visual effect, as a newly airbrushed tat looks tidy and clean...

is that correct?

thank you for everyones help

i will be buying some standard acrillic paint, prob cretix stff to start test pieces on, on paper and metals

I've never heard of the finishing powder trick before, in fact I've never heard of finishing powder, but Createx gives a rather matte finish, and yes, it is a textile paint.

If you go for the labelled body paint, just make sure you get the viscosity right because having your paint NOT properly flowing through your airbrush is a sure recipe for frustration.

One thing to experiment with while you're learning how to control your airbrush, is food colouring. Cheap, thin, blendable colours and it behaves more like an ink than a paint.

When airbrushing on paper, go for a thick watercolour paper, or spray glue two sheets of regular paper together to make a thick piece.

As for nozzle settings, I have a .3mm nozzle in my airbrushes, I find this size the most versatile. But I'm not painting murals. You may not be happy with the finish Createx gives on metals. as I said it's matte,,but it sure works great on terracotta

so what would you recomnd for matals, like aluminium?

hat i plan to so is spray all my props and toys from now...

the plan is to spray the alu, and then use a lacure or sealer to finish it off...

hopfully it should look rather nice

pictures will go up when they are done!

Cool! Once I ever learn to spin the staff I have I might have to put in an order for another one if I can have designs sprayed onto it! OOoooooooooOOOOOOOoooooooo I could have one with lil Skullys all over it! YAY! Oooooooo and pink and black swirls....... Mech I love you!

yep

if you like, ill take your stick back in and use it as a test spray?

means it might be a little rough, but it would be free(er)

If next weekend turns out to be sunny, if I were you I'd take the airbrush along to Clapham and practice on all the available skin

you cant, ts mine i tell you all mine!

you cant parctice, im the only one allowed on hopto do it

poly - where did you get your paints

are you using an areosol can for propelenat?

have you done it before?

can i chat to you laters about it>?

saw an amazing body art show on the weekend. A friend of ours had her whole body painted with crazy designs in fluro paint, and then did a choreo belly dancing and other miscellaneous dance styles show to a crazy bjork track - she werent wearing anything cept the paint, but cuz the only light was UV most of the time she didnt even look human! everybody was totally gobsmacked. I dont think I'll ever see anything like that again

Lol, I'm not a body artist Mech, but give me a yell on messenger later

no, but if you are going down to clapham to try it out, you must know some stuff sweetie

and that about more than i know atm

any more insite into out last convo yet??

Pm on the way

ok so im back

i have bought come creatix paints, im perticular the opace balck and white

and i had about an hours play tonight

i found that the paint was not flowing well through teh gun, it was comming out in spurts more than anything

or it was coming out it a kind of tiny spitting patters

does anyone have any tips, does my paint sound to thick?

should i buy a gravity fed gun, instead of the bottle one i have?


can some one give me some more advice please?