Two weeks ago I visited the Transparent Watercolor Society of America's exhibition in Kenosha, Wisconsin and I witnessed a few paintings that I felt had been partly created by using an airbrush. How do I know this you ask/// I had been an Illustrator for 35 years and had many times seen other illustrators using the airbrush in their work, so now I can spot the softness of an airbrush application.

There are many artists out there that use a month atomizer for their smooth spray but I feel using an airbrush is a lot easier.

Some artists feel that this is cheating for getting a really soft wash in watercolor but I say it's a tool just like a paintbrush and why not use it if a smooth clean wash is what you want in your watercolor.

I also like using the airbrush when applying paint through a stencil. It's very difficult applying a dark wash with a wet brush through a stencil as water seeps under the stencil and makes a mess of the wash that you are trying to apply. With an airbrush, this problem is eliminated.

Check out the video below to see how I use a simple airbrush to get a wash applied to paper.  

David