Here's a little trick that most professional artists use to get finer detail. This is not a new trick and can not be done with all airbrushes. You must have a airbrush with a removable Needle Cap.
Here is a airbrush with the Needle Cap in place. This cap serves two purposes. One, to protect the needle from damage and Two, to funnel the air/paint fixture, similar to a shotgun barrel.
Unscrew and remove the Needle Cap. Be extremely careful at this point. You can destroy the needle very easily just by tapping it against something. If you plan on practicing this procedure, make sure you have spare needles.
This diagram shows the trajectory of the air/paint mixture at approximately 4 inches from the surface.
Here you will see a dramatic change in the trajectory with the needle cap removed.
Here's where it gets tricky. To achieve a pin-point line place your airbrush approximately 1/8 inch from the surface. I must stress that you are very careful not to damage the tip.
I put the needle cap back on and airbrushed a line from the same distance as the first line. Here you can see a dramatic change in width of the line.
Here is another view of the lines done with and without the needle cap. By cutting down the amount of air turbulence created with the needle cap on, you can virtually eliminate spitting from paint drying at the tip, another benefit of removing the needle cap. In closing I would like to say that if you are going to practice this technique "Be careful and have spare needles".
Back To Basics
Detail Trick
Written By Steven Craig
