JFK portrait finished

The airbrush portrait of JFK is finished. It was a test to become familiar with the Iwata Custom Micron SB. I sprayed the portrait on ordinary A4 office paper, because spraying on a small size surface is the best way to test the limits of an airbrush. The Iwata passed the test, although the low quality paper probably was not the best surface to work on. But for testing purposes, it does the job.

Iwata Custom Micron SB test - JFK

Airbrushing on crappy paper results in the following problems:

1. The paper bleeds - making it impossible to spray sharp lines; lines are sharp, but soon after start to bleed
2. The paper soaks paint - when spraying is done in an area for too long a period, the paper soaks up the paint which results in a dark spot that can not be erased or covered
3. It is risky to use erasing techniques, because the surface is easily damaged after which bleeding and soaking gets worse
4. It is unfit to use scratching techniques, because bleeding and soaking problems are worse than problems caused by erasing
5. The paper blobs and can not be flattened because the volume of paint determines its shape since the paint is absorbed by the paper and increases its volume causing the paper to be forced out of its flat plane

So whatever you decide to airbrush on, do not use low quality paper if you value your work. Use good quality paper or board that has a pressed ceramic powder surface, good quality canvas and good quality grounding paint or a good ground paint if you airbrush on metal. The end result will definitely be a lot better. And it looks even worse when you photograph it with a shitty iPhone 3GS cam of course...