Airbrush

Photographic Retouching

There has been a resurgence of interest in airbrush photo retouching as a fine art rather than commercial art application.  Nearly 100% of commercial photo retouching for advertising, etc., is now done digitally on a computer.  But some artists who use photography in their art are interested in the tactile application of airbrushing color onto the surface of their photos. 

Enhancing a photo can be done on both black/white and color photographs.  Photographic prints that can be manipulated and enhanced with the airbrush can be either traditional or digital photos with surfaces from high gloss to mat. To prepare a print for airbrushing: 

—Mount the photo on a backing board, either dry mount or glued on with replaceable spray adhesive.  Burnish the photo to the edges for total adhesion and to eliminate bubbles.  It’s important to use a stiff backing board to keep the photo from buckling when paint is applied.  This also provides a strong surface against which to cut stencils and frisket.

—Thoroughly clean a glossy photograph. This will eliminate fingerprints, oils or dirt resulting from handling.  Bestene Rubber Cement Remover is a good product for this cleaning purpose.  If not thoroughly cleaned, fingerprints or dirt specs will be evident after you have airbrushed. 

Once the photo is mounted and cleaned, the rest of the process is straightforward as in any airbrush application.  

When photo retouching was a mainstay for airbrush commercial artists, the photos were painted lying flat on a surface.  Stencils were made from 5 mil acetate. With this material you do not cut completely through to make a stencil; just score the surface with a knife and the acetate will pop out.  This lessens the chance of damaging the photo with the stencil knife.  Acetate stencils were held in place by gravity and small weights, which could be washers, coins, soldering lead, etc.

Once airbrushing is complete, the end product can be coated with a protective clear—gloss, mat or somewhere in between.  Clear coating protects the finished product and also gives it a consistent sheen.

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 19 No. 6 — April 2009