Thursday, December 4, 2008

Airbrushing the inexpensive way...


Have you noticed that lately a lot of cards you see on SCS and various blogs use the Copic Airbrush System? Well, I have, and it makes me really want one. However, I have 2 problems: 1. most of my Copics are of the Ciao variety, which doesn't work with the Airbrush System, and 2. buying the system isn't really in my budget right now. So what's a girl to do? Experiment, of course!

I've had the SU Color Spritzer Tool for some time now, and I got thinking... Hmmm... I wonder if it would work with Copic markers? After all, all the Copic Airbrush System does is force air through the marker tip to get the nice spray of color. Isn't it the same principal as the Color Spritzer, just fancier and more expensive?

Well ladies, I am here to tell you that yes, you can use your Copic markers with the SU Color Spritzer Tool. Now, your Copic barrel is too big to actually fit into the marker slot on the Color Spritzer tool, so you are going to have to hold the marker tip to the spray nozzle (use both hands). You can use either tip, but the Color Spritzer tool has a little notch in the tip of the nozzle that is perfect for resting the edge of the chisel tip end of your marker on. *Note: make sure to wipe the tip between colors or you will transfer the previous color to the new marker. I know this isn't a big deal with Copic markers, but you probably wouldn't be happy with getting Copic ink on your SU markers.

Here you can see the result. I used B32 for the edge, and then Y11 in the center. If you click on the photo to make it bigger, you can see that the spray of color isn't as fine as what you can achieve with the Copic Airbrush System, but for the price, I'm not going to complain. On the finished card, I wanted a slightly softer look, so I went over the airbrushed area with my colorless blender to tone it down a bit.

The layout for this card was CASED from this gorgeous card by Jeanne S. Her card was what convinced me I HAD to order this stamp, so thank you for the enabling Jeanne! :) I don't normally CASE so directly, so thought I should give credit where it was due.

Feel free to link to this tutorial, just be nice and give me credit, ok?

3 comments:

Michelle B. AKA JustPaintingAround said...

Cool Melissa! I'll have to give this a shot! TFS!!!

Lorie said...

I love your card and I must try the air brush with COPICS! Thanks for the tip!

Cathy and Steve said...

Great idea, Melissa!

Also, just dropped by to say "Hi" and "Congratulations" on being named to MDC's Design Team. I look forward to working with you and getting to know you better!

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