airbrushing a tool or \"cheating\"

[uberdark]

ok so i know this should probably will spark a debate.... buttttttttt.....

if a person paints an entire miniature only using an airbrush, is it considered cheating.

i personally dont like using one, because it feels a bit like cheating, but if you use it partially throughout the entire piece it can be used to improve many areas.

so please share your thoughts and opinions.

 

[Hinton]

I think this falls into the same category as the discussion a while back about dipping.

An airbrush is just another tool.

To me, it doesn\'t matter if a person paints minis using the finest sable brushes in the world, an airbrush, dipping or a paint roller; if they like using it and they are happy with the results, then fine. But, it\'s not cheating.

 

[matty1001]

A tool, how could it even be considered cheating?

If you want you could read through this thread:
http://www.mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters/viewtopic.php?t=956

It starts about MIG pigments, but soon cover airbrushes. You will get my full opinion on it if you read that, because I can\'t be bothered typing it all out again.

 

[uberdark]

yes, but if its entierely painted with airbrush...how do you feel about that.

sorry i am just playing the devils advocate.

 

[matty1001]

Originally posted by uberdark
yes, but if its entierely painted with airbrush...how do you feel about that.

If you read that thread, I talk about that as well.

 

[Shadzar]

unlike random results from dipping an airbrush requires a bit of precision so can be harder that bristle bursh paintg so is not cheating.

airbrushing is no different than a spray can for some for basecoating. i know a few people that airbrush undercoats.

for splattered mud effects and such it can add these effects with a splattered look quicker that flicking a brush or dabbing a sponge on.

for those that can fully detail with an airbrush it is in no way cheating.

none are really cheating unless some contest rules forbid it.

 

[uberdark]

Originally posted by matty1001

Originally posted by uberdark
yes, but if its entierely painted with airbrush...how do you feel about that.

If you read that thread, I talk about that as well.

touche sir.....sorry didnt get to that part yet.

 

[airhead]

If you can completely paint a mini with an airbrush, I bow to your skills and talent. The airbrush is probably the least intuitive tool in an artist\'s kit. Brush control with \'normal\' brushes is hand/eye coordination and practice. The airbrush requires spacial understanding as you don\'t actually touch the mini (at least you are not supposed to...).

I can think of possibly two guns that would possibly be able to completely paint a mini (I\'m talking completely - eyes, etc.) and both of them are rather expensive.

If as an artist, you limit yourself to acrylic paints on metal with brushes only. I think you have set some personal or artificial boundries to your art. We have people (artists) here that use oils, that use wood stain, that use sponges, that use airbrushes. All of these are just tools to a completed mini.

Do you feel it is cheating to use precast minis or should everything you paint be self-sculpted?

 

[lizcam]

a tool just like anythimg else.

 

[Naukhel]

I didn\'t even know they made airbrushes with fine enough control to do eyes and things on minis.
If someone\'s got good enough control to do the whole thing like that, I\'ll join in the bowing to them.
I can barely muster enough control of a 10/0 brush.

 

[hakoMike]

The only way to \"cheat\" that I can think of is to misrepresent the way something looks (photoshop, etc.) or how/by whom the work was done.

 

[Einion]

Airbrushing cheating? *cough*elitist bullcrap*cough*

Painting a figure with an airbrush is not cheating, any more than using a better/more sophisticated tool than another sculptor has - to do a certain type of effect better than they can achieve without it - is cheating.

It\'s not like airbrushing is something that\'s only available to some special group; it\'s within the scope of virtually all of us, certainly any adult who can afford minis and hobby paints can afford to get into airbrushing.

IMO most of the cheating accusations/sentiment comes from people who recognise the quality of the results but can\'t be bothered to learn to do it themselves. What\'s even worse is they\'ll often be the kind to use the \"oh it\'s too easy\" put-down, when I think they know (but won\'t acknowledge) that it\'s not quite as simple to do as it\'s often assumed to be*.

*Because the airbrush only does the atomisation, it\'s the modeller who has to wield it well, or poorly. And the user has to do all the masking and unmasking (no small skill in itself) plus any brushwork that has to be added. Doing that well - seamlessly - really separates the men from the boys

BTW, I wonder if there are still any Luddites among the armour or aircraft modellers who still insist that real modellers use a brush?

Originally posted by airhead
If you can completely paint a mini with an airbrush, I bow to your skills and talent.

Ditto.

Einion

 

[Avelorn]

I think all this stems from the technique-obsession we are infected with... and that\'s technique as in achieving smooth blending.

 

[uberdark]

i dont generally consider it a bad use of painting and i do consider it a tool. i guess i just wanted to start up a thread to see what others thought and where many ppl in the mini painting world put this tool at.

cheers

and btw lizcam you are soooo getting quoted.



uber

 

[Sand Rat]

Tool. Especially useful for vehicles.

 

[freakinacage]

aye a tool. it\'s better for some things but finer detail must be pretty hard to do

 

[pez5767]

a tool I don\'t wish to invest in learning.

I think the only form of \'cheating\' that\'s possible is when you use a photo editing type of program to \'enhance\', edit, or otherwise mask your painted model. I don\'t mind if companies like Rackham, GW, and the like do this (not that I know if they do or do not). But if a mini is up on CMON and it has been edited to look like a superior paintjob to what it actually is... well that is then cheating. Otherwise, however you get your paint out of the pot, onto the model, and in my case into your mouth is a OK by me.

 

[Sukigod]

I\'m not sure I get how this could be construed as cheating. It\'s just another way to apply paint to the model. Would the use of anything other than a brush be considered cheating? What if I used a toothpick, or a quill pen, or the end of my finger? (wouldn\'t rate very high pn CMON though)lol

Tool, of course , is the answer. Just as you need a certain skillset to correctly use a brush, you need a skillset to use an airbrush and should in no way be held against the artist.

As I get to thinkign about this more, I know the airbrush is pretty much standard for military modeling, would painting the entire vehicle with a brush be thought of as cheating?

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

Its a tool.. and I highly doubt you will see a miniature entirely painted with a air brush.. sooner or later a paint brush will have to touch it.

 

[mrrocknroll]

I can\'t see how it can be called cheating, as an example I\'m gonna use sculpting, comes in all sizes and forms.
I was in Sweden last year and it was bliming cold there, but whilst there I Managed to see the Ice sculpts they had on show, when i spoke to a sculptor he told me that they use chain saws to crack the ice. Now I\'m not an expert of sculpting, but the main tools I would be like chizzles and knives or something, not chain saws.
In short, no I can\'t see it as cheating, just another way of expressing an art form.