Airbrush Mural Time Saving Tip: Color Blocking

Planning on painting an airbrush mural?

Save yourself a BUNCH of time in the execution of the mural by using a technique called "color blocking"!

When planning a mural, chances are that you have mocked up a small version of the artwork to be sure you can do it or to show the client.... and chances are that it didn't take you terribly long to make those mock-ups, right?

Well the real thing is going to take much, much longer! I guarantee it!

The reason your larger version is going to take longer is because your airbrush is not the best instrument for filling in large areas of color. On a small piece of paper, it works just fine, but increase the scale and WHOA - the time it takes to fill in that space is HUGE!

Color blocking is a way to get around this.

Color blocking is a process by which you determine the LIGHTEST color in an area and apply it using traditional painting methods (i.e. paint brush). Once you have al your light colors in place you can use your airbrush to add the dimension, shading and detail.

Think of the color block as a starting point.... for example, painting a pumpkin would go much faster if you had all the orange laid down first...

Like this....

Then shading, like this....

Color blocking takes a little bit of planning, and a little bit of preparation work, but in the end, it is an enormous time saver! Just remember to choose the lightest color in your artwork for the block.