Airbrush Paints:
Transparent vs Opaque

Generally airbrush paints are available in two formulas:

So what, right?

Well these two paint formulas are VERY different - even though they look the same and come in the same shape bottle - don't be fooled!

Transparent airbrush paints are formulated so that you, the artist, can make the color as light or as deep as you want simply by applying more and more layers of paint.

As an example, red transparent paint applied on a white background can be applied lightly making a baby pink color or, if you apply more and more paint you can build the baby pink color up to a deep, blood red.

Why is this so important?

Because while transparent paints offer you the flexibility to paint gradients (which is what the photo above shows) - they also offer NO MERCY! The gradient of color only goes ONE WAY ... you can only go darker - never lighter!

This one little property of transparent paints causes a lot of grief for airbrush artists - especially when they are just learning. It is very easy to go too far and end up with a color much darker than you intended.

A common "flub" is using transparent black paint to paint a portrait of a beautiful woman.... you see that there is a slight shadow along her jaw line and attempt to paint it in .... next thing you know, you went too far and got too dark and now your beautiful women has a 5 o'clock shadow - super.

[disclaimer: important lessons are learned from mistakes! Keep making them and keep learning from them!]

Here's the clincher!

ANY transparent airbrush paints can be magically converted to opaque simply by adding a little bit of opaque white....

... again, so what.... right?

Well... opaque paints have an amazing property that transparent airbrush paints don't .... they CANNOT be sprayed to dark. Ever. Nadda.

Let's use our red example again.... say you need the perfect shade of pink to ... I don't know ... detail your motorcycle (sorry guys - couldn't resist)...

Instead of using spraying the "perfect" light mist of red transparent paint over a white background you mix red transparent paint and opaque white and get the perfect color of pink...

You start painting you motorcycle (hee hee) and accidentally blast a whole bunch of paint on the bike and guess what....

The color DID NOT CHANGE!! Whoo hoo!

Transparent and Opaque Airbrush Paints Each Have Their Application

If you are asking yourself why you would ever "risk it" and use transparent paints over opaque ... I will only say that when these two paints are used together is when they are most powerful...

A painting done completely with opaque paints may look color correct but will also probably look flat and dull. Add a touch of transparents to blend the colors together and add some dimension, bringing it to life.

I recommend you goof around using both formulas of airbrush paints ... play with them, see what they can do, you'll learn a ton!

There is a lot more to say about these two paint types ... keep your eyes open for them!