What is Airbrush Body Painting?

Airbrush Body Painting is the process of painting designs and/or other effects on a person’s body using an airbrush. Airbrush body painting is probably most commonly seen in movies where an actor or actress is transformed into an alien, creature, monster or other imaginary beast via makeup artists using a variety of liquids, gels, glues, molds, rubber, plasters etc. which is then finished off by airbrushing the colors, shadows and details that bring the character to life.

Shuna Sassi from the Clive Barker film: “Nightbreed” – by Liz Kocsis | http://www.alisonkocsis.com/

Airbrush body painting is also turning up more and more in advertising. You may remember an issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition where, instead of featuring the latest new high fashion swimsuits, all the models’ swimsuits were actually painted and airbrushed on.

Temporary airbrush tattoos are another form of airbrush body painting in which temporary airbrush body paint and a plastic stencil are used to quickly airbrush tattoos on patrons. Temporary airbrush tattoos are usually seen at fairs, carnivals, car shows or other large, crowded events.

What kind of equipment will I need?

To start airbrush body painting, you’re going to need an airbrush, a compressor, some airbrush body paint and someone to practice on.

A dual action, gravity feed airbrush is best. IWATA, Paasche and Badger are some of the top brands to research. Gravity feed airbrushes have a paint cup (sometimes interchangeable) attached to the top of the airbrush. It does not need to be large (not more than an ounce total capacity) as a lot of paint is not usually necessary for airbrush body painting.

As for an air compressor, getting a higher grade, silent compressor can be pricey but it’s really a necessity for this business. The majority of airbrush body painting  artists travel quite a bit from job to job. it’s not very practical or convenient to have to carry around a loud, clunky compressor. I recommend getting a SilentAire brand compressor, preferably one with wheels.

What kind of paint should I use?

TEMPTU Pro paints are great for airbrush body painting and are the most popular brand. Artool also makes a pretty good airbrush body paint. There are many other brands to choose from and you can even make your own (discussed elsewhere), If you’re going to be doing tattoos at a fair, a cheaper paint will do the job admirably. If you’re on a movie set painting actors and actresses or at a runway show airbrushing effects on models. go with TEMPTU Pro.