Posting Day and Airbrush Class

New, new, new! Four brand new hooks on eBay today! (And some fancy ones tomorrow!)

Greetings everyone, last Tuesday I had the incredible privilege of taking an airbrush class from world-renowned artist David Nittmann! All I can say is "Wow!"

"Sweet Surrender" by David Nittmann Used with permission

Seeing his breath-taking artwork, I've always thought of David as an incredible artist, almost in a different world than us mere mortals. However, David is a very down-to-earth person, and a fantastic teacher! With his years of expertise in woodturning and painting and dyeing wood, every morsel of information he passes on is an absolute jewel! (It is impossible to overstate how much wonderful knowledge I gained from his class -- there's nothing like learning from a Master!)

We began the class by learning every piece and parcel of the airbrush, including the all-important cleaning process. Then after discovering how to hold the tool properly, and working some beginning exercises, David moved on to mixing colors.

This might seem fairly self-explanatory, right? Red + Blue = Purple, maybe.... It's more difficult if you have to match a color on a magazine photograph. Red is not merely red any more... it's the color of candied apples, or a Russian lacquered box... a color not found straight from the bottle. To achieve that precise match requires much skill in observation, and good guesswork about how much of a particular color to add to the mix.

David took time to give me his expert advice on achieving the colors I needed, and now I'm home, happily mixing and painting away -- the perfect colors in hand! (And with the knowledge to create ANY color I need!)

"Mandarine" by David Nittmann Used with permission

Another very cool thing I learned is that David has spent countless hours, days, months, experimenting with and researching the very best paints and dyes to use on wood. Not your standard buy-at-craft-store-paints, David carries E'tac brand, which are the most light- and color-fast available today. They work especially well on wood because they are slightly stretchy, and won't "break" if the wood moves, (as it always does... even slightly). They're archival quality -- for the finest art pieces.

David Nittmann is an absolute treasure! I would encourage EVERYONE to take his classes -- he's a wonderfully creative and inspiring teacher, with a huge amount of knowledge to share. Thank you David for the very valuable and personalized instruction!

Now I get to practice painting with this fabulously fun tool. (I can't wait to take more advanced classes!)

On a very personal and professional note: I absolutely believe in taking classes from Masters of their art/craft. You can learn more in a single moment with a Master than in days with a someone who only practices their craft as a hobby. Masters use and improve their skills every working hour of the day -- there's NO substitute for their expertise. David Nittmann is one of the finest of these professionals.