The most common question my students ask is... how do I get noticed? OK so you are just getting started in art and you want to have customers find you without paying to have someone build you a web site. A simple way is using Face Book or My Space. No not as a social network but a means to attract customers. I first started using My Space, it is easy for someone like me that don't do well with computers. You can add back grounds, music and more. Upload pictures or art you have created so visitors can see what you can do. Be careful with posting your phone number as you can't control who will respond. Email is best but as with everything in life it also can be risky. If you have a shop or business that is strictly for walk in customers you already know some who darken your door step you wish hadn't walked in. Ladies and teenagers be VERY CAREFUL when dealing with strangers. If you agree to meet a person man or woman that would like to meet with you about your art, make sure it's in a busy place with someone you trust by your side. Use your head and think BEFORE you give out your phone number or meet a complete stranger, they might not want to discuss art. You can see my my space page at this link, http://www.myspace.com/uglybros53
HOPE THIS HELPS
So a lot of my students ask me questions about things they read and see over the internet. There are a ton of web sites, blogs and forums that discuss airbrushing. While it's not place to run any artist in the ground I do see and hear different airbrush artists talk about how they reduce their paints. Now I'm talking about automotive paints not water based. Some of the information can cause serious problems for the airbrush artist when over reducing paints with automotive reducers. I see it this way... reducing your paint is important, to get a good even spray reducers are vital. But they can be dangerous to the surface paint you are airbrushing. Lifting is a common reaction to big amounts of reducers i.e. over reducing. I shoot HOK and reduce my paint 60/40, 60% reducer 40% paint. I have used this mix ratio for many years and have had no problems with lifting. Now other airbrush artists will tell you to reduce your paints 1 to 1, it works for them and who am I to tell a bird how to fly. However should that ratio cause lifting YOU are the one responsible for fixing the problem. I am NOT saying some of these airbrush artists are wrong I am saying lifting can occur to anyone including me and it is a problem I try to avoid so the ratio I use has not failed me yet. Look at it this way... someone brings you a motorcycle tank they had painted. I treat that paint job as if the person who painted it wasn't a professional painter and used CHEAP garbage paint. I expect problems from the get go and over reducing is going add to my problems. Should my over reduced airbrush damage the surface paint... my customers painter is going to lay the blame at my feet. I have been custom painting cars, trucks and motorcycles for over 25 years and I only use HOK both for the base paint and airbrushing. Charging my customers top dollar for a paint job and using cheap garbage paint DON'T WORK! It WILL come back to haunt you. You ask yourself " is RAT ART being paid in any way by HOK"? NO I get NOTHING from any paint company. To get professional results you have to use top shelf products. Other airbrush artists may receive compensation from this paint company or that paint company and this could be the reason they promote the products they use. I use HOK because I know it's track record... it stands up to UV rays and daily use, taken care of my paint jobs have lasted 10 years. I only use and teach what I know.
