Henrik Larsson Portrait (click to enlarge)

This portrait of Henrik Larsson was painted using an Iwata airbrush. The airbrush produces excellent fine detail and gives the painting more depth than ever possible with pencil alone. This is the first time I have used an airburush and I was surprised to find that it was very easy to use (once you get the hang of it).

The airbrush I used was the HB PLUS model which is ideal for fine detail work. I also used an Iwata Smart Jet compressor which is more than suitable for my portrait work.

I resisted the temptation to use masking frisket film on the portrait as I felt that any hard line edges would result in the painting looking too unrealistic. Instead, I used freehand stencils from the Artool Essential Seven series. These stencils are incredibly easy to master and produce excellent results.

The paint used on the portrait are from the Windsor & Newton Galeria acrylic range. Obviously the flow of the paint through the airbrush is crucial, therefore I tried to ensure that the viscosity was similar to that of milk. I found these really easy to use, however I may trial airbrush Media paints by Jurek in the future.


Many thanks for reading my blog. If you have any experience working with airbrushes or
portraits in general please do not hesitate to contact me.