I just got an airbrush and am not sure how to begin. I also got the Americolor for airbrush....Do I have to mix them with anything? How do I clean the airbrush? Do I need water or some special solution? Any tips would be helpfull...

I have to mix vodka with the sheen colors for my brush. The regular airbrush colors I don't have any problems.

You can also use petal dusts mixed with vodka, but not any disco dust glitters.

I rinse in between colors. I swish it around in a big bowl of warm water.

I use airbrush cleaner by Bakery Crafts or vodka to clean. After that I blow a couple capfuls of distilled water through it.

Congratulations and have fun.

Thanks for the tips...I know this may be a stupid question but what are the sheen colors?

I got one, too! What kind did you get, sshoshie?

www.howtoairbrush.com has a great tutorial on air brushing. You don't need to delute the colors. I just use hot water to clean mine.

Excellent question about "sheens"!

AmeriColor makes a line of pearlescent airbrush colors which they call sheens; they're available in gold, silver, white pearl, copper, bronze, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, red and lavender. My blue snowflake cake was misted with pearl sheen, and the tassels on my Christmas cake were airbrushed with gold sheen

I've never cut sheens with anything; however, I do increase the psi a bit, and clean my airbrush more often when using them. When switching colors (or between rounds of sheen painting) I turn the psi to max, run hot water through it into the sink, rinse out the tip, dry the bowl, and "spray" until just air comes out. When I'm done for the day I run hot water first, disassemble and clean with vodka, and let it dry completely before reassembling.

I always start by spraying on a scrap of paper or paper towel to ensure the psi is set correctly (it also clears any residual color or water between rounds).

Wishing you lots of fun with your new toy!
DS

I forgot you can use lemon extract for the petal dusts and the sheen colors.

You didn't tell us what brand you got.

Mine has an adjustable compressor, so I work mainly around 18psi. KopyKake, last I saw only has high or low for air compressor. Both work just fine; I wanted the adjustable compressor.

I wanted the adjustable, because I can take it camping and use it there too.

airbrush colors are ready to use, you do not need to dilute them. just for practise and to get a handle on how to control the brush, just spray water onto newspaper print. you'll still be able to see where you are spraying but you wont be wasting colour or getting the overspray around the house that comes from spraying colour.