Tip Dry is the number one complaint among new and intermediate airbrush artists. You will never completely eliminate it, but you can learn to minimize it. The biggest and best piece of advice I can give you is make sure you buy the reducer that is formulated for your paint. I see so many people out there giving advice on some concoction they made up, everything from straight water, water and dish soap to glass cleaner, and there is many more, these people are not scientist’s! Do yourself a favor and buy the right product, it is not that expensive. Now, once you have the right products, start with a mixture of 25% reducer to paint. If you are still getting tip dry, continue to reduce until you can get about 5 minutes or so without tip dry. If you can achieve that, you are doing pretty good. Now, a little about removing the tip dry. The most popular technique among advanced users is a technique using your first finger and thumb on your free hand to pinch the needle where it comes out from the front of the airbrush (check out my You Tube channel and video on Tip Dry). Also, I should mention, you should be spraying with your protective needle cap off. I only put that on when I am cleaning or not using the the airbrush. The next method takes a little more time, but you don’t run the risk of bending your needle with your fingers and is actually a more thorough cleaning method. Start by putting a little reducer in a small mixing cup, then use a small soft bristle artist paint brush (something cheap) dip it in the reducer and then brush the tip of the needle. The next step is important, dab off the tip with a paper towel, if you don’t you can have a drop of reducer rundown on to the needle while you are spraying and then it will blow a nice splash of reducer on the your art work, trust me, I know! Let me know if there is something different that you do that works well. Don’t forget to head on over to my You Tube Channel for all your Airbrush Tune-Ups.
