This blog is a resource for anyone interested in body painting and airbrush tattoos. I will keep you updated with all of the latest information and techniques as they become available. I am also constantly looking for ways to improve my business and encourage feedback from other enthusiasts so please feel free to add your comments.

I will answer questions like

what is a airbrush tattoo

where do you get body paint

where do you get airbrush stencils

I will also post  how to airbrush tattoo step by steps and body painting how to lessons.

With over 20 years in the airbrushing industry we have allot of experience and expertise that we can share.

We are also suppliers of all your body painting needs. We only sell what we use ourselves so you can be rest assured you will be using only the best quality body paints, airbrush stencils and airbrush kits available.

Here’s a small list of venues you could do airbrush tattoos at. Really the list is endless but basically anywhere there are large crowds you will make a decent profit.

School Fetes – These are Gold! especially if the school hosting the fete doesn’t ask for 100% of the takings. Which unfortunately allot of them do. If you can find some that only ask for a donation or a percentage of your takings then this is ideal!

The beauty of school fetes is there are plenty of them, and parents are always motivated to spend money to support their children’s school! So nearly everyone there will be cashed up to spend money on the day!

Markets – Generally I’m not a big fan of markets because I believe most of the people that attend them are either shopping for plants or fruit and vegies or looking for a bargain. Their not motivated to spend money their prime focus is on saving money.

However there is an exception to this. If the markets are based in a high tourist area then you can do extremely well. Tourists have a different mind set. They have spending money and they are looking for something memorable to do and airbrush tattoos may be just that!

Fares/Carnivals – Similar to the tourist markets carnivals can be very profitable. As long as the organizers don’t allow numerous other airbrush tattoo stalls to setup at the same event. This can be ok  if there will be large numbers of attendees expected. It’s also a good opportunity to outshine the competitors with a more attractive looking stall. Full colour tattoo flash and banners are a good start.

Night Clubs -  This would have to be one of the most overlooked venues for making bucket loads of cash with airbrush tattoos and body art. Usually the managers would welcome you to come along and provide entertainment for their patrons. And with the cost of an alcoholic drink these days people will not think twice about getting an airbrush tattoo! There is a ton of profit just waiting to be made at nightclubs.

Another huge hit for night clubs are the UV airbrush body paint that glows under black lights. These look totally amazing!

Youth Days/ Community Events -As soon as your setup for doing airbrush tattoos you should contact your local council and ask for the department that organizes youth and community events.

Let them know you are available to hire as an entertainer doing airbrush tattoos. They are always looking for unique ways to entertain the kids.

They will want to know what your hourly rate is so make sure you have worked this out before you call them. To get an idea what to charge try calling a few entertainment companies and ask them what it would cost to hire a face painter. Generally you could charge around the same price. Usually they charge about $150 per hour with a minimum booking of around 3-4 hrs. But this could vary from country to country so just do your research first. They will most likely ask you for a brochure or some examples of what you do so they can keep it on file. It’s always a good idea to take pictures of every event you do so you can start building a portfolio.

Corporate Events – Same as the last one except corporations have allot bigger budgets! Best thing to do is call all of your local event companies and let them know what you do. Corporate events are also the most fun to do.

Music Festivals - Usually the most costly to attend however they can also be the most profitable. The crowds are usually huge and they have got money to spend so don’t be afraid to put your prices up at these type of events.

Car and bike shows - These can be great if you are able to work off an existing  stand otherwise the cost for your own stand can be quite high and probably not worth doing. If it’s a rally or something along them lines then costs may be lower but it’s something to check out before you commit yourself.

Sporting Events – Usually these events attract large numbers of people. The best thing to do is get permission from the teams  competing to produce their logo into a stencil. We offer a service to produce custom stencils simply send us over an email along with your logo to info@airbrushing-made-easy.com and we can provide you with a quote.

Getting yourself in a permanent venue is ideal as further down the track you can get someone else to take it over and then set yourself up again at another venue. . By doing this you are duplicating your time.

After one job you should have more than enough pictures to put some promotional material together whether it be a printed brochure or a blog, anything to showcase what you do because most people won’t even know what an airbrush tattoo is. It’s in your best interest to promote it as best you can.

Business cards are a must if you want to build up a referral based business. When attending events it’s a good opportunity to promote yourself to the other guests.

You also need to get a good banner to hang at your stall. Something that’s really colorful to draw people over to you.

Feel free to add any other venues that you may have had success at.

If you want optimum performance from your airbrush then you need to make it a priority to keep your airbrush clean.

The most asked question I get from people is “Do I need to clean my airbrush in between each use, ie; multiple times a day?”

The answer to this is no. You really only need to clean your airbrush at the end of each day.

There are a few simple steps that you must follow if you want your airbrush to perform at it’s best.

What solution to use:

To start with you need to know what to clean your airbrush with. This depends on what paint you have used in your airbrush. If you have used a water based paint then you simply clean your airbrush with Water. If you have used a solvent based paint such as automotive paint then you would clean up with a solvent product such as Thinners. If you are using an alcohol based paint such as body paints then you would clean up with Iso Propanol Alcohol or Metholayted spirits.

NUMBER ONE RULE: Never soak your airbrush in  solvent based chemicals.

All airbrushes are made up with lots of tiny rubber seals and if you soak them in a solution such as thinners or metholayted spirits you will ruin your airbrush and you may as well throw it in the bin.

NUMBER TWO RULE:

Always follow the manufacturers instructions.

It is a good idea to refer to the parts listing that would have come with your airbrush to see how your airbrush is put together. So when you remove certain parts for cleaning you know how to put your airbrush back together. Your airbrush may have also come with instructions on cleaning and maintenance so be sure to check them out.

Here is a clip we put together a few years ago showing you exactly how to clean a suction feed airbrush.

Before you apply your airbrush stencil ensure that you clean and dry the skin with iso-propanol alcohol and a clean cloth.

Then position your airbrush stencil in place.

Instead of painting the entire tattoo design black I am just going to paint around the outside edges to give it an embossed effect.

To do this I paint around the edge of the airbrush stencil and allow the over spray to drift onto the skin.

To add a really cool effect I am using a different type of airbrush stencil also commonly known in airbrushing as a shield. – This one is called Skull Mania. All I have done is used the small skulls on the airbrush stencil and painted a few here and there.

This will also add to the depth of the design and make it really look like it’s stamped into the skin.

When you’ve added enough detail remove your airbrush stencil and place it back onto the backing sheet for re-use.

You can get the idea of how effective this simple technique really is.
You can add any detail that you like. There are many different airbrush stencils available that will add a cool effect to your airbrush tattoos.

If you want to check out all the airbrush stencil designs that are available click on the following link

http://www.airbrushingmadeasy.com/contents/en-us/d10_airbrush-stencils.html

For adhesive backed airbrush tattoo stencils click on the following link

http://www.airbrushtemporarytattoos.com/contents/en-us/d108_airbrush-stencils.html

This frangipenni flower tattoo design is always a hit with the ladies and looks stunning on tanned skin. And the best part is it’s very easy to do.

Firstly clean the skin from any dirt and oils with isopropanol alcohol.

Ensure the skin is completely dry before applying the stencil

Position your stencil in place. Always make sure you follow the natural contours of the body when positioning your design.

Apply a good even coverage of white body paint to the entire design.

Here I have used Fluoro Yellow body paint just in the centre of the design and applied a blend half way up each petal.

Tip:
Remember to always test your airbrush on the stencil first.

Using Fluoro Orange I have painted a large dot in the centre of the design. I do this by starting close to the surface and then gradually bring my airbrush further away. This creates a soft blend up into the yellow.

How beautifull does this look? And you seen how easy it was to do. You can also do this tattoo design using different colors, like Fluoro Pink body paint and Fluoro Purple body paint. Experiment with all of the fluoro body paint colors, you will be amazed at how effective they look!

One thing I love about having an online business is getting to meet people from all over the world. Sometimes I get orders from countries I didn’t even know existed!

The other day I received an order from “Kasakhstan”. For those of you who didn’t know Kasakstan was a real country I’m letting you know it actually is, and it’s situated between Russia and China

If you have seen the movie Borat then you will be familiar with Kasakhstan.

The gentleman named Gulnar who placed the order was kind enough to fill me in a little bit about Kasakhstan. He told me that it is one of the richest countries in the world for  both variety and quantity of its minerals, especally its oil.

He said Kasakhstan is very multinational. They can speak russian and kazakh languages.

As for the movie “Borat”  he claims to have never seen it.  But he said his government has taken it as an insult to kazakh people. Anyway he said “thanks to this movie more people in the world have learned about Kazakhstan.”

So there is a little bit of trivia for those of you who are interested learning about other countries and their people as I am.

And if you ever visit Kasakhstan keep an eye out for our friend Gulnar the tattooist!

I received this email from a customer recently and I thought I’d share it here.

Hi Larissa, Thought you might like to know Jonathan had a fabulous day at the school fair and he made $590 PROFIT!!!  (He paid $30 for the stand)  The fair went from 11am – 4pm.   He donated 10% back to the school. It was a perfect day and we priced the tattoos at 3 levels. Small $2Medium $3.50Large $5 It worked really well as it catered for the kids that came along just with a gold coin and was mostly a $2 coin. At first I was hesitant of charging only $2 but it proved to work really well and then lots of others took the medium and large ones.   Jonathan set all the airbrushing things up himself as soon as we got there and he did from 11am – 2pm airbrushing, then he taught Troy to do it (So Jonathan could go with his friends and have some fun at the fair) and Troy did an hour and a half then Zane took over and did another hour.  Then right near the end we did only $2 ones and there were heaps of people lined up so I said to Jonathan that he needed to take over as he was much quicker than Zane or Troy and he just got through them like anything until the Fair people cut the power off!! The sheet of small tattoos were used so much and some of  the medium ones, that a number of them are no longer sticky so we will have to let you know which sheet and get a new sheet of them. I was there all day (thought I might have had time to read a book every now and then) but I was literally on my feet taking money ALL day!!   It was the most popular stall there! So everyone is very happy with the result.  Just thought you’d love to know how he went. J HugsLorna