ASI 36 "Airbrushing 101" Interview with Maryellen Vettori & Bob Keeling of the Airbrush Institute, LLC

Jeff00:07

Welcome back to art supply insiders. My name is Jeff Morrow, and today we're talking with Bob and Mary Ellen. Bob is an airbrush artist and graphic designer. Mary Ellen is an airbrush instructor and they both, uh, run and own the airbrush Institute. Bob Mary Ellen, how are you? Both doing hi, Jeff. How are you?

Doing good. Well, I I'm great. And I gotta tell you, I'm really excited to be talking to you because Air brushes have always been a mystery to me. So first give us a little bit of background on, on each of you, if you don't mind.

Maryellen00:44

Surely, um, I'm Mary Ellen, Vettori um, I was blessed enough to be a stay at home.

Mom. I never really had any, uh, art. Training, but I've always had a knack for it. So I used that once the kids were up and out of the nest and, um, I had helped my husband run his collision shop and, um, I discovered the airbrush. Action. They, it was a magazine that used to have getaways and at the getaways, they would clear out a ballroom at a hotel and set up a little classrooms around the hotel floor.

And at each classroom, there would be a, the best Airbush artist from around the world. And they would fill out up the little classrooms and you could go there to learn how to airbrush. And that was how I was introduced to airbrushing. Wow. Yeah, it was, it was, it was awesome. It really was an, an incredible experience.

Um, I've also, uh, my first real gig was that I was an illustrator of reflections of a sacred dream, which was a book of haiku, uh, written by, uh, my chiropractor. And he asked me to, it was illustrate and it was really my first endeavor artistically and, and it was right about it at the same time I started doing to the getaway.

So I really, really got to blossom. At that point.

Jeff01:59

That's very cool. Bob, how about you?

Bob02:01

Well, I'm a graphic designer, uh, airbrush artist, uh, pin striper. I do the old school hand done pin striping. I'm a program coordinator and instructor for the advertising and graphic design department at Southwestern community college in smokey mountains of, uh, North Carolina and also an author.

Jeff02:20

Wow. Well, you guys have a, a really varied background. So you both teach airbrushing. Tell us what an airbrush can actually do.

Maryellen02:30

great. Uh, airbrushing from the second I put it in my hand, I was, I was hooked, um, that we love this tool. Uh, we believe that every artist and hobbyist and crafter should have one in their toolbox.

It, it is so versatile. Most people when they think of airbrushing, they're thinking of t-shirts they think of motorcycles and helmets, but it does so much more than that. When I was first learning, I remember walking around, picking things up and going, I could airbrush on this. I could airbrush on this so exciting when you actually get the hang of doing it because it can be applied to nearly any surface.

And, uh, depends on what material or what substrate you're spraying onto, but, um, however you prep, it is really whether or not the painter is going to stick. And, but once you learn the skills that you need, it's applicable to every kind of, uh, surface

Bob03:21

and as an artist, um, It can be applied. Uh, you can apply gradients, really soft blends to, to an art piece with like watercolors through watercolor or acrylics or oils on metal.

It could be used in bolt in solvents and, uh, acrylics. Um, airbrushing can also be used from mediums for the entire piece as well. The airbrush, um, you can use broad strokes or you can go into the finest detail and we have some, um, we have a gallery on our, on our page, on our, um, our website, the, the airbrush institute.com and see examples of how much, uh, fine detail you can get just from airbrush.

And that usually, uh, Really kind of bends the minds of people. They think of the softness of like t-shirts and stuff like that. And I don't think an airbrush can actually be fine art, but then you look at some of the artwork that we've we've created and you can see how detailed you can't with the same exact airbrush.

Jeff04:14

I actually went on your website and I saw some of your paintings. Um, Oh, my goodness. I, there was a cat painting. I almost felt like I could reach out and pet the cat. It was so realistic and beautiful.

Maryellen04:32

That's so nice to hear. Um, I've done a lot of pet portraits. Uh, people really wanna commemorate their, their beloved pet after they pass.

Um, that's definitely, it's something that, uh, you really have to learn the dagger stroke, which is one of the things that we cover in airbrushing 1 0 1, uh, to be able to do that kind of, of fine detail. Thank you. That was very nice. Well,

Jeff04:54

it's, it is the truth. And, and, and before you go on too much further, I I've gotta say that.

Um, I've been in the art industry for a while and I think most people see an airbrush and myself included and they're intimidated by it. I mean, there's just so many moving parts. And how do you, I, it just seems.

Maryellen05:13

The control. We had one little girl say, oh, this is like voodoo . She was like, we say that it's, we've demystified the airbrush.

And really in essence, that's really what we've done.

Jeff05:24

Wow. So hobbyists can use this too.

Maryellen05:28

Yes. Um, we go to some, uh, train chairs. We're really working outside of the grid of, of what is usual for the airbrush. We go to train shows and we go to ComicCons, uh, places where, um, the hobby. Uh, loved to be able to do their own thing.

And we had someone at a train show say that they actually had to pay somebody to weather their train, their train car. So they were so excited to think that he could do it himself instead of having to pay somebody to do it. But you can also do it to paint the buildings. You can paint scenery for the diorama.

You can do like any kind of figurines. There's a lot of superhero characters and things that you can go do. The 3d modeling printing now is very, you can do your own everything from, from printing it to painting it. And, uh, of course you can do cosplay costumes, uh, body painting. We all know about that. Um, and makeup where you see that on commercials.

So there's so many things. And you can even do paintings of the characters. We've seen people at the cos plays, um, actually have booth just of their paintings of the characters of wow.

Jeff06:32

Yeah. Wow. And crafters can do it too.

Bob06:35

yeah, crafters. Um, they can use their cricket machines that they have, and they can make their own stencils, which is really cool.

And, um, paint Tumblrs t-shirts signs and the possibilities go on and on

Jeff06:47

you guys are absolutely killing me cuz my wife has a cricket machine in the next room. And as soon as she hears this, she's now gonna want to buy a, a nice I Iwata airbrush. Thanks a lot.

Maryellen06:58

There you go. . Well, you send here to the right place, cuz Iwata makes the absolute best Air brushes in the industry.

So we were really, really blessed to get their, their endorsement because there's never been a textbook like ours to, for airbrushing. So, you know, to have the education right next to the airbrush is in a store. It, it, it bridges that gap from, I don't know how to, Hey, I think I can do. So we believe that education is really a key to selling Airb brushes and, and, and you're building a client they're, they're gonna come back to get the supplies.

So it's really important to, you know, have the right kind of education

Jeff07:36

available and you can use airbrush on cakes and cookies and sneakers. And I mean, you can do, there's no end to which you can do the airbrushing on. Correct. Is

Maryellen07:47

so true. Um, we were just at a F P E a, which is the, um, Florida homeschool convention.

And we're, we actually made a banner of, of, of all the, all

Bob07:57

the different things that it can, you can be painted on. And people are just amazed when they look at the whole list of stuff and just pictures of things that we have done. And they're just like, all that came. Same airbrush. And then we're like, yep, same exact airbrush.

There's the same

Maryellen08:10

tool we use the eclipse for everything that we do. Uh, one of the moms, what I was gonna say was she, she looked at it and she. I've been trying to find something for my child to, uh, loved what, what is her passion? I'm trying to feed her passion and that's what homeschool moms do. They, they think of these things and there really isn't any education for the homeschoolers.

So they were, you know, people were generally excited of, uh, wow. There's something for, for, you know, to do at home for the kids. . So this mom was so excited to see that, that it could do it on cookies and, and cakes cuz her daughter not only loved art, she loved to bake. So. It really? Yeah, it is. It it's very fulfilling.

That's one of my favorite shows. Believe it or not. so,

Jeff08:53

so tell me, how did the airbrush Institute get

Maryellen08:56

started? Okay, so, um, Bob and I told you about the getaways. Um, we met many, many years ago, and then, um, I, I started, I went from being an, uh, A student at the getaways to being an instructor, to, to the getaways, which was, it was a huge fulfillment of a dream to become an art teacher, which really I never, I always wanted to do, but never did.

So in my, in my way, I was fulfilling my dreams. I. And, um, I used to use coloring books. I was doing the intro to airbrushing class at the getaways, and I had to find a way for people to use what we were teaching them to find exercises and create exercises for people to do. Um, I, I pulled out coloring books and everyone was like, grown men do not want to do princesses.

And I'm like, that's why I got star wars . So I went around and I handed them out and people were like, give me, gimme, gimme. And it gave them the idea because it gave them something to apply a dagger stroke to here's some dots put the P dots on the girls dress, make lines of, to make their hair. And it just had something.

Do with, with the skill. So that was what had given me the idea of, of having a complete course since that's what I was teaching was the intro airbrushing class. And then, um, Bob and I met at SEMA a few years later. Yeah. And, uh, we started talking about what we do for a living and, and, you know, Bob can fill, you invest with, with

Bob10:22

what his well cause of my does.

Yeah. Cause of my strong background in graphic design and, and InDesign software. And, um, the fact that I also teach it, um, teach airbrushing as part of my curriculum um, you brought that into your class, right? I brought that into my class some years ago. And, but all through those years I was looking and looking for a good textbook and there is none out there.

So when Mary Ellen came to me about this idea, I was just like, whoa. Yeah, this is exactly what needs to be done. I

Maryellen10:49

couldn't get to the end result cuz I don't know how to make a book. you know, I, I did the, the reflections of a sacred dream, but also had to do was upload. But the, but this was something totally different.

I mean, It, it was boggled my mind to think, how can I take this to the, to the next step? And then when, when we saw each other again, I was like, oh my God. Yeah, this, this will work. Will you be my partner?

Jeff11:11

so why did you guys choose to call it the airbrush Institute?

Maryellen11:15

Uh, even though we're not a brick and mortar location, the word Institute means a place of learning and that's what we are.

That's what we want people to know that they have a place to go to learn how to airbrush. That's very frequently. We get asked that question.

Jeff11:29

Yeah. So where did you get the idea for the book?

Bob11:33

Well, it all started because we, we started trying to look for these workshops and the expense of going to a workshop, tuition, airfare, hotel, eating, all that stuff is very expensive and not attainable.

Really? Yeah. It's not only for these somewhat, somewhat, uh, elite, because you have to have the, the time to even do that. And a lot of people only have two weeks on vacation and they don't, they don't wanna spend one of them away from their family doing. Doing a workshop

Maryellen11:57

nor, does their family wanna give up their vacation?

give up their vacation.

Bob12:03

So we wanted to put together, put it, uh, a book together. So that way, put it in everybody's hands to crafter, hobbyists, and so on

Maryellen12:11

any artists. And it's appropriate for anyone who wants to learn how to airbrush. We've have the very youngest students. And a lot of the people that I used to teach were all retired and were looking for something to do.

And it, so it's for everyone in between. It's it's amazing. Um, it's if you wanna not go to the expense of traveling, um, This is perfect because you can take it step by step. You can do it at your own pace. It's you don't have four or five days to cram in the information. You can do it. Um, and put it down for a while.

If you're frustrated and pick it back up. Uh, so many times Bob and I both have heard people say I have one, but I don't know how to use it. Or I stuck into the drawer or it's in my garage and we wanna resurrect those airbrushes. And then lead them to a really good one, which is the yada brand. And then, um, um, with our book, uh, they'll be able to take it project by project at their own pace.

Uh, live training is wonderful. We're not knocking it in any way. Um, but our book could actually prepare you to go. If you're gonna spend all that money on, on a, a workshop, it wouldn't be better to be able to have the basic skills. So you're actually learning something from the artist that. You, uh, admire and you wanna learn their technique.

So, um, I think it's, it's a nice bridge and it's also, we are continuing it with airbrushing 1 0 2.

Jeff13:34

So I've, I've got the book right here in front of me. And thank you for sending that to us. And I've gotta tell you, this is one incredible book. Thank you. Uh, one of the things that people don't know about me is that I'm also a trainer and.

In, in a different industry and I'm looking at this book and this does on pages, the types of things that I do just when I'm talking, it's step by step. It's almost full proof. You can't make a mistake. It doesn't seem like, wow.

Maryellen14:07

That's wonderful. What agreed. Yeah. Thank you. Thing to say. Yeah. Thank you.

Jeff14:11

Well, it's it's beautiful.

So tell us airbrushing 1 0 1 E E exactly. Tell, tell, tell our audience

Bob14:16

what it is. Well, it's a textbook is a complete intro to airbrushing. In a workbook form. Uh, we begin with the bare basics such as the mechanical breakdown of how it works, how to take it apart, how to take care of. How to hold it correctly.

We fix all the bad habits that may have been formed before using the book, uh, for those who are, who are familiar with the airbrushing, there's only a F uh, only a few certain things that, uh, an airbrush can do. It can do, uh, lines and dots and dagger and strokes and shading and textures. And we cover all of these in, uh, the 50 fun and exciting exercises we have

Maryellen14:55

and then lessons are all cumulative.

So, um, it's human nature to wanna skip around and go to the thing that you're most interested in. And you'll see the four final projects at the end and say, oh, I wanna do that. But you can't, you have to build your muscle memory. So don't skip around. You wanna start at lesson one and do it until you are sick of doing it and then move on to the next one.

So the workbook pages in the back allow you to. Uh, copy them and do them over and over and over. And you, when you achieve that skill, then move to the next and then move to the next and then move to that. So it's cumulative, we have it planned out so that each project is going to build your muscle memory.

And that's really, and you're working

Bob15:33

at your pace. That way, right? Exactly. That way. When you, when you get to that point and you feel comfortable with it, then you can move on to the next. There's no pressure of trying to run through it or being left behind it's it's um,

Maryellen15:45

yeah. And small successes build mastery.

I mean, that's, if you're, if you're frustrated, you're gonna walk away from it. You're gonna leave it. But this is success. I did a whole page of dots. you know, oh, look, I did the hair on this lady's head, you know? So those little projects make it so that it's fun and achiev.

Jeff16:03

So you didn't know, you were talking about me when you talked about people that go to the back of the book and then look at all the different things that they wanna do first.

Thank you very much for pointing that out. So I not

Maryellen16:15

move backwards, so I totally get

Bob16:17

it. Don't, don't start from the back and work your way forward on this.

Jeff16:20

Darn. All right. So why a book and not a video?

Maryellen16:24

That is a great question. We get that a lot. Um, we come in from a different approach because, um, even though we know people are visual learner, We wanted a textbook.

We mean, we wanted to build a curriculum. We wanted to, to have a place to start and then a place to go to. And, um, because we're trying to get it into the hands of everyone. We wanted to make sure that it's a full course that, um, if you're watching a video, it, it you're, you look at it and you see what they're doing and it's wonderful.

But at the same time, you don't have anything to apply it to. And that's what we want it to do. That's why we think it's a wonderful, um, and wonderful tool instead of just having a video. Wish, you know how to do it. so

Bob17:09

right. Cause we love, we love the printed book because of the work with pages. That's, that's the main thing.

The fact that you can go back and do it again and again, is what people love about the book. Tell people about the work with pages and their, and their faces just light up. Um, the, the light bulb goes on. They can see what it can do. Um, and it's the right approach we know because of that. It's the right approach.

Jeff17:32

So I, I think you said something a little bit earlier about. A second book coming out, airbrushing 1 0 2. Is that

Maryellen17:39

right? That's correct. Um, so we had 1 0 1 done and, uh, COVID hit. We were just getting out there. Uh, we had, uh, a few shows planned and they all got canceled because of COVID and it just pulled the rug right out from under us as it did everyone.

I'm sure. Um, so we decided not to crawl in a hole and feel sorry for ourselves. we started, we started our brushing 1 0 2, cause we knew we wanted to do another book. We just didn't know, you know, where to start. So we started writing what we thought, um, was a great way to approach it. Um, We ended up with a book that is 19 lessons.

They're, they're actually projects. They're step by step projects. And, um, we took all the skills from 1 0 1 and we applied them to 1 0 2 and, um, Bob and I, you know, we started out by FaceTime doing these projects. And then as all of the, the COVID restrictions lifted, he comes up here to Pennsylvania where I am.

And, uh, we sit and we do the projects and developing projects that. Can actually feed off of one another. Um, we had to stop and start a lot because we realized what we were doing was a little bit too difficult for where they would be in the book. Yeah. A little too advanced. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, uh, that was, that was probably the biggest obstacle we had was we redirected ourselves a few hundred times.

Jeff19:03

Yeah. So thinking, I mean, you, you, you know, you were talking about that. It was a little advanced, so does, does it mean that a student has to have an artistic background in order to use the airbrush.

Maryellen19:15

well, I'm living proof that you don't have to have formal training to be an artist. So, um, we do think it's really important to have, um, Some, some solid understanding of what makes a good piece.

So, um, we think it's important to notice that subtleties of things. I, I, I always say that I'm a, I'm a brilliant observer. I, I understand where the light source is coming from and, and how that casts the shadow and it can be taught and we are trying to, um, think of things. Uh, to apply to the airbrush. This is why we had so much trouble getting good projects because the, um, we wanted to give them elements of composition and we put some very basic, uh, art theory skills at the very beginning.

Yeah.

Bob20:03

Yeah. We talk about, um, value. And with that lesson, then we, we use it throughout the book. And because if you can render value must, um, have accurate con trigger control with your airbrush. And so we talk about design elements because of, um, all too often that we see great pieces of art, but sometimes it's just a little off.

So we're able to, um, recognize the difference between good design and poor design is what sets a good artist from a great artist. So, these are just a few topics that we cover in, in the front chapters of the book to get you started. So

Jeff20:37

talking a little bit about art theory, how is art theory presented in the book and makes it relevant to the projects that they see?

Bob20:46

Well, it doesn't matter whether you're printing with acrylics or oils or digital good design concepts, or a relative, a relevant to all artistic endeavor.

Maryellen20:58

Uh, our projects are we merged the art theory elements with the airbrush because we thought it was really important for them to understand that theory is applicable to something that you're you're about to, to take on.

And we worked really hard to make it a nice, smooth transition from what they read at the beginning until what they're, uh, doing. Most of it has to do with value. So value. um, the same as trigger control. So you're trying to get it to be very, very light. Airbrushing is all about building. You have to build the color.

You have to be very careful. You don't just squirt. And that's probably the biggest error that we see with the newbie is that you just wanna pull back on that trigger and just lay it out. And it would be easier to do it that way, but it certainly doesn't look better. So, um, we really, really press the value control with the trigger.

Jeff21:53

This is just an oddball question. Um, but I think some people out there would love to hear it. So the paint that comes out of the airbrush, is it watercolor paint? Is it acrylic? Can you use oil paint? I mean, what kind of paint can you put in an airbrush? Um,

Bob22:11

well, all of, all of the above, uh, you can put anything in there as long as the consistency is of like milk and, uh, and then you can spray it through.

So you just thin down whatever you're gonna be using. Uh, most people use like a water, water based kind of paint. Um, keep down the toxic, uh, smells, you know, and breathing that in. But, uh, either way you should have masks on and some proper ventilation and all that. Yeah. Yeah. You.

Maryellen22:35

In, you can use dyes, you can use, I mean, pretty much anything that you want.

Bob22:40

It just matters what you're gonna be painting on. So that way, um, you know, if you're gonna be painting on metal for automotive, you can use automotive paints, but you can be painting on a cake. You can be using like a, like dyes watercolor. Uh, what do you call it? Um, food dye, food dye on it. Yeah. Um, so it just matters.

What type of material you gonna be painting on for whether not, you can use certain

Maryellen23:01

types of painting and viscosity has a lot to do with it. We were saying the consistency of milk. Um, but you could also turn up your air pressure or turn it lower depending on. And if what you're using at ink, obviously isn't going to be as thick as a solvent paint.

So you wanna turn your pressure down a bit too.

Jeff23:17

You said you said viscosity, that's the thickness of it. Is that, what is that what that means? Yes, it is. Are you supposed to use stencils when you airbrush? So,

Maryellen23:27

um, there there's a stigma attached to using a stencil, but what we want people to understand. He said, it's all about managing your over spray.

That's what airbrushing is. It gets everywhere. It's, it's a nature of the beast, but you just have to tackle it. So, uh, a lot of people, you know, I, I did it free hand. I did it free hand. That's awesome. It takes a lot of trigger control. It shows sign that you're truly, uh, full master of your, your tool. But we would like to see a piece that's really well done.

That's managed their overs spray and you can see the difference between something that's a little bit too foggy and you're thinking, oh, if they just put a little shield there, it would be so good. So, um, also we take the stencil and we try to make it, um, so that it doesn't look as if a stencil was used.

So there's other techniques that you can use to hide the fact that you used to shield.

Jeff24:19

Wow. So are there different types of stencil?

Bob24:21

Uh, yeah. Yeah. We, we, uh, we cover other ways to manage overs spray in ways that could be, um, loosely considered a stencil by that. I mean like different cutaway methods, uh, to manage the over spray.

That's the main things that we're trying to manage the over spray with the stencils. We don't want to go too much into detail, but these methods that are widely used by some of the most famous airbrush artists out there.

Jeff24:46

So you, you also use the negative space and the positive space on a stencil, right?

Maryellen24:52

Yes.

And you, it, it's hard to, to imagine it at first. Um, you're not sure which side of the coin you're supposed to be using. You kind of have to hold it up and, and think it through of, of what what's actually gonna show up. So if you're, you're put something up against the surface. That means that it's not gonna get paint on it, but if you have something that has a hole in it, you're gonna be able to spray right through it.

So, um, yeah, we definitely do that. And, um, we have other techniques that, uh, they kind of mask the fact that it was a stencil. So, uh, there, you can also implement freehand with Oastencil and that is also another way to. Make it look like it's not.

Jeff25:36

Yes. Is there, is there anything else that the airbrushing 1 0 2 book will cover?

Yeah,

Maryellen25:41

there's uh, like I said, 19 projects, um, we, we do some faux finishing. We do some woodwork. Uh, we do, what else is it? Rock, work. Rock. Yeah. Um, uh, there's yeah, tears. There's a paint, uh, pear that we're doing. It's the fine art piece, but you could actually do the texture of the pear skin. Uh, there is a Mayan skull that Bob did brilliantly and there's rust work that, that, um, falls down on the face of, of the skull.

So yeah, there's definitely new things. Yeah. It's, it's, it's really fun.

Bob26:17

Yeah. We just take everything you've learned in the first book, and then we you're, you're actually using it in, in this book to, uh, apply to

Jeff26:24

all this is airbrushing 1 0 2 available now, or is that coming?

Bob26:29

Coming soon, very soon. Hopefully very soon.

Hopefully July yes, of 2022,

Maryellen26:34

we're in the final editing stages. And, uh, we should be, we should be good to go early July and, and we have also, um, have the endorsement of Iwata on this as

Jeff26:44

well. Real quickly. Tell us a little bit about airbrush care, cuz we've you buy the airbrush, you get your book, you put the paint in it.

You make a mess. and how do you clean? How do you clean up that airbrush?

Bob26:59

Well in, uh, in 1 0 1, we go through all the steps of cleaning an airbrush, how to take it apart, what to clean, what not to clean. Um, cause you don't have to take apart the entire brush to clean it. Um, sometimes unless, unless you really make a mess.

Maryellen27:14

I've been known to do

Bob27:16

, but we go through all, all the steps and procedures of how to clean your brush and maintain your brush. Cuz that's the main reason why a lot of those brushes end up in somebody's drawer and they say, they're never gonna use it again because they don't understand one little adjustment or one little cleaning thing that they should have done or could do to bring that brush back to life.

And then they just throw it in the drawer. Cause they they're just not educated. Right. So this, uh, 1 0 1 will take you through every single step of that and we recover every bit. So that way you can be successful with you brush every time you take it out.

Maryellen27:46

And also there's a, there's a trick, um, that we always tell the students when you're changing color. Squirt some water through or, you know, whatever it is that you, you solve it or whatever. Yeah. You wanna do you wanna clean out the, so what tip dry is the, the biggest problem with airbrushing and that's going to happen because you have air and you have paint and the air is gonna dry the paint, and it's gonna be in your brush.

So. Just to keep it, uh, cleared out in between each color. Uh, some colors are, have more pigment in them than others. And just to make sure you can manage that and make sure that it's running clear before you put another color in is, is important. So you don't end up with a lot of gunk and you wanna clean your airbrush every time you use it.

You don't wanna say I'm gonna come back tomorrow. I'm solvent paints i, I understand you can do that. I can't use solvent paints myself, but, um, they say you can pick it up the next day and it's still fine. I'm sure that's true. Uh, with the airborne, especially you wanna make sure that you clean your airbrush every night and that's just taking off the tip, cleaning out your nozzle, wiping down your needle and getting, making sure the bowl is nice and clean.

I, I,

Jeff28:44

I gotta tell you, you guys have thought of absolutely. Everything I, when, when I first started talking to you, I, I have to admit that just reading the word airbrush intimidated me. Um, but you guys have taken it and broken it down to its easiest component parts and made it easy for anybody of any skill that's

Maryellen29:11

wonderful mission

Jeff29:12

accomplished

what's next for the, uh, airbrush Institute.

Maryellen29:15

Uh, what we're trying to do is, um, Get get it out there that, that it exists, um, that we're going to be concentrating on social media. Um, we've been so busy with, uh, trying to get the next book written that we haven't really given it our all to do that. Uh, we'd like to get into, uh, stores we're starting to be carried in, uh, There's a store that does cosplay.

There's another one, that's, uh, a hobby store that does the trains and that kind of thing. So we're making strides in, in getting out there into the stores.

Bob29:48

And so far we've sold books in not only United States, but we've also sold 'em up in Germany and, um, south America and over in, um, Australia, Australia.

In Canada. Yeah. Lots

Maryellen30:01

in Canada, Europe. I mean, we we're, we're worldwide. We're uh, over 700 copies now, which I thought was pretty great during a pandemic. So yeah. So we're real proud of it. It it's our passion. And you can hear by, by how we speak about it. If

Jeff30:16

someone wants to purchase the book, where do they go to get it?

Maryellen30:21

Oh, there's a link on our website, the airbrushinstitute.com. Um, our publisher, we actually self-publish. So our printer is called Lulu L U L u.com. Um, that's gonna be the best price we're available on Amazon, uh, Barnes and nobles.com. But Lulu is gonna give you that best price because, and the quickest turnaround as well.

Yeah, the quickest turnaround for sure. Cuz it's print on demand. There is no inventory and that's why we, we are able to sell worldwide because they have printers all over the world. So whatever's the closest printer to the locations gonna be delivered. That's when, that's why it's, it's able to, they're able to get it and it cuts down the shipping costs.

They're not shipping from the United States to Germany. They're printing it in Germany, sending it to Germany. So. It's it's uh, yeah, it

Jeff31:06

works very well. It does and you said Lulu, is that, is that, uh, is it like lulu.com they would go to,

Maryellen31:14

yes. Yes. lulu.com.

Jeff31:16

Well, I think anybody out there that is a crafter or an artist or a fine artist, um, this is something that you need to have in your bag of tricks.

You need to have an airbrush and you need to know how to, to use one. And there's absolutely no doubt that probably the best tool out there is airbrushing 1 0 1, um, Bob, Mary Ellen thank you very much. When you come out with airbrushing 1 0 2, uh, we would love to have you back on the program and, and talk about that.

Would, is that something that would, uh, interest you. I

Bob31:55

love that. Definitely. We tell that so much. Definitely, definitely

Maryellen31:58

love to do that with you. Yes. And then one more tip for, for anyone who's just starting to airbrush, uh, you get what you pay for when you, when you purchase an airbrush. So yes, there are cheaper models and you can go to Harbor freight and get a $14 airbrush, but you're never gonna get.

Out of it, what you want, because it's not a good tool. So, um, not, downing more afraid I don't mean it that way. I'm just saying you get what you paid for as, with most things in life. And, uh, that's why we love Iwata because they have a full line, uh, from the, the, the introductory to the master.

Bob32:30

We use it not only in, in the classrooms, but we use it in our own studios as well.

So just about every single time it's, it's always our walk.

Jeff32:37

Well, that's a great tip. And again, Bob, Mary Ellen. Thank you so very, very much for being on today.

Maryellen32:44

Thank

Jeff32:47

you. Art suppliers insiders. thanks. I appreciate it. You've been listening to the art supply insiders. Check back with us often as we talk about the world of art and craft supplies. If you like these podcasts, be sure to subscribe or follow us on your favorite podcast provider. And we'd love to hear from you.

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