How to control overspray?

For example: In Mick's Grim Reaper, how does he keep the line(s) on the main tree(s) do distinct? When I paint the tree trunk there's no getting around the overspray on either side of the tree trunk giving it a fuzzy edge. I'm also having trouble transitioning from the main trunk to the branches.

What am I missing.

(1) 15 Minute Painting- Keep it Simple - YouTube

Thanks,
John

You aim your airbrush away from the area you do not want paint in . Also what paint , PSI and airbrush are you using?

PSI plays a lot with over spray as well as paint reduction.

Mr.Micron said:

You aim your airbrush away from the area you do not want paint in . Also what paint , PSI and airbrush are you using?

PSI plays a lot with over spray as well as paint reduction.

Click to expand...

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I'd rather not have paint on either side of a tree trunk, if p0ssible. If I use a mask then the line is too hard..
Right now I'm using the Master G233, Golden High Flow and varying PSI to control the overspray.

Practice it the main key.
When masking you want to dust in the paint and not go for full color. But if you notice in the video you linked he is mainly painting one line center and allowing the over spray give the illusion of the trees.
He is laying everything in very loose.

Here's what I'm referring to:

You are using a pure white background so your overspray is going to be a lot more noticeable.
You’ll also find you are moving to slow (common when you first start out)
And at a guess I’d say your paint isn’t atomising properly, it looks really grainy, clean the tip, you may be getting tip dry, you may also need to adjust the psi or the reduction to get it a bit less grainy.

Yes, it looks like either your paint needs to be a little thinner or the pressure needs to go up to make those droplets smaller. Keep playing and you’ll soon get there.


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In the photo I notice a few things.
The trunk of the tree is set in one line
And at the branches there are some spiders.
Judging by the oversspray, your paint is also too thick, or the pressure is too low.
In this case, the spiders are not caused by too thin paint, but too much paint.
If you dilute the paint, you will also have to give less paint.
This goes along with the pressure and the spray distance.
The pressure must be high enough to atomize the paint in a fine mist.
The thinner the paint, the less pressure you need.
And the greater you distance from the surface, the more paint you can apply.
If you want to make a thin line, you have thin paint and little pressure, close to your surface.
And you give very little paint.
You now have a nice thin line that is much too light.
Which has to go over several times (slowly build up) to get it dark enough.
This way you have more control over the lines and they are tighter than putting them in one go.
Which of course can also be done by keeping the paint thicker and increasing the pressure.
You can tighten the tree trunk by making a gradient from 2 sides.
You start with a line put a line next to it with 50% overlap with each line you increase the spray distance.
To the middle of the trunk and do the same from the other side.
Hope it helps.

Getting the paint reduction and pressure right is foremost, as others have said. The level of overspray you posted indicates you have the brush pretty far from the canvas. Getting closer would probably help contain it, and as Mr. Micron said, angle the brush inward toward the trunk so most of it ends up on the dark areas. Edwin's advice is also very good. Don't try to paint in one heavy pass. Establish the outer edges and fill the rest in with multiple lighter, more controlled passes. I know I'm just reiterating what they already said, but it's worth repeating.

You mentioned masked lines being too sharp. You could mask the area to get the majority of the paint in place, then remove the mask and spray a line on the edges to soften them. It won't replace practicing until you get to the point where you don't need the mask, but it might help keep you from getting frustrated in the meantime. Also, you could use a shield and hold it slightly off the surface. That would allow some paint to get under it and soften the lines. Play around with it.

Above all else, keep practicing. The rest will come with time and effort.

I agree with all of the great advice given above. I'll add one thing...

Using a mask or freehand shield doesn't have to yield a super sharp crisp line. Rather than taping the mask to your painting surface, leave it loose and hold it up slightly away from your canvas as you paint. You can achieve a well defined line that's also slightly fuzzy or out of focus with that technique. How much space is between the mask (or freehand shield) and your canvas will change how defined or fuzzy the outer edge becomes.