Not every airbrush artist is gifted with the ability to draw – and luckily for us, we don’t need to know how to draw to paint great paintings!

There are many ways to transfer an image to a working surface but my favorite (by far) is the opaque projector because it is SO simple.

All you do is place a photo, sketch, magazine clipping, whatever under the projector, turn it on, focus the image and VIOLA – there’s your image, projected onto the surface with no special preparation or skill – ready and waiting for you to trace it.

I want to say it again, just to be clear…. the image projected does not need to be printed on any fancy paper or surface to be projected using an opaque projector! Any flat image, on any surface, can be projected.

Not only is it simple to use, an opaque projector is also a really simple little unit. It basically consists of some lightbulbs, mirrors and lenses.

Most opaque projectors on the market are designed to be set on top of the image to be projected. The lightbulb shines on the image and reflects it onto one or a series of mirrors and then the reflection is “bounced” onto the lenses which can be adjusted to make the image bigger or smaller and to focus the image. Placing the projector closer to or farther from the projection surface also adjusts the sizing of the projection.

Another bonus – the simple construction of an opaque projector means that they are typically inexpensive to buy - and mine was well worth every cent.

    One word of warning about these types of projectors is that often the lightbulb is pretty high wattage and therefore gets REALLY hot…your image will also get hot as the lightbulb is pretty close to it. So just be careful you don’t damage the image (or start a fire!).

My only disappointment with my opaque projector is that it took me so long to give in and buy one – and also that I wasted so much time trying and searching for alternatives to one.