Airbrush Step by Step Magazine No. 69 Back Issue

The works in our issue definitely are, yet the degree of realism and the proportion of fantasy are very different – that's what makes this mix so interesting: In the fairytale-like illustration by New York artist Jeffrey Martinez, the fantasy element clearly predominates. However, its reduced, monochrome overall composition makes the work particularly impressive. Marissa Oosterlee's mermaid portrait is a perfect example of how fantasy and realism can artistically merge. Unlike what we are used to from the Dutch artist, the work is very realistic, but not photorealistic. Even the mermaid does not correspond to the prototype of this fantasy genre – in the overall impression of painting style and motif, however, the fantasy impression becomes perfect.

The New York patissier Alexey Ivanov has taken an example from the post-impressionist art of Vincent van Gogh in designing a breathtaking cake. As a tribute to the famous artist, he transfers van Gogh‘s world of art and painting styles into a "fantastic" edible piece using airbrush technique and sugar modelling.

On the opposite side of the spectrum from fantasy and realism is the work of US artist David Nunez. He shows a realistic animal illustration that he painted in grisaille technique and then coloured. Brian Jones furthermore takes us into the almost extinct discipline of technical illustration with the airbrush technique. For 40 years, the British artist has been illustrating mainly steam locomotives and jet planes for museums and industry.

The contributions in this issue thus show that fantasy and realism need by no means be opposites. The techniques used are as broad as the range of designs: Watercolour mixed media, Grisaille technique, erasing, scratching and masking techniques on cardboard as well as cake decoration techniques show the whole range of our beloved painting tool.