I have been involved with airbrushing fine art for about 4 years could be rated at eight and a half out of ten versus the CS-10
now and would like to explain some of the things that I have being the ten.
learned about illustration boards and airbrushing fine art. I orig-
inally started working on a surface called Frisk CS-10, however The next best board for fine art would be Clay board smooth or
these boards are no longer available, they were the best surface textured. The clay board with a smooth surface is a great board
for doing what we call Liquid Lead Airbrush Techniques. The for doing airbrush and mixed media art. The smooth surface
method was developed by Bart Webster and is being taught by will hold pencil, airbrush tint and allow layering, it’s erasable, just
myself Tim Bird and 3 other teachers, Lon Nebel, Crystal Fuller, not as fast as the smooth side of the CS-10 or Letramax 6000.
and Nate Feller at our studio in Orem Utah. You can see our You need to realize however that the tint does not dry or absorb
work at www.liquidlead-art.com and www.liquideadart.com. We as fast with this board so don’t spray very quickly or you will end
use a transparent medium that we have mixed into various lev- up with a mess. It will hold layers, but not as many as CS-10 so
els of darkness and then we airbrush the illustration board with move to the dark tones quicker than normal. When erasing with
a coat of light tint to start. We build up our images layer upon an Exacto knife on the clay board be careful not to dig trenches
layer making sure to erase shape and highlights into the piece in the board. All in all this surface is maybe rated at eight out of
after every layer, much the same as you do with other airbrush ten versus the CS-10
illustration techniques. Some of the necessary requirements
for a high-grade illustration board would be as follows: can use I also have worked on a surface called multi media board found
all sorts of easers on the board without causing damage to the at Dick Blick this surface is quite nice to work with. The multi
surface, ability to use of an Exacto knife to scrape away thin lay- media board again has two sides that can be used for illustra-
ers of paint without causing damage to the surface, the ability tion, smooth and rough or toothed. Use the side that best fits
to hold pencil and allow blending, the ability to accept layers of the type of work you will be doing and the amount of pencil you
tint, sometimes up to eight or ten layers and the ability to be intend to use. The board is layer able, erasable, bendable, and
reworked without damage to the surface. can be scratched with the Exacto knife. I have also done many
pastel pieces on this board with great success. Be careful the
The use of the right materials in art is essential. Several boards board is somewhat brittle if dropped the board will crack. This
achieve a lot of these requirements, but none like the Frisk CS- is probably the only major problem with the board; attaching it
10. Frisk Cs-10 was made in the United Kingdom and has al- to a backer board upon drawing and framing the chance for a
ways been my preferred surface to work on. CS-10 holds pencil, mishap is greatly reduced. This board would be rated at eight
airbrush tint, charcoal; it can be built up in layers and is very out of ten versus the CS-10.
erasable and flexible. It is a hot pressboard and has a small
amount of tooth, yet you can create pieces that look photore- We’ve tried many different brand boards and found the one’s
alistic and smooth. It also allowed for some very nice texturing I mentioned above to work best for the techniques used in air-
when needed. We have been using this board for years until it brushing fine art or illustrations. I am sure there are other sur-
was no longer being manufactured so the search was on for a faces that might work well and would love to hear about them.
replacement board. I am always looking to better my techniques and the tools that
make our art better and more enjoyable. Painting below by Tim
The second best board in my opinion is the Letramax 6000 by
Bird.
Neilsen Bainbridge. Letramax 6000 has two sides which can
be used for art. One side has a smooth surface and is great
for pieces that don’t require much pencil work; if spraying and
erasing are the main part of creating your art then this side is
great. You can spray and erase and use an Exacto knife with
care, but the smooth side does not accept pencil as well as the
CS-10. The rough side is nice because it has a slight tooth and
can blend pencil real cleanly. The only real drawback to this side
of the board is the use of an Exacto knife is not possible without
damaging the surface. So use the rough side for pieces that you
intend to use more pencil and blending. Also avoid the use of
tape on the surface to hold your board as some of the surface
might come up when you remove the tape. All in all this board
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