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In this step by step I am going to show you a really simple way to paint a skull using the shield “Skull Mania 3″

To start with I have used a piece of masking tape to hold my shield into position.

In this step I have used white tint to paint around the the entire edges of the sheild.

Simply paint on the edge of the shield and allow the overspray to drift onto the surface.

You will get the best effect by using a shield this way. Most people believe you should paint in the entire area, when in fact they are not designed for this purpose.

I want to create the effect of fire burning in the background so I used the outside section of the Skull Mania 3 shield which is specially designed to paint real fire.

You will notice in the picture that I have added some flames inside the cavities.

A very simple way to paint real fire is to use a shield which is designed with the correct curves such as the shield “Skull Mania 3″.

The beauty of the “Skull Mania 3″ shield is that it is a two piece shield. The inside section is the skull and the outside section has the curves for painting real fire.

Painting real fire is a simple technique that can be learned by anyone. However it takes a bit of practice to get it to flow and therefore look realistic.

Start by painting around the edge of the shield allowing the overspray to drift onto the surface.

Then to create the effect of a hot spot,
begin by painting on the shield and move your airbrush in the direction the fire would be burning. Bring your airbrush away from the surface as you go to create a very soft blend.

In this step I have flipped my shield over and painted the other side of the flame.

Here you can clearly see the direction of the flames, it is important to keep them flowing in the same direction.

To add some movement I have painted in some soft strokes without the use of the shield.

You will notice that I have painted them in the same direction I want the flame to appear to be burning.

Add some more flames using the curves on the shield and overlap some of them to add depth.

It’s important not to over do it with the flames and the trick to making it look realistic is to paint the flames randomly. If it’s too even it doesn’t look as effective.

In his step I have flipped my shield over to paint in the teeth and gumline.

The beauty of this shield is that the outer edge is exactly the same on the otherside (so you wont have any problems lining it up.)

Also the teeth are on one side and the gumline is on the other side which line up with each other perfectly when flipped over.

Here I have filled in the top of the head section so it joins up with the rest of it.

For this demonstration I have decided not to use the crack in the skull just to demonstrate how it can be done without it.

Now that the teeth and gumline have been added in, it’s time to add a bit more detail.

I have simply added a few soft blends without the shield for the eyebrows, top of the head, cheekbones and chin areas.

These are the areas where the light would be reflecting.

At this point you can see our skull looks pretty damn cool… You can can either leave it as it is or add some more detail to make it really pop.

You can get the Skull Mania 3 shield from the following website www.airbrushingmadeeasy.com

Have fun!