The Dough Diaries: I'm New to Stenciling with an Airbrush

Buying an airbrush machine can be a big decision. But with an airbrush comes a BIG opportunity for creativity and endless decorating possibilities! A cookier can use an airbrush machine for adding professional-looking effects to their cookies with ease. It saves time compared to hand-painting and allows for consistent, repeatable designs—perfect for orders and large batches. Plus, it opens up creative possibilities like stenciling, shading, and layering colors for stunning results. Once you own an airbrush machine, you'll wonder how you decorated for so long without one! 

• Allow your flood icing to dry fully before you start stenciling on top of it.
• Your flood icing should be as level as possible! If your flood has areas of peaks and valleys, then the stencil will not lay flat and flush to the cookie, and you'll end up with messy results. Consider adjusting the consistency of the icing, or even perhaps adding more icing to the cookie. 
• Do not try to rush the process! Use multiple light, even layers to apply and build your color. Spraying too much airbrush color too quickly will deposit a lot of liquid on top of your icing and prevent it from drying properly (if at all).
• For best results, turn your compressor's pressure knob all the way to high and leave it there. You will get the finest particles and most even spray on the highest setting. (If you want a speckled/splattered look for a particular cookie, you can turn the pressure down to low temporarily.)
• Control how much color you spray by controlling your trigger pressure. Start with light pressure until you understand how much color is flowing, and increase as desired.
• You do not need to necessarily clean your stencil in between every single cookie, but if you start seeing wet airbrush color beading up on the stencil, it would be worth taking the time to rinse and dry it before continuing. If that wet color builds up enough on top of the plastic, it will eventually bleed over the edge of the stencil onto your cookie.
• If you notice that the edges of your stenciled designs look blurry, that is the result of something called underspray. The air from your airbrush gun is lifting the edges of the stencil slightly and allowing color to land under there, causing the blurriness. You can fight this (totally normal) airbrushing issue by using some kind of silkscreen device. Consider the Magic Stencil Screen or the Screen Genie, both of which work with your Stencil Genie frame.
• Airbrush color is see-through! If you airbrush a blue polka dot background and then want to airbrush a Happy Birthday saying in pink on top, the pink and blue will layer and change color where they come in contact--and you'll still see those polka dots through the lettering. If you want the saying to be bright and fully pink (and fully in front of the dots), you would be better off stenciling the words in royal icing after the background has dried.
• You can mix your own airbrush colors! Pour into a small bowl or bottle, or even mix several drops right in the color well of your gun (if you only need a little bit). Use white or pearl to make pretty pastels!

Airbrushing is no different than any other hobby or skill--there are certain items you need, and certain items that are cool to have. Needs always outweigh fun, so let's go through what you have to have to get started.

There are so many cool tools out there that can help you take your airbrushing to the next level.  Over time you may want to add some of these to your cookie tool box. 

We have a number of airbrushing tutorial videos on our YouTube channel, from setting up your machine, to using and troubleshooting. (Some videos may show an older model of our airbrush system that is white, but the techniques and advice are all still valid.) This video below will show you how easy it is to set up and use our Royal Max system. Then you can get to the fun part - decorating!