Description

Three Series, One Decision

Jacquard Airbrush Colors are formulated across several distinct finish series, each engineered for a specific visual outcome. The Exciter Pack format lets artists sample a full cross-section of a chosen series in one purchase, making it the most practical starting point for anyone building an airbrush colour collection or exploring a series they have not used before.

Opaque

The Opaque series provides full, solid coverage regardless of the colour or tone of the substrate below. Where transparent colours are influenced by whatever lies beneath them, opaque colours block the surface entirely, presenting a self-contained colour film that reads exactly as mixed regardless of background. This makes the Opaque series essential for working on dark fabrics and leather, for applying light tones over dark painted layers, and for any technique requiring clean, definite colour without translucency. In professional airbrush practice, opaque colours establish the foundational coverage — the solid base tones, the crisp highlights, the clean colour blocks , over which transparent layers then build depth and nuance.

Metallic

The Metallic series uses genuine metal-effect pigments that reflect light directionally, producing the characteristic sheen and luminosity that distinguishes true metallics from merely shiny or iridescent finishes. Applied through an airbrush, these colours can be built from a subtle metallic accent over a base colour through to a fully opaque metallic surface. Because the dried film is flexible, metallic finishes remain intact on fabric, leather, and footwear under normal wear conditions without cracking or peeling. The Metallic series is particularly well established in shoe and sneaker customisation, wearable art, and costume work, where durable metallic finishes on flexible substrates are frequently required.

Note: metallic pigment particles are physically larger than standard pigment particles. Jacquard recommends a minimum nozzle size of 0.5mm when airbrushing metallic colours. Artists using a finer nozzle may experience tip-dry or spatter.

Transparent

The Transparent series is the foundation of layered airbrushing technique. Transparent colours allow the substrate and any previously applied layers to remain visible, enabling tonal depth, colour gradations, and optical colour mixing to be built progressively rather than applied all at once. The principle is the same as the glazing technique used in traditional oil painting: multiple thin, transparent layers each contribute a small amount of colour and value, producing a result with depth and luminosity that a single opaque application cannot replicate. Transparent colours work best over white or light-coloured substrates where the background contributes light to the colour reading. They are the natural starting point for artists developing layered airbrush technique, and are also useful beyond airbrushing for fabric ink work, colour washing over mixed media surfaces, and spritz and spatter effects.

All three series are fully intermixable , transparent and opaque layers can be built over one another, metallics can be applied over either, and colours from different series can be blended directly to expand the working palette.