I have been expermenting with transparent airbrush paint applied with a brush. The effect is pretty nice, and you can thin the color even more for a more transparent finish.
I first saw it used on a woodburned gourd.

Rick,
Water or petro based? What brand??? Polytranspar or something else? What have you used it on--basswood and?
and how did you use it--people, animals, what? Sounds interesting.

I've been wanting to try the gourd thing--have a couple in the closet waiting till I get 'round tuit' someday........

[move]Thanks for sharing! Thanks for sharing![/move]

Donna T

It is water based, I have used it with good effect on basswood.
Not sure of the name, since I am not at home right now.
It gives bright color while maintaining transparancy.

I have quite a bit of experiance with airbrushes and their respective paints and dyes. I would sugest using something like Golden Acrylics 'Liquid Airbrush acrylic' paints as they are water based and work very well on wood and most other substrates. They can be thined down to a water color viscosity and be applied in any manner of ways. Good luck!