So the best way to deal with having you use stencils and reduce costs as well as leaving your creativity open is to create your own stencils. If you can trace you can create your own stencils cheaply. All you need to do is find a design that you like and then trace it out onto paper. Make several copies of the design since you will be cutting on them. The purpose of the needle is to control the paint flow. Any damage to your needle can cause very bad paint spray patterns. It is important to keep your needle from getting bend and either straightening the needle or replacing the needle. The air cap and head assembly are on the front of your airbrush and they cover the tip of the needle. Cooped up in a studio too long, then go out to the park and open your eyes to everything that you see. Derive inspiration from various sights around you and incorporate them into one great piece of art. See two kids on a seesaw at the park? Turn those two kids into angels on a seesaw cloud in the sky. A couple of great features of the video is that you will learn how to truly work with House of Kolors paints and how to work with low air pressures. Learn more about how to do freehand is also a great asset of this video. These are advanced techniques and will take you as an artist to the next level of airbrush art. The type of paint that is best for a beginner just learning is Golden Airbrush Colors. These paints are ready to use and will save you from having to deal with thinners and such. Save those types of paints for when you have gained yourself some experience with airbrush art. Stick to ready to use black paint from Golden Airbrush Colors because it really does not matter how the paint looks at this point. If you do end up bending your needle you can try and straighten it with either pliers. Place the tip within the pliers and gently try and straighten it back out. Remember to do this gently so that you do not break your needle. The better care that you take of your airbrush the longer it will last. So keep your airbrush clean with the right cleaners and once a month do a full break down and cleaning.