The invention relates to a coating method for coating a component surface (4) with a coating agent, in particular for painting a motor vehicle body component with a paint, having the following steps: ⋅ emitting a spray jet (1) of the coating agent onto the component surface (4) of the component to be coated by means of an atomizer (2), said spray jet (1) having a main axis (5) and having an asymmetry with respect to the main axis (5) such that the spray jet (1) generates a spray pattern with a corresponding asymmetry on the component surface (4), and ⋅ at least partially compensating for the asymmetry of the spray jet (1) such that the asymmetry of the resulting spray pattern on the component surface (4) is reduced. The invention further relates to a corresponding coating device.