[Woodcarver] Fwd: Painting carvings

[Maura Macaluso]

 General painting tips for the newbie carver:    start off with some acrylic paints that you can buy at any craft or hobby shop.  Mix two or more colors together to get the color you desire rather than using a color straight from the tube or else you risk the colors being too garish.  always dilute the paints quite a bit(acrylics can be diluted with plain tap water).  practice painting over some newsprint, when you can clearly read through the paint, it is good.  Put your paint on in thin layers, if you use too much paint on your carvings, it can make your carving look plastic.   Always paint first on a practice piece of the same wood as your carving is from.  The color and tone of the wood can change the color of the paint, so practice and then remix your paint so that the color will look right. subtle colors are almost always preferred over bright solid colors. It also helps to paint the entire carving with a fairly neutral color first.  What base color depends on what the main colors of your carvings will be. Never  use white white or black black as your base color.  Instead use a off-white/cream or a brown/grey or another fairly neutral color.  After that has dried, then start working on your colors.  Once you have mastered the acrylics then you can move onto oil paints and acrylics and later decide which type you like better for the types of carvings you are doing.  I personally prefer that my paint be thin enough for the wood grain to show when looked at closely.  Also remember that there are lots of options available to color carvings, shoe polishes, food and clothing dyes, homemade pigments, don't ever think that there is only one right way to paint a carving.  Each carving that you want to paint, should be considered individually and the paints you choose should be right for the carving.

 


Maura Carving in NYC

www.carvinginnyc.com
www.picturetrail.com/carvinginnyc

917-494-0008

Staten Island Woodcarvers Club

New York City Parks dept. Instructor



 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Kelley <womeditor at comcast.net>
To: Woodcarver List <woodcarver at carverscompanion.com>
Sent: Fri, Nov 6, 2009 9:07 pm
Subject: [Woodcarver] Fwd: Painting carvings










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Begin forwarded message:


 




From:BBERWINSPRINGMT at aol.com

Date:November 6, 2009 5:53:49 PM GMT-05:00

To:womeditor at comcast.com

Subject:Painting carvings




Hi, I'm an 80 plus year old geezer trying my hand at woodcarving. I've carved 2 respectable birds one canary and an osprey in flight, However I'm having a hard time painting them. Can anyone give me a tip on the kind of paint to use, mixing paints, special brushes etc. any help would be appreciated.
 
Thank you,  Bob Erwin








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