[Woodcarver] Fwd: Painting carvings

[Donna Menke]

Hi Bob-
Many people mess up good bird carvings with poor painting. Maura had some good points, so I'll just add my 2-cents worth.

1. Buy good quality paints, like Liquitex, Golden, or Jo Sonja. (There may be others [Dick Blick brand?] but I am familiar with just these brands.) These paints have more pigment than the inexpensive hobby paints and so you can use less paint to get the same intensity of color. By using less paint there is less chance of covering up your hard detail work.

2. Buy good quality brushes. I prefer small brushes like a #5 round synthetic- even when painting relatively large birds. Using a small brush will help to keep your strokes 'painterly' and less like painting the side of a barn.

3. Aim for color variation. Use a small amount of paint. Never mix up a large puddle of paint because you have a large area to cover. By mixing small amounts you will be unable to get an exact match again and you will end up with slight variations in color that will add to the interest of your carving.

4. Drag out your paint. Put the colors you want to mix in small dabs on your palette. Wet your brush and drag out a little of each color and mix them with your brush to get the color you want. Add more water to this new puddle to thin to the right consistency. Make sure your brush and puddle are devoid of any unmixed lumps of paint.

5. Make your first thin (skim milk thin) coat of paint to act as a sealer and to define the color area. Since most of the time our birds are so wood burned that we cannot use a pencil to draw where one color starts and one ends we can use this first coat to do that. If it is incorrect then another layer of paint will correct it without filling in the details.

6. This first coat should be the darker/muted versions of each color or shadowed area color. It should be applied mostly in the shadowed or dark areas, but also extending into the surrounding areas too, though thinner. To make the muted color add a little of the complement or (sometimes) black. (The complementary color is the opposite on the color wheel- i.e., green neutralizes red.)

7. The second coat may be thicker paint- but by thicker I mean going from skim milk to whole milk. It also may be closer to the final color you want, but still not too intense. Build up your colors gradually. Never completely paint over the previous coat. Over lap each color onto the adjacent color a little bit.

8. The final coat should be the highlights. These are seldom white but lighter versions of the underlying color. They are applied with thicker paint, but in a dry-brush fashion across the wood burning in such a way that the bristles of the brush touch just the highest parts. 

9. Next, look over the whole bird and ask yourself what isn't right. This is the time to punch up any shadows or highlights that may have sunk in to the wood and gotten lost. If you have done this job correctly you should still have hints of wood visible in some of the thinnest areas.

10. Iridescent paints may now be applied judiciously to the brightest parts of each feather- yes- each feather. If you apply these paints too thickly they will ruin all your hard work, so thin them to whole milk and then apply them sparingly and spread them with your brush. If the paint looks white on your bird it is too thick- wipe it off quickly. After it is dry there is nothing you can do to fix it.

You may finish with a clear varnish but it isn't necessary on these birds since the acrylic paint is the same material, but it does add some protection.
That is just about all I know about painting birds- and painting in general. It is the same information I 'show and tell' in the last 1/2 hour of the 'Making the Hummingbird' DVD, and give out in all of my classes that involve painting. It also comes in my classes on Painting for Carvers.
Hope this helps, Bob.
Donna Menke
http://www.woodworks-by-donna.com 
Author: The Ultimate Band Saw Box Book
New: Making the Hummingbird, video DVD 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjeKRc3dDGE


--- On Fri, 11/6/09, Matt Kelley <womeditor at comcast.net> wrote:


> From: Matt Kelley <womeditor at comcast.net>

> Subject: [Woodcarver] Fwd: Painting carvings

> To: "Woodcarver List" <woodcarver at carverscompanion.com>

> Date: Friday, November 6, 2009, 8:07 PM

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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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