Painting Tip

How many have ruined a decently carved piece by messing up the painting? Perhaps you have seen a well carved piece that was painted is such a manner that it took away from the carving. There are many different types of painting that can be applied to a wood carving, but I'll squeeze them into three types. 1. Full bright color 2. Medium bright color 3. Diluted light color And any of these three could be Gloss, Satin, or Flat. If I am going to paint a carving, I may prefer the diluted color method, with a coat of wax over it. The following steps are for preparing a Santa ornament or pin, and painting it with acrylics. The colors to be used are; white, skin tone, and red. To prepare the paint for a diluted wash I start with clean empty paint bottles. Add a bit of the color to each empty bottle. Add about 10 times more clear water to each bottle and shake to mix. STEPS 1. Scrub the carving with a denture brush and MEAN GREEN spray cleaner, and rinse. 2. Apply the diluted skin tone and let dry. 3. Apply the diluted white and let dry. 4. Apply the diluted red and let dry. 5. Apply wax and let dry. 6. Buff the carving. This should give you the color wash that so many wood carvers are using. Photos show the difference between the diluted color wash and the full color painting.