art on woodworking
Allan Adler
I've built a few very simple items by woodworking. I haven't
varnished or stained them. What I would like to do is to do
paint something, maybe a picture of an apple or maybe a copy
of classical painting, on the items I've made. I have some oil
paints and brushes.
What I would like to know is this:
(1) How do I prepare the wood for this?
(2) What paint thinners will it be ok to use, in view of (3) below?
(3) After it dries, I still would like to protect the wood just as
I would do if I had not done an oil paintaing on it. Do I just
paint polyurethane over it or something? The items will probably
be exposed to water or at least to damp sand frequently in their
normal use. Although I need to protect the wood, I don't want to
obscure the painting.
(4) For a project like this, would it be better to use acrylic paints?
If so, how would the answers to (1)-(3) be different?
Allan Adler
a...@altdorf.ai.mit.edu
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* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT Artificial *
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DLS
Danish oil. This was shown years back in Fine Woodworking magazine. If you
want to push the color around a bit you may want to put a coat of oil down
first. If you're more confident you can paint directly on bare wood. Wood
with open grain like oak you should fill-seal first, or the grain lines get
too dark, competing with the painting. When your painting is finished, let
it dry according to package directions for top coating, then just give it
more coats of oil until the flat areas go away. Keep an eye on the finish
as you use the items, and recoat whenever it starts to look dry.
Lynn
Allan Adler wrote in message ...
DLS
to package directions, to prevent spontaneous combustion.
L.
Cheer
Allan Adler wrote:
>
> I've built a few very simple items by woodworking. I haven't
> varnished or stained them. What I would like to do is to do
> paint something, maybe a picture of an apple or maybe a copy
> of classical painting, on the items I've made. I have some oil
> paints and brushes.
>
> What I would like to know is this:
> (1) How do I prepare the wood for this?
Sand it and seal it. If you are painting the whole piece or just want to
paint an image on plain wood, artist's gesso is a good choice. You can
also seal the whole piece with shellac if don't mind working with it ( I
don't like shellac too much but it is an excellent sealer).
> (2) What paint thinners will it be ok to use, in view of (3) below?
You can use any paint thinner that is compatible with oil paints:
mineral spirits, turpentine, synthetic turpentine's, etc.
(Actually, you can make your own beautiful colored wood stains with a
mixture of 4 parts turpentine, 1 part linseed oil, and 1 part oil paint.
Just be careful to not 'over sand' and make your wood so smooth that it
can't take up the stain.)
> (3) After it dries, I still would like to protect the wood just as
> I would do if I had not done an oil paintaing on it. Do I just
> paint polyurethane over it or something? The items will probably
> be exposed to water or at least to damp sand frequently in their
> normal use. Although I need to protect the wood, I don't want to
> obscure the painting.
You have to wait until oil paint is fully dried and cured before
varnishing/protecting it. This can take weeks. Any oil based varnish or
polyurethane runs the risk of reacting with the oil paints and smearing
it to death. If you use a water based varnish on top of an oil painting
that is not fully, totally and completely dry the varnish will dry
before the oil painting under it and it will crack (ok idea if you want
a cracked finish I guess). A good way to combine the two is to protect
the oil painting with a spray acrylic coat (don't touch it while it's
drying)in a satin or matte finish. When that has dried completely, use a
clear outdoor varnish or lacquer. I have used waterbased varnishes over
oil based paints and stains with good results but only after I have
allowed the paint to fully dry.
Keep in mind that oil based paints and varnishes need light in order to
properly dry and not yellow too much. I you close it up in a dark room
after you paint or varnish it you can extend the drying time by twice
the amount. (I found this out by doing just that)
> (4) For a project like this, would it be better to use acrylic paints?
> If so, how would the answers to (1)-(3) be different?
Much easier. Less expensive, less toxic (but I love the smell of oil
paints).
Dry time is minutes/hours as opposed to days/weeks.
Still sand the piece. You can use gesso or an acrylic clear sealer
(Delta Ceramcoat is a good brand, found in craft stores).
Craft acrylics are more opaque than artist's acrylics. You can use both.
Once the paint is dry you can use an exterior waterbased polyurethane
without worry that it will smear your painting. Waterbased varnishes
will not yellow like oil based ones will.
You can also use an oil based varnish over an acrylic paint without fear
of smearing or cracking.
Oil paints have an advantage in slow drying as you can move the paints
around more. If time is an issue acrylics might be the way to go.
Cheer
>
> Allan Adler
> a...@altdorf.ai.mit.edu
>
> ****************************************************************************