Sooooooo how thin is thin?

[Anthony Filetti]

...in a previous post a few of Dave Stetsons carvings were displayed. Dryheat mentioned that these wonderful carvings were first coated with BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil) and left to dry for 24 hours to bring out the grain in the wood. In between coats of spray Matte finishes thinned acrylics were used for the paint.

Currently I use an eyedropper to measure an 8 to 3 drop (water/paint) ratio for thinning the paint. I've noticed that some colors appear stronger than others to which I try and adjust.

The question is...So what ratios do you use or were taught for thinning acrylics?

[Sam]

I just mix water and paint so that i can read the painted newspaper through the mixture. I actually keep it thinner than just being able to read through it. It becomes a very light stain.

[Mike-in-WV]

Take a plastic coffee can lid and place it on your bench with the ring up so that it will hold water. Now place a dab of each color you want to use in the center but keep keep them sperated. Pour a little water inside the outer edge around the ring. You will see that the water will stay there because the center has a tendencie to be raised. Now you can just dip your brush in a little of the water and mix it with just a small amount of the color you want. You can make it darker or thinner by just draging in more paint or useing a little less water. I keep a paper towel handy so that I can just dab the brush on it to get rid of excess water when needed.Just wipe off the lid with water and a paper towel and you have a great easel for next time.

Also if you think it's a little dark when you put it on just take a clean stiffer brush and a dab of water and thin it right on the carving. Lots of things you can do and you can always play with a piece of wood to see how the colors work before useing them. Lots of fun to thin , mix and match colors for shadows and high lites. Mike

[Mitchell]

I use a small plastic round palete that has 10 or so small "wells" on the outer circumference. There is a larger well in the center. I drop about 3 drops of paint or a small smear if from a tube in the well and water to about 3/4 or more full. This, most likely, is close to Rocket's mixture. I mix the two and slap it on the wood! Just kidding.

I still paint with oil based paints on occasion, but use acrylics more now because there's less clean-up involved.

I sometimes paint directly onto the wood after washing, or on top of BLO. I have tried to paint over sprayed matte acrylic, but did not like the effects. The thin wash just sat on the surface too long. I don't think I dipped in BLO before though - it's been some time ago. I may try it again.

I will add that there is a big difference in painting onto wood directly as opposed to painting onto "bare" wood. I can't really explain it too well, but the affects are very different. The colors on the BLO dipped carving appears more rich to me.

[dryheat]

How thin is thin? Well, I’ve read that you can never be too thin or too rich; O that’s not painting carvings is it.

All I know about painting carvings (which is minimal) I learned from Dave Stetson and Michel Carville. I made several carving before I got the nerve to paint one.

The coat of BLO (boiled linseed oil) is to seal and bring out the grain of the wood. Then, because the next coat will be water based acrylic, and oil and water do not readily mix it needs to be sealed with something, usually some type of a lacquer product that dries quickly and is neutral with the acrylic water based paint. I don’t use a set formula, just take a puddle of water and pull some of the paint into it and mix, adding more water until it’s quite thin and then try it on a scrap. If the grain shows through I use it. Another reason for keeping the paint thin is that often there is a base coat of one color and then a top coat of another. When this technique is used the paint need to be thin enough that the base coat shows through and what you see is a blend of the colors. I don’t use any paint on faces and hands, just eyes, rouge, beards and lips. I think the natural look of the BLO on the wood looks good for faces and hands.



ES

[Kenny_S]

I paint a little different when I paint. I have a glass of water and load the brush up with the water, then on a palette, I have the dab of paint and pull the brush through the dab of paintloading up the brush with paint.

What I have seen mixing water and paint for thin washes, the paint pigments do not all desolve in the water a nd paint mixture,
Maybe I am not mixing the water/paint enough.

Not saying that any of you are doing it wrong but the way I do it works for me. Good, bad or indifferent, just the way I do it.
Different strokes for different folks.

[Anthony Filetti]

..thanks for all the input guys!! I think what i am going to have to do is maybe conduct some tests using different ratios. Maybe what I'll do is paint pieces of wood w/ the different ratios and use them for a reference. Once I'm done I'll try and post some pictures of the results.Cool


...now just one more question if I may, do any of you find that you have to thin certain pigments more than others?