starting my first painting

[Stanley C]

I have finished a relief of a flower with cascading leafs that I want to paint. I have never attempted to paint before, I read Harley's tips, but I am still nervous. I was thinking of antique white for the border, rose for the flower and black for the button, and of course, green for the leaves. What are the opinions about sealing before you paint? I am using acrylics, what else is avialable? As you can see I am a novice. I don't have a way to make a picture for the computer. Any suggestions, would be greatly appreciated.

[AlArchie]

Stanley, you will want to make your decision on whether to seal first or not on what you want to accomplish. If you want the acrylic to act as a staining wash, you will probably want to work directly on the bare wood. You can also use plain old watercolors for this type of coloring. If you plan on using the acrylic as a covering color, and are not worried about the grain showing through, I'd seal it first with either a water or oil based sealer (Cabot, Minwax, Varathane, all make both types). If I want a complete coverage of the wood, I use an automotive type primer over the sealer. These are lacquer based, but will go over either of the sealers if the sealers are left to fully cure. There are also alkyd based primers that will work just as well if you are concerned about the lacquer damaging the sealers.

I've found from classes taken in relief carving, that using a woodburner between the areas of color will allow you to contain both acrylic washes and watercolr in the particular area for that color. No sealers needed here untill after the painting is completed.

Hope this helps

Al

[Stanley C]

thanks, I want the wood grain to show as well, probably, don't know what is best. some friends mentioned using waxes? really confused

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Hi Stanley.....don't be nervous, remember its PAINT! You can paint over paint LOL

[AlArchie]

OK, Stanley, sounds like you will want either an acrylic wash or a watercolor on bare wood. Why don't you check Lynn Doughty's blog on some of the techniques he uses for painting. And try some of the paint you will be using on just a board before you go to the carving. It's nice to have some advance notice of how the paint "behaves" when it is applied. Washes are simply watered down paint (or thinned down if using oils) and can be anywhere from very thin to almost straight paint. A little practice on a bare wood board will give you a feel for the stuff. I almost always do this before I paint.

Al

[Stanley C]

thanks again, how do I get to the blog?