Paint relief carvings

[Keith Rydberg]

Good day all! I was wondering if any of you have had success with painting relief carvings. I have been using acrylics, painting directly on to the wood however this can be difficult to get a crisp line.
Thanks
Keith

[BobD]

Hi Keith,
I moved your post to this area because the Author Questions area is moderated...which means that one of the mods or I have to approve all of the posts. This way, anyone can respond.

Best regards,
Bob Duncan

[markken5889]

Hi Keith.

I use acrylics for my in the round carvings, but use oils, thinned to a near-wash consistency for relief carvings, and have also done some work with different tints of stain, for something of a more monochromatic look. Good luck!

-Mark

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

one way to get a nice line is woodburn and fill in the spaces...kind of paint by number lol...but it works and the paint stays within the lines.

[Thor]

I have used acrylics, but like oils better on reliefs. My best investment for clean lines was a very small, good quality paint brush shaped like a cat's tongue. I cannot remember it's official name, but it is often referred to that way. If you can't find one, you can snip off the corners of a straight to almost get it to do the same. It seems to control the way the paint comes off if you just pull very slowly, and it doesn't get away from you easily.

I'm not a good painter, so I needed a trick brush. This helped me alot.
Thor

[Keith Rydberg]

Thank you for your input. I will try the oil paint, thined and see how that works out.
Keith

[Mottles]

Hi Keith and welcome to WCI Message Boards. YES, I paint my relief carvings using Artist Oil paints. I think if you try oil paint instead of acrylic you'll like it.
Take a look at my web site www.colorjourney.com under woodcarving and you can see some of my painted reliefs.
Always welling to help if needed.
Kathy

[squbrigg]

I haven't used paint on relief much, some times I'd apply a stain to an area, but more often now, I burn some areas. I was never completely happy with my painting results, so perhaps that's why? Painting isn't my strength, plus I hate covering up all the hard work I've just done in a relief.

Bob

[Keith Rydberg]

Thank you. I agree with your artists statement. Nothing like hands on! Your choice of subject matter (particularily relief of flowers) is great. I will make sure to visit the site in future!
Keith

[Huon_Carver]

I have only had to paint one carving,that was an 8ft admiral in full dress,circa 1700's from Radiata pine,and being as it was waterlogged from the day I started carving it,I ended up using water based acrylic,the paint and the carving dried out together rather well,but for woods sake I prefere now to use some wood stains to enhance the wood and the carvings,as the wood I use is Huon pine and very gold in colour,to beautiful to paint,or to hide,but in preference I would prefer oil based paint for a better finish,I seal all my carvings with a clear Satin finish,which still allows the sweet fragrance of the Huon Pine to be released.