[Thomp]

theres to many and to big of pictures to post here so i put them <HERE> on my picasa site,

the carving of a hunting scene tom wolfe's country carving scene.

the charters all are about best as i could make them in a smaller scale the tree is over 12 " tall,

problem is the hunters overalls are blotchy with color,

i used the 3 to 1 water to color drop mix on wet subject but still the color if was green i could pass it off for camo, but its blue and looks like crap..

i took special time to measure and mix paint, it must have settled as i got closer to being done i figure,

the overalls were not a seccuss so i didn't paint the shirt,
please comments wanted and welcome. on paint or carving

[can i have the ear back]

Himmmmmmm looks alittle blotchy. I think it just gives is a woren look some juges go for that

[can i have the ear back]

sory about spelling

[wood-whittler]

thomp,


the color of the overalls looks as if they are faded which is not a bad thing, you want them to have that lived in look and not straight out the sears catalog, if you are going to antique them with blo then it may look better cause you will end up with different shades of blue.alot of times this happens to mine and when i put the blo on it, it kinda blends it all together. hope this helps.

bart

[Tom H]

Shoot Thomas, he looks just fine to me. He's a "hill-jack". He's not supposed to have new overalls. In fact they were either used or if on the odd chance were new, they would have been put into rain barrel to fade and look old. Bye the way, the dogs look great.

Tom H

[AlArchie]

Thomp, the carvings look just fine......regardless of the blotchy look on the overalls. When you use an acrylic wash or watercolor for doing your painting, keep in mind that you have converted that "paint" to a stain. A lot of woods, maple, pine, birch and BASSWOOD in particular tend to splotch when you stain them. The solution is to use a pre stain conditioner. Same goes for those acrylic washes. If you want to avoid those splotches, try using a conditioner before you paint. That should solve the problem and still let any grain show through.

Al

[Eddy Smiles]

Thomp... I agree. The overalls look down right countryfied to me!

[Thomp]

after sleeping on it, and remembering one of the subjects jim oh and i had the night before
it sunk in that i might not had let it dry all the way before putting on a second 3rd and 5th coat of the midnight blue watered down tint i used, 3:1
and the wet on wet method allowed the second or later layers to dissolve and move pigment already layed down previously,

this carving was the one i was going to tint with blo and oil paint mix but time didn't allow, i had to get er done, being notified after lunch today,

wife called my brother in law and he was loading up to man the deer hunting camp till after Christmas,, so we delivered it today,

bart,


the paint (hard to show in photo) was Blochy in small places, where normal wear and tear wouldn't have made it like that, outside of legs and such


the lighter spots=wear on the pockets thighs and bib were kept light, this morning i took some 2000 grit 3m film and lightly sanded out the really dark spots and shot it with deft clear mat spray as it dries in minuets to the touch,,

we put it in a bag after 4pm and took it 18 miles to him, he was lit up as a little kid, big eyes and grin, my wife has given him little glass animals what-knots for christmas since she was a kid, but never a carving,

one x-mas carving down 28 to go.

oh and to top things off, i dropped the man and broke off a chunk of the hat bill, it wasnt as big as a finger nail clipping but he said he could manage to put it back on,, the figures weren't mounted so he could position them to his liking but they were pegged through the feet,

tom and eddy
if i had used green or brown we could call them cammo and feel good about it,

the intention was to have a more free look to the paint, i kept the multible coats of the wash, low on the leg above the boot tops, and inside leg,
then made sure the deep details was coated darker,,

thanks to all for the comments and suggestions, i think i covered them all, except alarcheys mention of pre conditioning,

al
first of all im not comfortable painting a carving, my results usually dont reach my expectations, and i wind up wishing i wouldnt have picked up a brush,
but then too admitting we dont learn without streaching our limits, i was willing to use the tinted water thinned paint method to see, ive painted several carvings with the wet on wet only to come back and add more paint until it looked like plastic dipped in paint, loosing the carved details and all vision of the wood grain,
I'm not real gullible and have little faith, and i remember now it being said, painting with washes and tints you have to use faith that it will really dry darker,,, i didn't,

i was drying this paint job in front of a electric heater at my feet, and i thought it was bone dry, apparently not, or the wood was just determined to be bolshy as you mentioned,

Im thinking next time im just going to seal the carving with the water soluble sealer i have then come back after it dries and add the tent, as this delta ceramcoat all purpose sealer will allow you to paint over it,, or use your idea,

i think one thing i was really concentrating on was the red and black checkered shirt i wanted to do but couldnt decide how to go about it, as i was following the threads on drawing lines on with felt tip markers or testors paint markers..

ill make another soon, and ill try out the suggestions,

thanks to you all, ill keep all the tips and hints when i do the next one, i wont be rushed this time.

the coon need brown my brother in law said, instead of so much grey, but he was pleased with them dumb old looking hounds, he said the cypress knee hound looked old especally when you looked inside its howling mouth and seen no teeth just a gaping hole,

but i asked him if he seen anything not right, so he wasent just being picky,,

[Eddy Smiles]

Thomp... I stole an old hairdryer off my wife (she wanted a new one anyway) because my shop heatgun gets too hot - you can boil eggs with it. When I'm painting I use the hairdryer until my project feels dry to the touch and then I let it rest for another 3-5 minutes. That's usually enough to ensure that the work is fully dry.

Another thought.... you mentioned that you might have got into a part of your bed mix where the paint water ratio wasn't the same. I have had that happen to me a number of times and I now try to remember to keep mixing my pallette paint when using, especially on a large project. I always mix up 2-3 times more than I think I'll need so that I don't get down to the bottom of the mix where settling is likely to take place.

[Thomp]

the man was wet on wet painted,
i soaked it under the faucet, while using a fingernail and tooth brush simple green to clean, took a lint free cloth and dabbed it semi dry,
the paint thinned 3:1 and stured every dip as best i could remember, eddy.

the paint was setting up fine in color to begin with, but as i outlined detail areas with color leaving the field for the bigger brush the edges dried semi or more than i wanted them to be when i come back to do the field,

the paint went on as a tinted watery coat with a small brush may have been a contributing factor, i had a short 1/4th inch wide brush on hand i used after getting the small places covered, i painted the straps , around arms pockets then did the main areas with same mix,
had just enough mix to cover one good coat,
then mixed more for second coat after it set in front of heater for about 30 minuets,, maybe not long enough but it felt dry to the touch,
guess i better use the hair dryer,,, instead of heater,,

while it dried i painted the coon and 2 dogs, just wide broad strokes of 3 colors on the hounds finishing the top of them with washed out black,
they all were put on the block in front of the heater then the paint continued on the man, overalls,,

maybe lots more practice,,

im not good at painting i don't like it and no matter how i do it it don't come out right,

maybe my love for painting went out with the 20 years of "if it don't move PAINT IT" in the service,, but i would pay someone to paint my house before ill attempt it..

thanks for the help again