Santa Ornament's (steps to finishing)

[Mark Gargac]

I have been carving alot of these Santa ornaments the past six weeks. They are my best seller this time of the year. Anyways... I just wanted to share with board members and others interested, the finishing that I have been using on these guys, nothing fancy, but I feel is effective for this type of carving. I 'm the last one to admit that I can paint, this is more of a staining process than painting. I mix the acrylic paints thin, very thin, to the point to where they are almost transparent. I like mixing these acrylic washes using a jigger as a mesuring device, for those not familiar with this type of a container, a jigger, equals 1.5 ounces of liquid. In pix.#1) I have already mixed the fleshtone that I will use on Santa's entire face and lower lip. The brand of acrylics I am using are *Delta Creamcoat, the two colors for the fleshtone for Santa's face are, 4 drops, straight from the bottle, of "Fleshtone" and 2 drops of "Medium Flesh" mix with approx. 1.5 ozs. of warm water. Pix.#2) applying the mixture to the face, dont forget to stain the lips. Pix.#3) Results. Pix.#4) Mixing the paint for the hat, 3 drops "Christmas green", with only half a jigger of water. Pix#5) Mixing well with a popcicle stick.

[Mark Gargac]

Pix#1) Results after applying the washes to the face and hat. When applying the green to the hat tip the carving upside down to avoid getting paint onto parts of the face. Pix.#2), Painting the beard, I mix a little heavier for the beard and hair, 8 drops of "Chamomile". Pix#3) and 5 drops of "White",I fill the jigger only half full of water for this mixture. Pix#4, mix well. Pix.#5 apply to beard and hair.

[Mark Gargac]

Pix#1) Dont forget to paint the eyebrows with the same mixture used for the beard and hair.Pix#2) I paint the tassle of the hat with "Antique White" straight from the bottle.Pix.#3)Blow dry the carving.Pix#4) At this point the acrylics will lighten considerably and have a harsh look to them.Pix.#5) Here I am switching brands of paint, to a brand called *Americana" I am going to do some dry brushing to add some more color to the face and lower lips, the color I like using for this is called "Cadmium Red" I will squeze some out on a paper towel, load the brush up, then wipe off all paint until it is hardly visible on the paper towel, then hit the high spots on the face and lower lip.

[Mark Gargac]

Pix#1) continuing from the last step , preparing the paint for dry brushing. Pix.#2) Dry brushing the high spots of the face. Pix.#3) Using a paper towel and blending the paint in. Pix#4) Resuts. If you get to much paint of this color on the face , take a damp soft cotton cloth and quickly wipe off.

[Mark Gargac]

Pix#1) My favorite part, dipping the carving into boiled linseed oil, this step, intensifies the colors, and helps softens the piece, let the carving soak up the oil real well, 3 to 5 mins. will work. If you can dip the carving into the linseed oil all in one step, that's better, if you brush the linseed oil on, you risk having the colors on the carving bleed into the other colors, then again you can create some interesting effects by doing this, experment if you choose. Pix.#2) let remainder drip off. Pix#3) Wipe off any excess with a paper towel. Pix.#4) Results. Pix.#5) A winter storm! Spray the carving with clear satin lacquer,(*Deft), immediately after wiping off the excess linseed oil.

[Mark Gargac]

Pix #1) after spraying with the lacquer, let the carving dry overnite. Pix.#2) Apply the liquid wax the next day, I like the dark satin wax, flood the piece. Pix.#3) Results. Pix.#4 wipe off excess with a paper towel. Pix.#5) Finished carving, after the wax dries approx. 1 hour buff with a soft cotton cloth .

[Mitchell]

Thanks Mark.

Does the Deft spray keep the wax from soaking into the carving? Instead "help" it stay on the surface?

The reason I ask is because I usually just dip in BLO. I will sometimes use a wax and I will sometimes use Deft as an overcoat, but have never tried both on the same carving. When I do use the wax, I hardly wait more than a few minutes before buffing off. I've also tried the wax on top of just paint.....with very heavy results - if you know what I mean.

[Mark N. Akers]

Mark:
Fantastic job on the tutorial,thanks for sharing your techniques.

[Blake Lunsford]

Great job mark! I really like the results you get on your painting! Very realistic!

Thanks!
Blake

[Mark Gargac]

Originally Posted by Mitchell

Thanks Mark.

Does the Deft spray keep the wax from soaking into the carving? Instead "help" it stay on the surface?

The reason I ask is because I usually just dip in BLO. I will sometimes use a wax and I will sometimes use Deft as an overcoat, but have never tried both on the same carving. When I do use the wax, I hardly wait more than a few minutes before buffing off. I've also tried the wax on top of just paint.....with very heavy results - if you know what I mean.

Mitchell, The satin lacquer seals the piece, and does not allow the wax to penatrate into the painted surface. I like using the wax on top of the lacquer because I can leave as much as I choose, it does seem, the longer you leave the wax on the darker the carving becomes? i think the wax antiques the piece, brings out the detail by settling into all the cracks, nooks, crannies and crevices, seals the carving, and compliments the final finish by creating a soft to the touch look, after buffing with a cotton cloth, and all this in one application. I have also found, that if you want to eliminate some of the wax from the carving, that for instance has settled into some of the hard to reach area's, and it cannot be done with the final buffing stage, you can take a clean shoe brush and get into areas you cannot reach with the cloth, is also very helpful.