one bad paint job

[uvawyo]

Here are a coupla my little fellas
the one in the red hat is from cottonwood bark and about 3 1/2 tall
The shorter one with the yellow hat is kind of a painting mess up
I have be antiqueing with BLO + burnt umber before I paint with the accrilics
and leaving the skin the natural color, This one I had comapny and did not wipe it off soon enough and it was really dark so I tried some flesh tone and it turned out ughly, It is not quite as bad in person as in the photo nonetheless I am not too proud of the painting and from now on will antique after painting

[AlArchie]

YIKES!!! I have to agree, Herb......nice carvings but the paint sure done ya in. If these were basswood and were to be solid colored there might be some suggestions, but with the bark carvings and the natural beuaty of the bark, I dunno.

[Claude]

Herb:
Since you don't like the paint job on the one on the right, try removing it. Isopropyl alcohol or denatured alcohol will dissolve acrylic paint. It takes a bit of time and a bit of rubbing with an alcohol-damped paper towel, but most of the paint will come off, leaving what looks like a thin wash coat behind. You'll have to be careful to not get the "wet" paint pleading into the wrong areas because of rubbing with the towel... I just tried this on a carving that had been painted a couple of years ago. It probably won't remove all the color, as some has soaked into the wood a 1/16th of an inch or so, but it'll get most of it.

Claude

[Midnight Carver]

Too bad about the paint...The carving itself looks good though. Thanks for sharing

Eric

[tnartist05]

Herb,I mess up all the time!! Just let it dry real good then use some heavy acrylic paints on it,might take a few coats to cover him but it will turn out ok.

I like your little folks and this one can be fixed.

Hope this helps,your ole Tn friend,Forrest

[gene-messer]

And who hasnt had a bad paint day .. I sure have .. dont worry Herb .. just start over and your get it right next time .. no problem
Gene

[Mark Dellinger]

Hey Herb,
I have a santa that I finished up the other day. I took the paint a little too far. The more I tried to cover up the mistakes the worse it got. I almost posted it under the heading of "How not to paint a carving" I ended up smudging black spots all over it to try to turn the mess up into what appeared to be deliberate dirt marks like old santa got dirty coming down the chimney. take care Herb and good to see you are still at it.

Safe Carving and God Bless,

Mark

[Bill V]

Herb,
I'd try to save the carvings and paint over them. Good Luck!

[Tony Agatucci]

Some people do not like BLO. I have no problem with it. Some dip the carving in it before painting but typically it is done after painting. A little burnt umber oil paint in the BOL goes a long way. Do not overdo it, if you use it, otherwise the carving will come out looking dirty. I have mixed a lessor amount of mineral spirits with the BLO to penetrate the wood better and seems to work fine. I have not put burnt umber or burnt sienna oil paint in the BLO for years. Taking time with painting is well worth it. It is just as important as a finish as the quality of the carving and the final presentation will be no better than the quality of each.

[gtech]

It happened more than once that I had to cover or remove a bad paint job.

Some of my carvings are painted opaque for that reason... and I had to remove the paint of the face of my last hobo because I over did it.

For one thing, I realized that BLO or the likes don't work for me. I now use dewaxed shellac as a sealer instead.

Time to experiment...

I think they are worth it.

Gilles

Gilles