Lin - help please

[Jaco]

Lin, I have cut out the puppy and cat puzzles. Not too bad.
What would you use for drawing the lines on the wood for the eyes etc.?
Also what would you use for “colouring in/painting” the different shades required?
And a sealer over it all?
Thanks, Phil

PS – cannot supply pics as the digital camera belonged to the company. Maybe when the kids come home for xmas, I can use theirs.

 

[Lin]

Jaco, If you want wood tones as the colorstains work well.
I prefer the oil base stains as they do not raise the grain. If you are after bright colors there are several ways to go. Dyes....."rit" ...leather dyes......aniline dyes.....any will work. I have used acrylic and oil paint on my projects also. The acrylic I thinned down a bit with water so it's more of a wash so the grain shows thru.....I thin the oil down with mineral spirits to get a wash. The oil takes several days to dry. You cannot apply the oil paint straight out ofthe tube or you will be waiting for ever for it to dry. I have not tried it but have seenprojects that folks have used kool-aid to color and also have seen in one book I have where markers were used. They used spray lacquer over the coloring as a final finish. You will need to test on some of the scrap pieces to see how it works for you. If the paints are soaking into the wood massively so you can't get a decent color without putting a ton of it on.......use a sanding sealer on the wood first. I use spraylaqcuer for this purpose as I have it on hand. I seal then lightly sand with 400 grit before painting. As far as the eyes.....I would use a small brush and acrylic paint or a sharpie after the final finsih to do the eyes. To do a small dot of white or black a toothpick works great for application. I tend to go with the toothpick and sharpie marker as I'm not much of an artist with a brush......lol
Hope this answers your questions.
Lin

 

[Jaco]

Lin, thanks very much. Will give it a bash.
Will also visit one of these craft shops during the week and see what paints they keep.
Cheers
Phil
8)