Paint is a color pigment mixed with a float media, and the float media can be water, acrylic base, or oil. After you are done with your carving project, you to give life. Painting carved wood is the last phase of wood carving but before painting the carved wood you must first prepare it to remove any unwanted parts which is known as pre-treating wood.
There are ways to prepare The base or float is clear wax for artist-quality pencils. Make sure as you work through the coloring, each paint type should be mixed on a tile with its appropriate float to avoid the paint running.
For you to paint carved wood you need to prepare the wood first.
How Do You Prepare Carved Wood For Painting
Preparing wood is pre-treating wood to allow you to use any paint type. This will give you a wide stretch in choosing the type of paint to use.
Before painting your wood, you need to know that wood is an absorbent material prepare it first by inspecting for anything that needs to be cleaned up like the fuzzies that remain in the wood after carving. If you don’t do that, the paint will not go through the carved wood smoothly and your piece’s aesthetic appearance won’t be that appealing to your eyes or anyone else.
There are small pieces of clean pads that are used to clean your carved wood by smoothening the fuzzies before painting a wood carving. Some other way to clean your caved wood before painting is by use of butter knife and this tool goes over cuts between areas that will have a different paint color and this will help prevent color bleeding.
You can wash your carved wood with a toothbrush with warm water, and a little bit of dish soap if it gets dirty during carving.
–Sanding sealer– sand sealer is a very great method to prepare the wood before painting because it serves the purpose of sealing off pores of the wood. This helps in improving the condition of subsequent coats of paint. It dries within an hour and this will also help wood achieve a smooth, even, and color consistent top finish. You can apply it by brushing or spraying.
What Are The Stages Of Painting Carved Wood?
There are simple steps to follow when painting carved wood and these steps will help you to avoid your paint from bleeding. Remember pre-treating wood will allow you to use any paint type.
Step 1-Apply a coat of thinned linseed oil and mineral spirits and let it settle on your wood for a few minutes. You can dry it overnight after wiping off the excess.
Step 2-Thin the acrylic paint by using thinners like glass cleaner, to allow the color to flow steadily without affecting the grain of the wood.
Step 3-Start applying the polish and don’t be afraid to get world with the colors.
Step 4-Give your wood carving some time for your colors to settle until it fully dries.
As you are painting you should remember that it’s a process that requires a little patience. You can also add painted details to make your wood carvings more interesting. Feel free to take what you like and try it your way.
Should You Let One Color To Dry Before Adding Another?
The paint is unstable when wet so before adding another layer of color, you should make sure that the first layer is dry to avoid running the risk of the paint bleeding into another color. A fast way to dry paint is by using a hairdryer
When painting rushing isn’t your friend, so spare some time that you will paint without the rush for it is a slow process to follow.
When painting dark and light paint, it is a great idea to start with the lightest colors first because it is easier to paint with darker paint if you make a mistake than vice-versa.
How Do You Finish A Wood Carving?
Tool Finish- This is using a sharp tool to work over the surface creating very clean cuts. These razor-sharp tools produce shine in some types of hardwood.
Power tool sanding-Sanding with power tools are the ideal tools to use for cleaning more delicate areas and corners of your carving because sanding with your hands can be very tedious.
Brush-om acrylic sealer-These sealers protect your carving and brighten the color that you have painted.
Danish oil-This oil coating produces a satin finish on your wood making it resistant to liquid and this will protect your painting from
Best Oil Finishes For Wood Carving
To learn the best oil finishes for wood carving, you need to learn some considerations before selecting the oil. This helps you learn how it affects wood texture, sharpening level, whether it changes color or not among others.
Before choosing the type of oil finish to use, you need to know the merits and limitations of all oil finish. Applying oil finishes will give a fine look but it won’t give you the same level of protection and durability as varnish.
Inwood finishing, oil is the most popular way because it protects wood and brings out the best character that is not possible with Varnish. Oil is a natural product it’s straightforward to apply and maintain.
List Of The Best Oil Finish For wood Carving
1. Linseed Oil
Linseed oil is chosen as the world’s most popular wood finish oil and it is also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil, obtained from dried, ripened seeds of the flax plants. This oil soaks deep into the wood to protect from scratches and changing humidity and it is eco-friendly as linseed oil is natural and produces a satin finish, which brings out the color.
There are three different forms of linseed oil and are derived from various processes and varying degrees which are; Raw, polymerized, and boiled linseed oil. Raw linseed oil is the purest one but it takes longer to dry.
2.Tung Oil
Tung oil is the ancient and also famous wood finishes derived from the tung tree’s seeds that said to originate from China and that’s why it is also known as wood as China wood oil and as tung oil hardens after it is exposed to air, the coating provides transparent and wet looks and this will be perfect to use after painting your carved wood.
The United States uses this oil as the main ingredient for wood finishes among the fine furniture craftsmen and carving wood because it is eco-friendly and non-toxic.
It’s a naturally derived substance, and after the cure, it provides a tough result and this will protect your projects from the external weather. To increase the products and film-forming quality tung oil is heated at 500 degrees Fahrenheit in an oxygen-free environment.
3.Danish oil
Danish oil is mostly used for finishing wood carvings and it is often made from polymerized linseed oil or tung oil. Manufacturers vary this composition because there is no formula to make this oil. You can use this oil as a primer on bare wood before applying paint or varnish.
Danish oil also cures a hard satin finish by applying a coat over wood and as a result, it can resist liquids. It provides additional water resistance and dark finishes. Danish oil is easier to use than varnish and it takes lesser time to dry depending on the mixture and wood treatment.