|
AN "OLD WORLD" WATERCOLOR FINISH FOR
BASSWOOD CARVINGS
1) Wash the carving with warm water and soap. A fingernail/vegetable/tooth brush is useful. Let dry.
2) Size (seal) the carving with rabbit skin glue. Let dry. (See note "A" below)
3)
Paint the carving with a thin (wash) & watercolor walnut stain mixture.
(see note "B" below)
4) Wax the carving to set and protect the water-based stain and colors.
Use several thin coats of wax; let dry, buff up with a soft tooth/shoe brush or soft cloth.
5) If for some reason you are not happy with your paint job, just wash off the wax with turpentine, then wash off the paint with water and start over with the rabbit skin glue sizing .
NOTE "A": Rabbit skin glue is the traditional method of sizing wood or canvas. It fills in the fibers and seals the surface of the carving.
It can be purchased from a good art supply store or by mail from "Pearl by Mail" 308 Canal St., New York, NY.
10013. (1-800-451-7327)
Instructions to prepare the glue; (Which comes in granular/powder form)
Use about 11/2 tablespoons of glue per 1 cup of water. Let set at room temperature over night to absorb the water.
Place this mixture in a DOUBLE �BOILER and cook until the temperature reaches about 175 degrees F. Do NOT
allow the glue to boil. Let cool to about 140 degrees F. Then apply it to the carving with a brush. When re-heating the glue for another use, you need only heat it up to 140 degrees F in a DOUBLE-BOILER.
Let the carving dry and store the left over glue in a glass or plastic container, not metal. It will keep in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. I freeze the leftover and use it many times until gone.
NOTE "B": WALNUT STAIN- Use Lockwood water soluble aniline dye or equivalent. I use the Standard Brown Walnut catalog NR.12s12 from "Woodcraft" 210 Wood County Industrial Park,
POB 1686, Parkersburg, WV 26102-1686. (1-800-292-6786) or "Mountain Woodcarvers", POB 3485, Estes Park, CO 80517 (1-800-292-6788).
The dye is very strong so mix only about 1/8th teaspoon or less per 1 cup of water.
OTHER HELPFUL HINTS:
All colors are mixed with the Walnut Stain in order to tone down their brightness (value).
FLESH Very watered down mixture of stain, Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Crimson
ROUGE: Lips, cheeks�Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, stain. Blend into FLESH.
SHADOWS: Add a tad of blue to flesh mixture.
BLACK:
From the tube, as a rule should never be used except to darken a mixed black. It is flat, has no depth. Make a black from your darkest brown (Burnt Umber) and your darkest blue (Cobalt Blue) or from any complimentary colors.
WHITE: Use only for high lights in the pure form. All other use of white should be mixed with some other hue. For example, add red to create a warm white or blue for a cool white.
- To darken a hue or to make it's shadow, add the complimentary hue.
- If some areas of the carving are to be brown, such as pants, just leave the base stain as the color brown, no need to paint.
- All other colors (hues) should never be used in their pure form right from the tube or pan, but mixed with other hues.
- Use a good grade of watercolors such as :Winsor & Newton"or "Michael Wilcox".
- For further reading on color theory mixing I strongly suggest "Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green"
HAVE FUN !!!!
|
