Paint Wood Crafts
Wooden craft painting has been around for hundreds of years. You may hear it referred to as "tole painting," which once was done on tin and is now regularly done on wood. If you have a piece of wood that you would like to paint, you should go through a process of creating a design or picking a pattern, picking your colors, buying your supplies and painting. With woodcraft painting, you usually employ water-based paints, which are easy to paint over and fix, so they work well for your first wood projects. Read more to find out how to paint wood crafts.
Steps
- Choose a work area with some ventilation. The fumes from certain products can be harmful, and it will help the paint to dry more quickly.
- Sand the surface of your wooden object. Always work with the grain of the wood. Use a fine grit sandpaper, from 140 to 180 grit.
- If you purchased a woodcraft object from a craft store, you may not need to sand it. If the surface area is completely smooth, skip this step.
- Rub the entire surface of the wood with tack cloths. These are sticky cloths that pick up dust and other debris from objects. They can be found at hardware or craft stores.
- Apply a primer or a stain to your wood. Many tole painters use spray-on primers because of the ease of application. It is essential to prime your wood in order to ensure that the pores are filled and the paint is absorbed evenly.
- You can alternatively choose to stain the wood instead. There are many types and colors of stains. You should choose those available at craft stores, rather than at hardware stores for small crafts. This is a great option if you want the primary surface to still have the appearance of wood.
- Grab a piece of paper and draw out a design of what you would like to do with your wooden project. Even if you are going freehand, without a stencil, this will help you know what colors of acrylic paint to buy and help you stay on track.
- If you choose a pattern with a stencil, you will also need to pick up graphite paper, tracing paper and a tracing instrument along with your paints and primer. You will need to place the tracing paper over the pattern and trace the design onto your tracing paper with a pencil. Place a piece of graphite paper, with the graphite face down, and place the tracing paper on top. Use your tracing instrument (usually a smooth metal ball at the end of a shaft), to trace it onto the top of your primed wood.
- Use a paper plate as your palette. Squeeze small amounts of colored acrylic craft paints onto the plate so that you can dip your brushes into them. Place a small bowl of water and a paper towel nearby, so you can wash the paint off your brushes.
- If you plan to paint a base color onto the surface of your wooden craft project, then you can start by squeezing a large amount of the acrylic color onto the paper plate. Use a small sponge brush to apply the paint all over your project. Allow it to dry before painting further designs onto it, unless you want to blend your paints. Do this before you stencil your design on, if you are going from a pattern.
- Dip your flat brush into an acrylic color and begin painting your design. Use an angular flat brush to paint around curves. Use a small round brush to make straight lines, dots or other precise figures.
- If you are interested in learning the many different strokes of tole painting, it is a good idea to take a class. Ask at the local craft store if they know of tole painting classes, or you can take a course online.
- Blend colors by painting a color, washing the brush in the bowl of water and then dipping into another color while both paints are still wet. Use the paper towel to dry the brush completely when there is too much water on your brush or you want to start with a new color.
- If you make a mistake, acrylic paints are easy to paint over, because they are water based. Simply paint over the mistake with the original base color and try again after it dries.
- Allow the paint to dry completely before turning the project to work on other sides. Many wooden projects have at least a front and a back, if not more sides. Some projects can be turned to work on more than 1 side.
- Many people choose to paint the underside the base color before starting on details. It can dry and you will not need to return to it until it is time to seal it.
- Allow the entire project to dry completely. If there are many layers of paint on it, you may want to leave it for at least 24 hours.
- Spray or paint on a sealant or varnish. If it will be used often, you may want a very hard varnish or shellac. You can apply the sealant on with a sponge brush.
Things You'll Need
- Sandpaper
- Wooden object
- Primer or stain
- Tack cloth
- Flat brushes
- Flat angular brush
- Round brush
- Acrylic paints in different colors
- Small foam brush
- Paper plate
- Paper plate
- Bowl of water
- Paper towel
- Sealant, varnish or shellac
