Mermaid

[gkas]

I just did a sign for a little girl's room. The key words were mermaid, and loves purple. I hear that is a phenomenon with little girls. So this even includes purple glitter paint for the lettering and border.

[meflick]

Nice work. Going to make one little girl extremely happy.

[SteveNelson46]

Good workmanship, Gerry.

[scottp55]

She's going to LOVE it Gerry!!
Nice Job!
scott

[Holzarbeiter]

Thats really nice, Gerry. I assume its an epoxy inlay? What did you use for the glitter effect???

[jay pieper]

Every little girl deserves something to make them happy.
Really nice work and the layout is excellent.

[woody53]

That's beautiful, Gerry !! I bet she will Love it. An awesome paint job, I need to take lessons from you. Thanks for sharing .

Dave

[gkas]

Thats really nice, Gerry. I assume its an epoxy inlay? What did you use for the glitter effect???

No, it's all paint. The outline is raised after I'm finished cutting all the pockets. All the colored areas are pocketed 0.15" first. This leaves a raised outline. Since this is MDF, some of the thinner lines broke off. I shaved some wood and rebuilt them with thin pieces and super glue. I airbrushed the large background first. I faded blues and greens for water. Then I brushed in the pockets with some of the 'water based acrylics from the craft store'. CraftsMart, Apple, etc. For deeper colors I used Createx Wicked Colors (airbrush paint). These are highly pigmented paints. This way I could be a little sloppy, as long as I didn't get into the next area.

Next, I painted the outlines black. I only painted the very top using Black paint pens. On a previous similar project I had problems with the black paint dissolving when I applied a topcoat. I did a bit of research and this time I used oil based black acrylic on these projects. These pens are excellent https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MY ... UTF8&psc=1. They are not the only good ones, but I really liked these. Thick and opaque.

The lettering and border is mostly glitter paint from the craft store. Weird stuff. Even though the jar said 'glitter purple', the glitter base is actually almost clear with lots of purple glitter thrown in. Very low color coverage. Brands may vary. So, I pre-painted these areas with some purple craft paint that I mixed. I used a foam brush, with 2 coats. After these dried, I added a couple coats of the glitter paint with a foam brush. I topped everything off with a few coats of Krylon Clear Gloss. I also used this topcoat in intermediate light coats to lock in paint (Thanks Michael Tyler).

Lots of painting, with minimal carving.

[Aussie]

I just did a sign for a little girl's room. The key words were mermaid, and loves purple. I hear that is a phenomenon with little girls. So this even includes purple glitter paint for the lettering and border.

Emma's Grotto.jpg

Very nice indeed... I envy the skills you have with painting

[Holzarbeiter]

Thats really nice, Gerry. I assume its an epoxy inlay? What did you use for the glitter effect???

No, it's all paint. The outline is raised after I'm finished cutting all the pockets. All the colored areas are pocketed 0.15" first. This leaves a raised outline. Since this is MDF, some of the thinner lines broke off. I shaved some wood and rebuilt them with thin pieces and super glue. I airbrushed the large background first. I faded blues and greens for water. Then I brushed in the pockets with some of the 'water based acrylics from the craft store'. CraftsMart, Apple, etc. For deeper colors I used Createx Wicked Colors (airbrush paint). These are highly pigmented paints. This way I could be a little sloppy, as long as I didn't get into the next area.

Next, I painted the outlines black. I only painted the very top using Black paint pens. On a previous similar project I had problems with the black paint dissolving when I applied a topcoat. I did a bit of research and this time I used oil based black acrylic on these projects. These pens are excellent https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MY ... UTF8&psc=1. They are not the only good ones, but I really liked these. Thick and opaque.

The lettering and border is mostly glitter paint from the craft store. Weird stuff. Even though the jar said 'glitter purple', the glitter base is actually almost clear with lots of purple glitter thrown in. Very low color coverage. Brands may vary. So, I pre-painted these areas with some purple craft paint that I mixed. I used a foam brush, with 2 coats. After these dried, I added a couple coats of the glitter paint with a foam brush. I topped everything off with a few coats of Krylon Clear Gloss. I also used this topcoat in intermediate light coats to lock in paint (Thanks Michael Tyler).

Lots of painting, with minimal carving.

Well you sure fooled me! You are quite the artiste. Thank you for the detailed explanation.