>Lately I've been playing around with highlights of acrylic paint on some of my work. Generally my finish of choice is polymerized tung oil, or a tung old/varnish mix (eg. a la Russ). However, I've been having a hard time getting a satisfactory finish over the acrylic paint. It seems to take many coats for any build, and then it's difficult to get it to look even and smooth, even after buffing. This is most noticable over black acrylic paint. Any suggestions?
>Switch to Prima-color markers for color adding. It's my understanding that they amount to dye stain that shouldn't inhibit penetration and build of the oil. Can't speak to whether the oil or its volitiles will cause bleed. Believe you're gonna have a tough time reconciling any solvent or oil finish with applied acrylics.
>I don't understand the problem. Oils should coat the acrylic paint OK, but it may take several coats to fill the paint if it is a thick layer. Just make sure that the acrylic has sat for a few days until it is DRY before trying to apply the oil. Your only problem should be that the oil will make the color darker and turn a white into an amber color. Thin acrylic paint can be used as a grain filler that gives a nice "liming" effect under an oil/varnish top coat.
You might want to try a milk-paint. It is more durable than an acrylic paint, and oils work very well over it. Again, the oil makes the color darker and you will have to experiment with it to get the color you want. "Old Fashioned Milk Paint" is the powdered commercial product that is available in craft stores and the woodworking catalogs.
What effect are you trying to get?? There may be a better way to do it than with an acrylic paint.
>Oil works well over gesso. Gesso comes in red,black,and white. The white can be tinted with acrylic colors to any shade.Its available in any art supply store and is very easy to apply,similar to acrylic paint.I've had good luck sealing it with Watco and similar oils that I use for finish.Usually two or three coats are enough.It takes on a nice satin sheen just like the wood.Give it a try.....Mac
>Thanks for the comments, Russ and Mac. I will try the gesso. I've been painting large areas of a piece, generally the outside, often black, and sometimes with texturing. On the non-textured parts it seems difficult to get an even sheen. It may be just that the imperfections in the finish are more apparent over the uniform black paint than they are on the unpainted wood, but it also seems that the finish drys in a more streaky and heterogeneous way. I'm just looking for a satin to medium gloss sheen over the painted areas.