Homemade antiquing solution not working. What did I do wrong?

[Chrysalis]

Hello,

New here and a beginner as well.

It was on this forum that I read about Antiquing Solution and got the recipe: 2 inches burnt umber oil paint, 1/2 a pint mineral spirits and 1 1/2 pint of burnt linseed oil.

I ordered the required ingredients and yesterday I mixed it all together.

Sadly, the solution does absolutely nothing to my carvings after painting them (acrylic paints). However, it does well with just unpainted raw carvings.

I tried soakingsthem in the solution, but it just doesn't seem to want to work and I am left very disappointed.

What am I doing wrong? I checked and the post with the recipe said clearly to brush it liberally onto a painted carving and leave it for a minute or two before wiping it off.

I did everything the recipe said to do but I get no results.

Please help.

[Randy]

FolkArt Antiquing Medium works well with acrylics. You can find it if with the FolkArt paints in most hobby shops. There are different shades.

[woodburner807]

Welcome and enjoy the site! I use pure boiled linseed oil and a "tad" of burnt umber in it for color. Maybe a 1/16th dab of color to a pint of BLO. I use it over acrylics for an antiquing solution.

[Chrysalis]

Hi there.

I am based in UK and getting FolkArt Antiquing Medium is my dream but it seems to be unavailable everywhere I looked.

Could it be I painted my carvings with solid paint? I will try to do a bit of experimentation on a little piece of wood today to see what works how.

[Arthur C.]

I and many others use a gel stain to antique. Slather it on and wipe it off fairly quickly, that's all it takes. I like a fruitwood stain as it's more subtle than the darker ones.

[woodburner807]

I dilute my acrylic paints down to a watery mixture...maybe 10:1 and have ever used them directly from the container. FYI

[Chrysalis]

Thank you, I will look into the gel

woodburner807, I was carving with Doug Linker (a pumpkin) and at the end he showed the painting process; said he would paint it solid as he was going to antique it afterwards (with FolkArt antiquing medium), that is why I did not dilute the paint that time.

[DiLeon]

If you not getting results you may be using either a too thin out pigment solution or you super rubbing it down, including the cracks. I will note that some kinds of towels will absorb too much of your solution. What you want is to leave a stain in the cracks and wipe the top surface leaving a stain in your cracks and lower areas. Here is a Youtube video she uses a lot lighter solution than I do. Which means more paint.

Although some people are picky about the kind of solution, I use all of them... including using water/acrylic. The trick is the wipe off.

I highly recommend watching different Youtube videos on how to antique wood carvings, as different people, do staining in different ways and you want to find the method that is best for you. What I do also....is I do not like how the stain tones down some areas where I want that pure color. Then I dry the stain and dry brush paint on top of it (not the cracks and low areas), always using a finish sealer on top of the stain areas.

I note you mix your stain ahead of time, I mix only the amount needed on a small plate. I just use the BLO and the oil paint, make sure it is oil paint. By mixing it you can add paint to BLO until you get the stain effect you want. I would say put your mixture onto a plate, or container...a little and add paint little tiny bit until you get a stronger paint/oil mixture. See if that works?

If the stain solution can not be seen when dried as there are times when I go really light due to getting that just right effect., I have dried the piece and restain and wipe it until I get the effect I want. There are some stains that dry really fast, which means that stain will dry on your whole work, which means in that case you have to do small areas at a time. You really need to do test pieces just to get the process.

Here is one way to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_33o31wOWHE

Here is a master carver, top of the line way to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW5Evi2VTvU

[Chrysalis]

Dileon, thank you so much! Your suggestions are great, I did not get to try anything today but I will give it a go tomorrow.

Will attempt to add more paint to the solution first (although it is quite dark already) and this time I will just dab it gently and leave it to dry. If it is not right, I do like the simple method that lady you linked to uses on her santa carvings and I will probably want to try that next.

Thank you again

[woodburner807]

Thank you, I will look into the gel

woodburner807, I was carving with Doug Linker (a pumpkin) and at the end he showed the painting process; said he would paint it solid as he was going to antique it afterwards (with FolkArt antiquing medium), that is why I did not dilute the paint that time.

Doug shows many methods and he is also one of my online mentors. I mentioned the approach I liked after a lot of experimentation and looking at other ideas...such as Mike Shipley's. You just have to find what you like and go with that approach. Good luck and you will land on something you like.

[Chrysalis]

Thank you I know I will work it out in the end and find a method that suits me best.

It is getting there that is frustrating. I have been watching too many perfectly carved and antiqued carving videos and I am impatient to get similar results.

Alas, learning takes time and often is trial and error.

Thank you everone for your comments and suggestions

[DiLeon]

Just remember most of us do not have instant success, there is a learning curve which you have to go through in all matters of wood carving. I am still learning and finding better easier ways, and I still make major mistakes at times,...it is all a part of doing it.