Wood burning

[LaSalle Crafters]

Is it common to woodburn seams before painting to prevent colors from running onto each other?

[scotia carver]

I burn the seams to prevent the paint from running together on my caricature carvings, works great for me
Bruce

[woodburner807]

Lots of people do, but I don't. I think a sealer would help control the flow of a wash also.

[joepaulbutler]

Bill & Bruce are both correct---It becomes a preference thing with individuals, myself I burn

[Brian T]

I use a large Moor chip carving knife to make one single vertical cut between two paint zones.
After the paint is dry, I burnish the cut to close it. Try this on scrap and see if you like it after closing the cut.

[woodburner807]

How do you burnish it, Brian?

[Brian T]

Anything with a smooth round tip like the end of a paint brush or knife handle.

[woodburner807]

OK, now I understand and my experience with burnishing was in pyrography...hence the confusion.

[tbox61]

I only burn when I know the paint color will match my burned 'seam'...either charcoal, dark brown or black. I don't burn an area that I will paint with lighter colors. I have not had an issue with paint bleeding since I started using an acrylic medium to thin my paints rather than using water. I find the paint doesn't get blotchy, goes on smoother, and doesn't bleed.

If I am really worried about 2 lighter colors bleeding, I will take my detail knife and make a deeper stop cut between the areas if need be...just my .02.

[LaSalle Crafters]

Woodburner 807, what brand medium do you use?

[woodburner807]

Acrylic paints thinned about 1:10 and then a final "antiquing solution" of boiled linseed oil and a touch of raw umber. The next ones I am going to try some spray shellac as a sealer.

[Brian T]

Acrylic mediums seem to be mix-and-match.
I've used SpeedBall, Grumbacher, Stevenson, Binney and now I've got a bottle of daVinci.

[woodburner807]

Have you noticed any difference between "artist" acrylics and cheap hobby paints, Brian?

[sappy]

I have never had a problem with acrylic paints bleeding over. I do seal the wood with a water based wood sealer. I do wonder though, if burning the intersecting areas would keep stain from crossing over, as I have always liked to play with stains. As to the difference between artist acrylics and hobby store, artist acrylics are thicker, more pigmented and in my own opinion, do not flow over the wood as well even when thinned, there are also different levels of hobby store paints. I buy the little more expensive brands, and there are brands for outdoor use. But it all is personal choice.

[woodburner807]

Thanks for the info Sappy and I don't have any experience with artist acrylics since I do oil painting. For the wood carvings, I just use the cheap Wal Mart paints and they seem to work...and a lot cheaper. I do think about the long term fading property though.