G'Day from Abu Dhabi!

Hi People,
I am an Australian lass from Melbourne and Perth now living in the desert - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Considering how much I love nature - forest, trees, flowers... it is pretty funny to me that I have moved to a sandpit with concrete so it is lovely to see so many "G'Day Mate"s.
What I do for fun is paint, and sometimes, I paint on wood. Here are some examples:
Summer Sleeps
Tell Me What Thou Wouldst Have Been?
All Washed Up
Paintings and Drawings « Art of Jodi Magi
I know absolutely zero about wood - I just know what I like which is mountain ash, ebony, camphor, oak, jarrah ... all of it really, but especially anything with distinctive grain.
So I have a couple of questions regarding getting wood ready to paint on so it retains the lustre but is dry, but I will put my questions in the questions section. Nice to met you all, Jodi :)

Welcome to the forum. Some incredible work and to incorporate part of the grain in the paintings really nicely done.

Very talented Jodi, love what you've done here. Welcome to the forums :)

Thanks guys - glad you like my work. I feel like it is cheating a bit as the wood grain is so beautiful it does half the work for me :)

Hi Jodi, welcome to the forum.

Thats some impressive work you have shown there.
Do you sell your artwork over there ?

I had a brief stopover in Abu Dhabi on my way to Europe one time, I didnt get to see much of the place unfortunately.

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Originally Posted by Ironwood

Hi Jodi, welcome to the forum.

Thats some impressive work you have shown there.
Do you sell your artwork over there ?

I had a brief stopover in Abu Dhabi on my way to Europe one time, I didnt get to see much of the place unfortunately.

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Hey Ironwood, Thanks. I actually only just moved here from Melbourne in early Feb. Abu Dhabi is interesting... but sort of hard to explain... It isn't what people think - sort of the future meets 100 different cultures in the desert.
My shipment of artwork has only recently arrived so I haven't really had much of a chance to research for exhibiting / selling yet. I did hear one gallery here in Abu Dhabi charges $8000 for a week to exhibit and they then take 40% of anything sold, so not looking good so far.

There is NO wood here in Abu Dhabi (being the desert), so on a recent trip to Sri Lanka I bought an antique Dutch window shutter made from jackwood which I have sanded down and am looking forward to painting on. (Luckily the customs rules here aren't as strict as in Oz.)

I would welcome any advice from you guys as whether or not it is better to varnish the wood before painting on it in acrylic paint as previously I have noticed the acrylic can scratch off really easily. I want to retain the natural colour and mattness of the wood though... so previously I have oiled the wood (camphor) to bring out the natural vibrancy but have realised oil + acrylic + varnish is not a great combo.

Your best bet for a finish to increase paint adhesion is shellac; it's often used as an undercoat; however, like anything you put on the wood, it will shift the appearance depending on the colour of the shellac (shellac ranges from almost clear to red-brown in colour).

Shellac is compatible with both water and oil based paints, and it's easy to remove - it remains soluble in alcohol (if you are an artist who drinks a lot while painting, it might not be the best choice!) I haven't googled it, but there are probably artists who mix their own pigments using shellac as a binding agent.

Wipe the wood over with a wet cloth - the appearance of the wet wood is going to be pretty much how it will appear with any clear finish (shellac, acrylic lacquer, varnish, polyurethane, oil) over it.

I've found that acrylic lacquer (think car paint clearcoat, not artist's acrylics) gives the least amount of colour shift, however, like any other film forming finish, it's probably going to significantly reduce the adhesion of artist's acrylics.

All the film forming finishes are barrier coats to stop water affecting timber...which is not good for getting water based paints to stick!

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Originally Posted by Master Splinter

Your best bet for a finish to increase paint adhesion is shellac...
Shellac is compatible with both water and oil based paints, and it's easy to remove - it remains soluble in alcohol....
All the film forming finishes are barrier coats to stop water affecting timber...which is not good for getting water based paints to stick!

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Hi Master Splinter, thanks many times for this advice! Can I just clarify - Are you saying shellac is not a film forming barrier but acrylic lacquer is? And because of this absorption property, shellac is the better option?

The more I think about it, the more I am wondering if my problem is not what to coat the wood in before painting in acrylics on top, but maybe the acrylics themselves are the problem. Maybe because of the make-up of acrylic paint, it will always just sit on top of the wood and scratch off easily as opposed to oil paints ... What do you think?

Terrific work. :2tsup::2tsup:

Welcome jodi. Nice work.:cool:

I guess you put the prices up according to the going rate. :shrug: :D

Shellac is (eventually) a film forming finish - you just have to apply enough layers to build up a thick film. If you've seen something french polished to a piano gloss, that's a finish done with shellac. This is a slow process, however, as it doesn't build all that quickly. If using it as an undercoat, you just mix it up to a thinner 'cut' (less shellac, more alcohol).

The 'lacquer' in acrylic lacquer is a reference to shellac, as shellac comes from the lac bug - in essence, acrylic lacquer is a man-made shellac. However, the acrylics and polyurethanes are closely related to plastic, while shellac is closer to something like sugar or tree sap. Shellac is a very good primer, and may well solve your paint bonding problem.

Try this link (google books, Fine Woodworking's Finishes and Finishing techniques) Finishes and Finishing Techniques - Fine Woodworking - Google Books

Also have a read of:
SHELLAC
Natural Pigments - Shellac—Applications and Use in Art

You can also mix your own paints using shellac and artist's pigments - that might soak in more and provide a better bond (or give you a paint that works well with your painting style).

Ready made:
Sennelier Shellac Ink Calligraphy Ink Paint Colors - Calligraphy Paints & Pigment Colors, Sennelier Shellac Ink Fountain Pen Paint Colors, Shellac Ink Color, Shellac Ink Calligraphy Paints, Sennelier Shellac Ink Paint line! - Art-Paints.com

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Master Splinter

Shellac is (eventually) a film forming finish - you just have to apply enough layers to build up a thick film. If you've seen something french polished to a piano gloss, that's a finish done with shellac. This is a slow process, however, as it doesn't build all that quickly. If using it as an undercoat, you just mix it up to a thinner 'cut' (less shellac, more alcohol).

You can also mix your own paints using shellac and artist's pigments - that might soak in more and provide a better bond (or give you a paint that works well with your painting style).
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Wow. Thanks so much for all of this info Master! I am so glad I found this forum and helpful, supportive people like you guys :U

:2tsup::2tsup:Beautiful work Jodi you use the wood grain to its best advantage. The Pyrography discipline would greatly benefit from your skill, welcome to the forum.