Maybe using the wood conditioner we use before staining? Seems like that should work unless watercolors don’t adhere to that. I haven’t used watercolors since grade school.
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I used that on the cat perches in certain places (but I deliberately left most undone so it would give us a mottled appearance to be more distressed), but that is oil based. It was actually a question I had, was whether you can then use water based stains on it. It doesn’t mention you can’t on the back but also doesn’t mention you can.
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I was looking at pre-stain for some pine baseboard where the grain absorbs very differently. Looking at a can when the guy working the isle walked up, took the can out of my hand winked at me and put it back on the shelf. He told me under his breath that mineral spirits do the same thing at less than half the price.
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He’s right - there are lots of alternatives. Thinned shellac or varnish or lacquer. There’s a water based one made by Charles Neil.
I would think one of them would seal the fibers enough to make for a good even water color paint coat on top.
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I’m not really sure what wood conditioner is made of, but anything that seals the wood like a laquer or varnish would not be ideal. Watercolor needs to soak into the wood. Additionally, I want to make it clear that even color isn’t necessarily the most desirable quality of watercolor. A lot of the beauty of watercolor comes from the variation you get and how colors blend together well. If you’re looking for completely even color then perhaps watercolor isn’t for you. I posted a new instructable on how I use watercolor on my toys along with some basic tips and tricks.
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agree 100% with @brooklyntonia on this … but there are tricks (ok, techniques) for getting larger areas filled with color that transitions smoothly. One such is to brush/spray plain water across the entire surface first, and then add color to the center (for a “radial gradient”) or along one edge (for a “linear gradient”) or around the perimeter (for a …reverse radial gradient?).
Mixing up little vials of watercolor will allow you to over-saturate some water with pigment, and using this in an eye-dropper onto watered material might give you a more accessible means of control… some people have an easier time doing things with different tools; no need to use a brush just because it is paint!
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Spray bottles and water droppers could certainly be great tools. Thanks for the added suggestions. You do have to remember the paint will follow the grain of the wood, so you will not get a radial gradient when dropping color into the center of an area on wood. You’ll get a stripe unlike if you were to do the same thing on paper with fibers running in multiple directions. You can see that effect in the shadows of the toy pictured. Under the eye it’s particularly evident how the darker red blends straight down along the grain. I happen to like it that way, but you need to be aware of it and adjust expectations accordingly.
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sometimes to wonderful effect… and sometimes not so much! Admittedly, most of my watercolor work has been on paper.
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Agreed. That’s why I recommend making sure there are score lines anywhere you want paint to stop. It cuts the grain and prevents your color from bleeding along the grain further than you want.
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Thanks for sharing! These are so cool and cute!
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