Paint Or Not?

[kmmcrafts]

One of my latest layered ornaments. I’m kinda new to painting my projects so I’m torn if I like it painted or not. 
 

Your thoughts?

 

[Eplfan2011]

Personally i like the painted version, it gives it another dimension IMHO.

Nice work BTW!

 

 

[FrankEV]

I like color and use it a lot in my work, as iI'm sure you are well aware.  However, I don't really know if it works well in layered pieces, unless you paint everything. 

In your piece (n the second pic.) the trees and sky look nice but the camper, in my opinion, looks unfinished.

BTW, laser cut...yes?

Edited September 26, 2022 by FrankEV

[Dan]

Both look good but I vote for painted. 

[kmmcrafts]

2 hours ago, FrankEV said:

I like color and use it a lot in my work, as iI'm sure you are well aware.  However, I don't really know if it works well in layered pieces, unless you paint everything. 

In your piece (n the second pic.) the trees and sky look nice but the camper, in my opinion, looks unfinished.

BTW, laser cut...yes?

Yeah, painting the camper isn't going to happen.. at least not by me, LOL.. I see no practical way to paint the camper and still have the windows / door engraved... That said I do somewhat agree with your point of view on it.. Just that I'm not that person that's going to detail paint a 1.5" long camper and still have the windows engraved etc.. I'm sure it'd look nice if a artist did it.. I'm not that artist though... it'd look like a child's first coloring page, LOL

The painting I did is just paint pens / markers from Hobby Lobby..  

Yes, I cut these and engraved using the C02 laser.. I have designs for a tent and a tent camper / pop-up. as well.. this one is the "test" one for paint or not.. I kind of like both and torn on if I like the painted or not. So far here and on FB everyone is saying painted, LOL

[GrampaJim]

I hate painting (and paint) but I can see that you could sell a lot more of the painted version.

[blondewood]

Both look wonderful.  I like painted best.

[daveww1]

I also like the painted one

[zimmerstutzen]

Definitely the painted. 

Please share your painting technique and I will share mine

I make a lot of turned ornaments. and others cut out with a scroll saw and then hand carved and painted.   I found that most paints cake up on plain wood. Besides that, water based paints can raise the grain and make the project look worse.  So I take all my finished sanded pieces and coat them with wipe on polyurethane.   It dries rather quickly.  Then I use liquid water based acrylic paint.  I thin a small amount of paint about 2 parts paint to one part water and paint that over the dried  Wipe on Poly.   It goes on very smooth and dries slightly translucent.  I have also used water based latex paint with results that were good over the wipe on poly.  I am lousy at mixing colors and so I prefer the acrylic because it comes in 100's of colors already.    For my 3D round ornaments, I chuck them in a variable speed drill and spin them slowly while painting.  It is much easier to paint stripes using the drill. going about 30 RPMs    some of my painted old fashioned fishing gear ornaments:

Edited September 27, 2022 by zimmerstutzen

[barb.j.enders]

I am with the majority - painted.

[OCtoolguy]

Painted!

[kmmcrafts]

Thanks for all the comments, I guess it's paint time then Maybe.. LOL

What are the thoughts of maybe using different species of wood.. I just purchased some 1/8" walnut ply project panels from HD. I was thinking about doing some of my wildlife themed ones with walnut and birch, Wish they had some 1/8" Cherry panels but I haven't seen those in a very long time.. at least from HD. 

As I've said before.. not a big fan of painting.. though this one really wasn't too bad to do with the paint markers.. I rather use different wood species to achieve the contrast on layers but not sure how it'd look with these particular designs. 
 

Edit to add pictures in case anyone might have suggestions for either painting or various wood species to do these specific ornaments. I’m all ears to this layered stuff and also to painting so suggestions welcome. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by kmmcrafts

[kmmcrafts]

On 9/27/2022 at 8:15 AM, zimmerstutzen said:

Definitely the painted. 

Please share your painting technique and I will share mine

I make a lot of turned ornaments. and others cut out with a scroll saw and then hand carved and painted.   I found that most paints cake up on plain wood. Besides that, water based paints can raise the grain and make the project look worse.  So I take all my finished sanded pieces and coat them with wipe on polyurethane.   It dries rather quickly.  Then I use liquid water based acrylic paint.  I thin a small amount of paint about 2 parts paint to one part water and paint that over the dried  Wipe on Poly.   It goes on very smooth and dries slightly translucent.  I have also used water based latex paint with results that were good over the wipe on poly.  I am lousy at mixing colors and so I prefer the acrylic because it comes in 100's of colors already.    For my 3D round ornaments, I chuck them in a variable speed drill and spin them slowly while painting.  It is much easier to paint stripes using the drill. going about 30 RPMs    some of my painted old fashioned fishing gear ornaments:

I'm really new to painting so I don't really have any tips on painting, LOL

That said, I do some CNC wood carving and I do use paints for those projects either to paint the words and or paint the entire board and then do the carve so it's a natural wood look on the carved out areas while the rest is painted. Usually black.. When doing this I always seal the bare wood with 2-3 coats of water based poly.. Then paint or carve and then after carving I also put a few coats of clear on before painting the carved area to help seal the wood before painting if painting.. if no painting then I just seal the whole thing with clear..

 

The flag in the middle is an example of painting the board and then carving and then clearcoat the whole thing.. The others was cleared then carved.. painted and then remove the oramask and then clearing the whole thing. Quite a learning experience with painting wood and other porous materials compared to car painting that I'm used to doing, LOL..   

Edited September 28, 2022 by kmmcrafts

[rjweb]

i vote painted, RJ

[brew]

voting for painted as well, even if it's the just background or specific bits, lifts the pieces to another dimension. i also apply a thin seal coat before painting and use acrylic paint. I mainly get the acrylics from LIDL ( european discounter store for those over the pond), they're cheap  and less translucent than proper artists paints

[Woodrush]

On 9/26/2022 at 1:26 PM, kmmcrafts said:

One of my latest layered ornaments. I’m kinda new to painting my projects so I’m torn if I like it painted or not. 
 

Your thoughts?

 

Definitely painted. Not all pieces suit painting, but this one does