Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: ballista on July 17, 2009, 01:37:34 am
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hey everyone, i was looking through the bow gallery and saw some really nice painted bows, and was wondering if any painter here had a prefrence on whether staining the wood made a huge difference on the paint, and what paint works real well on wood, ect ect. pictures are greatly appreciated, thanks, jimmy.
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I have used India ink on rawhide backings with great success!
Dyeing underneath the rawhide shouldn't be a problem; planing to do that on one of the next bows.
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thanks, i appreciate it- is india ink pretty easy to obtain, or do special order it (or make it?) -jimmy
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No problem to find commercial India ink of various colours and qualities in any art supply store.
If you want your bow paintings to be more on the native American side you can also use acrylic paints (works well on plain wood or rawhide or silk backings) or natural earth pigments (I have no experience with those).
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oh ok, thanks- what i had in mind was nature still life on the back of a longbow- appreciate it man, thanks. -jimmy
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Walmart has acrylic craft paint is many colors that work well on bow backs.
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This was done with paint pens. Run some tests to see which ones will work with which finish. Some are OK under regular spar urethane, and some will bleed unless covered in water based poly. In any case, I like to lay down 3 or 4 coats of finish before painting to keep the lines crisp and not bleeding into the wood.
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where is the gallery located?
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thats a real nice bow, i love the finish- thanks for the tip, see i always thought you painted the bow then sealed it- really appreciate it. -jimmy
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I've used professional quaity acyrlics, and with just three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and the color wheel theory, you can have any color you wish, far more than ready mixed colors. Get white too, that helps when mixing colors. Invest in good quality paints if you can. Acrylics come in small to very large tubes, and also in jars. Since acylics are a kind of plastic, they work well as the wood bends.
Other paints I have used are milk paint. You can make it a thin wash to very heavy. You thin it with water, and clean up is very simple. If you use milk paint, I dont recommend painting over any kind of finish, just on raw wood. I doubt you can get very hard lines like Adam did. Acrylics would be much better for masking and also careful hand work. Millk paints, though, use natural materials for pigmentation, so you are getting earth tones. My kitchen walls are a mustard, and that was probably yellow ochre, though I am not sure. I also used a grayish blue for the bedroom, and I suspect it uses lapis. The exact recipes are, I assume, proprietary, so I am not sure what they use exactly.
I've been thinking of trying oil paints. I saw some Russian folk art that uses oils in very intricate designs, washers, and other effects. Really fantastic look, but oils take a long time to dry (dont actually ever totally dry).
Russian icon paintings are facinating to me, also. They use egg tempuras, along with gold and silver leaf and other materials, and are usualy varnished. Traditionally, icons are done on wooden panels, so they should work well on wooden bows. Egg white is supposed to be a good selection when using earth pigments, as well.
You may want to look at the French and Spanish cave paintings for ideas, as well as medieval art, particularly illuminated manuscripts for painting ideas. Egyptian skewed perspective works are very cool, too, but I am not sure what kinds of paints they used. Oh, some of the Tut bows were gessoed and covered with gold leaf, but probably were never intended to be drawn or shot.
Dane
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I use walmart acrylic
VB
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Walmart acrilic for me also.
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I've had good luck with Wal-mart acrylic, too. If you want a subdued, "old" look, wipe a thin coat of stain on over the paint.
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awesome pics, and that stain procedure is a really good tip- i love the blue backed bow. appreciate the help, hopefully i can post the longbow i waqnt to paint, it mite take a while though, i want to do it right. thanks, -jimmy
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I too use the Apple Barrel Acrylic Paints from Wal-Mart....and I love them....I don't seal the wood first either...I let them soak in like a Pigment Paint....then seal the Bow when they dry
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and some more
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WOW :o those are some real nice ones, i love the animal still life on those, some beautiful work el destructo, i appreciate the pics too. i bought a few colors of acrylic paint, a company called folk art makes it. this stuff is alot thicker than i would have guessed, will a fine hair brush work? i still need a few more colors and brushes, figured id ask before i went out there haha. thanks,-jimmy
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Jimmy.....if it's thicker than you like.....thin it with Tap Water.....also I use anything from a Foam Brush to the expensive Artists Hair Brushes and Pinstripers Brushes....they all work....it just depends on what you are trying to do
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Jimmy
I like to use an acrylic matte base with some powdered prim. style pigments that I got from a mail order native goods company. (not sure if I can post the name of the company. If you want I can pm it to you).