Painted Boxes

[Lobster Alla Prima]

MY IMAGE(S):







GENERAL INFORMATION:
Title: Painted Boxes
Year Created: 2003
Medium: Oil
Surface: Wood
Dimension: 8x10
Allow digital alterations?: Yes!

MY COMMENTS:
I'll confess I absolutely hated my acrylic experiments last weekend so this week I'm showing you some older unrelated stuff.

These were from my box painting phase which came after the chip carving but before the panel painting.

Mayan Box - I don't know if it shows on your screen but it's surface etching of intricate Mayan temple symbols. This was one of the better uses of oils (versus acrylics) because oils seemed to stain the grooves better without completely hiding the wood.

Madder Dragon - Another oil. Typically I had to put several layers of sealant over the dried oil parts before doing the varnishing.

Bird Box - Oil. This was my one and only attempt at this somewhat odd shadow figure style.

MY QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP:
Too much paint coverage of wood?

Better ways to stain fine wood cuts without obscuring wood grain?

Is the shadow style worth pursuing or is it rather craft-like?

Thanks

[Dana Design]

These are absolutely beautiful and I wish I had one of them. I collect boxes.

Very fine work!

[Spyderbabe]

Lobster - love 'em. Cant say one is better than the other, they all have such a high degree of craftmanship. Do you ever use wood stain for coloration? Inks?
And what if you embedded a carved panel in the self-leveling gel?

[Lobster Alla Prima]

Thank you Dana Design.

Ooh, Spyderbabe, I love the carving embedded in gel idea. I'll have to put some planning into that.

Regarding stain I did try that early in the carvings but it tends to bleed beyond the areas you use it (which is what it's designed to do, like a dye). So I consulted a carver I worked with who suggested I buy burnt umber oil paint and rub it into the surface of wood instead. I tried it, liked it, bought other colors to try the same, ended up with a small paint collection.... and that's ultimately what lead to my painting hobby instead of carving. So ironically if only I'd liked stains then I'd probably only have wood carvings to show you and I probably would have never discovered wetcanvas.

[Leo Maciel]

How wonderful to know that there's another artist woh works with box! I also do boxes... Yours are wonderful, it makes one wonder what is inside them... Makes one curious. Beautiful job.