Painting Small Letters

[retiredff]

On 7/27/2017 at 7:04 PM, Bonecross said:

If you apply liberal amounts of paint to the lettering depressions then wipe the excess away with a square sponge or towel on a block, it leaves paint in the depression. Similar to applying antiquing paste.

Should you resist the piece before applying the paint?

 

[retiredff]

On 7/20/2017 at 3:32 PM, CaptQuirk said:

Maybe try laying some of the blue painter's tape over the letters, and cut out what you need to paint. You'd effectively be making a stencil, or in your case, a shield.

Capt. Have you tried this? It works great. I don't use it for letters so much as figure stamps or a small FireFighter Maltese. Just apply the tape, use a small stylus to outline the symbol. Then I use a small blade to cut out around the outline. This way I can remove the tape around the symbol or inside, then paint/dye... After you are done with all dying/painting I use a extra fine sharpie and outline it - Done.

Great tip.

[Fire88]

Using a brush I always start in the middle and work to the edge as the paint is depleted out of the brush. 

Watching the video of using a needle to paint looks way easier and faster, think I will give it a try. 

[retiredff]

10 minutes ago, Fire88 said:

Using a brush I always start in the middle and work to the edge as the paint is depleted out of the brush. 

Watching the video of using a needle to paint looks way easier and faster, think I will give it a try. 

I'm just waiting on the bottles w/needle to try it out. The painters tape is also a good idea.

 

[matthewb137]

It's one of the best decisions I made. I'm glad Jersey mentioned the bottles. 

[JerseyFirefighter]

I can agree with both assertions. If you are using a brush, the thickest of the paint gets dispersed along the center of character and gets dragged out to the edge. If you are using a needle bottle, I tend to outline the letter first. Wait until you encounter the dreaded air bubbles! You will learn that sometimes even with the needle you should cautiously use your first few seconds to paint towards the middle to avoid a messy bubble. Now as it pertains to an air bubble and sometimes big oops spots take a little bit of experience, and quick thinking. Black and White leather are much more forgiving than say a walnut, tan, or natural leather. 

[Squilchuck]

How well do needle-tip applicators work with Feibings dye for coloring letters? --John

[retiredff]

19 minutes ago, Squilchuck said:

How well do needle-tip applicators work with Feibings dye for coloring letters? --John

I don't know about the dye but with 2:1 (reducer:Angelus paint) it's a disaster. It was way to thin so I would imagine dyes would be the same. I haven't had time to test with non reduced Angelus but my guess would be any thin liquid won't work very well. I know this because I had some reduced Angelus that was handy so I used it.

Edited September 20, 2017 by retiredff

[CaptQuirk]

@retiredff- I have not tried it yet... with leather. I just haven't done much lettering. But, this is the approach I would take, and have in other media.