Painting - Ben & Sam (05/2017)
This piece was a wedding present for my dear friends Ben and Sam. Sam had planned their wedding in the theme of Alice in Wonderland, so I chose the colours based on Alice from the 1951 Disney animation. It was important for this piece to look modern so as to fit in with the decor of its intended home, so I had a think and came up with something. I decided to use spray paint, layering it up and using custom stencils; something I had never done before.
I used a combination of Rustoleum and PlastiKote spray paints for this project. I emailed Rustoleum for advice; they responded advising to leave a minimum of 24 hours between colour and clear to avoid wrinkling. They added that there was no need to key the paint surface before applying the clear coat. They advised against oven curing but said that some heat (sunlight), may speed up the drying process, and that good airflow was key to helping the solvents evaporate.
I also waited at least 24 hours between colour coats which Rustoleum did not specifically say to do, but this is required before applying FrogTape Delicate Surface low-tack masking tape. I have found this masking tape to be high quality and haven’t had any issues such as bleeding or paint peeling, unlike with some cheaper masking tapes I have used in the past.
I started out by giving a picture frame back a light sand and a wipe down with methylated spirits. This was then sprayed white, the colour of the writing and the inner border. I left this in a warm part of the house for around 24 hours before applying a positive spray paint stencil that I designed in GIMP and had Signs Express cut out for me.
I removed the masking tape that I had used to centre the positive stencil, masked off the centre and then sprayed the border gloss yellow. I personally preferred the way that the PlastiKote flowed and it had a much more glossy finish. It did smell much stronger than the Rustoleum and even after leaving it for 48 hours the smell was still noticeable.
I masked off the yellow border and sprayed the background colour. For all colours I used three light coats 15 minutes apart, alternating spray direction between up/down and left/right between coats to ensure a uniform coat. I made sure never to stop moving whilst spraying and to spray over the edge before changing direction.
When the paint was touch dry I removed the stencil and mask; I didn’t want to risk waiting too long and have issues later. I then waited for a day, putting it in the sun to dry before applying the clear coat. I used some self adhesive PVC foam tape to create a gap between the painting and the glass.
I am really pleased with how this piece turned out, and even more pleased with how much Ben and Sam like it! The whole process took just over a week to complete, but most of this time was spent waiting for paint to dry. I have no doubt that the transferrable skills that I have picked up from completing this enjoyable project will come in handy soon.
