Painting an Art Panel Backer with an Air Brush

[FrankEV]

I have recently started to use an Air Brush to apply paint to my Art Panel cuttings.  This post follows a project I just completed and appears in bragging rights.  In this post I will show how I painted the backer and try to explain how and why I did each step.  I will not be explaining how to use an Air Brush, as I am just learning myself and am by no means any kind of expert.  I will only state that the Artist Acrylic Paint used should be intended for use with an Air Brush and even then, they need to be thinned down considerably with the proper thinning agent.  If not, the siphon action does not work.  Also, keeping the pen clean, especially the tip, is imperative as the acrylic paints dry and harden very quickly. 

 OK, let’s start, but remember this is just my way!

Of course, I started with a pattern and an idea as to how I wanted the final panel to look.  In this case the pattern is 10” by 19” and I chose to use a 5/32” thick solod core Maple project panel for the cut panel.  For this Art Panel, the backer is 1/4” thick BB ply cut to the same dimensions as the cut panel.  (JFYI, I can print up to 13” x 19” (Super B) on my Epson ET-16600 ink jet printer as was needed for this pattern.)  

In the first photo you can see the almost completed cutting.  Here I must emphasize that I always apply clear Duck Brand shelf liner, that I buy at Walmart, to the well sanded cut panel from edge to edge.  The paper pattern is then applied to the liner with 3M-77 spray adhesive, again covering the panel from edge to edge.

 

My plan was, at this point, to paint; 1. The hanging Willow tree leaves a yellow/green with the visible branches a darker greenish/brown, 2.  The water details blue/green, 3. The distant Geese Black, and, 4. The Geese in the foreground brown with black head and neck with a white patch under the neck.  I found these colors on-line in photos of Migrating Geese.  You can see in the next photo of the finished cut panel that I marked the different areas the colors to be painted.  This was done for the photo.

 

In between finishing the cutting, I sanded the backer panel well with 220 and then 600 grit paper in my palm sanders.  I also applied a coat of Krylon Acrylic Gesso (basically a white primer) to the Backer and let dry thoroughly.  I lightly hand sanded the Gesso with a 220-grit sanding block to remove the coarse texture, but I still left just a little “tooth” for the Artist Acrylic Paint to attach to.

 

I affixed the cut panel to the backer temporarily with double stick tape.  I also printed additional copies of the paper pattern to use as painting masks.   With the shelf liner and pattern in place, I was able to use the Air Brush to paint the backer directly through the cut panel.   The advantage this offers is the ability to paint the vertical cut surfaces while painting the backer.  You can see in the following photo that the panel was upside down at his point.  I found I needed to rotate the panel to be able to get all the vertical cut surfaces painted.   You can also see the painting mask I had in place.   The painting masks were held in place with a Krylon product called Easy-Tack Adhesive (available at Hobby Lobby with the Mod Podge products).   I found the temporary adhesive allows the masks to be easily removed after the Air Brushing is complete without leaving adhesive residue.

 

In this next photo I’m beginning to paint the Geese brown bodies.  Again, the painting mask were in place.   Although the amount of paint needed, using an Air Brush, is very small, getting the paint through the cut panel onto the backer required a lot of spraying.  The second photo shows the completed green and brown areas.

 

In the next photo, the back side of the cut panel is on the left and the painted backer panel on the right with all the colors complete.  The little bit of white paint that got on the back side of the cut panel was because I use a brush for this very small area.  Spraying white paint on top of the white Gesso is hard to see coverage.

 

No matter how careful I am, and even though the cut panel and backer are the same size, registration seems always to get “OFF” a bit.  After separating the panels and removing the double stick tape, when I  viewed the backer through the cut panel, areas of white primers was visible.  I had to expand the paint coverage to the various areas on the backer to make sure no primer was visible. This can be seen in the next photo of the backer on the left side.  I did this directly on the backer.  Being careful I found I could use the Air Brush free hand without overlapping adjacent colors.  This pattern was very forgiving but other patterns may require more masking.

In this next photo, on the right side, the cut panel has a Sun is part of the pattern.  This could not be cut out as the Geese are flying in front of it.   To get that effect, I removed a section of the pattern and liner where the Sun is and painted it with a yellow/red color (looks tan in photo). 

With all the painting complete the panels were now ready to be glued together.

 

I used Titebond III, applied with a roller to only the back side of the cut panel, to glue the panels together.  I apply a uniform coating of glue, but not too much so squeeze-out becomes a problem.

 

I placed the cut panel on top of the backer, which is positioned on the bottom part of my home-made press, and carefully aligned the two panels.  Note the liner and pattern is still on the cut panel.  I use a piece of wax paper to ensure the press does not stick to the painted surface.

 

The top of the press is placed carefully on to the panel over the bolts and the wing nuts tightened evenly.  The assembled press is set aside, and the panel glue-up is allowed to cure for a minimum of 4 hours, but better overnight or longer.

 

After the glue has cured, I removed the assembled panel from the press.   It is only at this time that I removed the liner and pattern as can be seen in this  next photo.  As can be seen the liner and pattern prevents the paint from getting onto the surface of the cut panel, except where it was done deliberately to paint the Sun.  I must point out here that this does not work well if attempting to paint the backer using a brush.  Paint applied with a brush will bleed under the liner and pattern.  An Air Brush does not apply the paint as heavily and as wet as a paint brush does so there is no bleed under the liner.

 

After removing the liner and pattern, I lightly hand sanded the surface of the cut panel with a 220 grit sanding block just to remove any raised grain, finger marks or residue left by the liner adhesive.  At this time, I also sanded the back of the assembled panel, with 220 and 600 Grit paper in my palm sanders, to smooth it and remove any dirt or paint that may have gotten on to it.  I used my laser engraver to add my LOGO onto the back side, signed it and then applied multiple coats of a clear spray Acrylic Protective Coating to both sides of the assembled panel.  And then, as always, I mounted the finished panel in a custom-made Frame for display.

I’m not showing a photo here, so to see the finish project you will need to go to Bragging Rights: Migrating Geese

In replies to various posts I've done in Bragging Rights of projects I have shown that include color, I have received many questions about how I paint the backers.  Previously, I have addressed how I did it when painting with a brush.  However, using an Air Brush is a different and new procedure that needed to be addressed.  So, I hope some out there, who may be thinking of using an Air Brush to add color to a project, find this post helpful.  

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to teach how to add color using an Air Brush, but to simply show what I did for this project.  I’m sure there may be other, possibly better, ways to add color to an Art panel.  Any comments and or suggestions are welcome.   

 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by FrankEV

[don watson]

Another awesome project, well done, but I don't think I will do this anytime soon 

[Loskoppie]

From Barbara

Absolutely beatiful

[Rolf]

Frank, Perfect timing as I am doing a project for FC and am about to create a back panel for it using my airbrush. 

It is not as complex as what you have done. I have been debating cutting a stencil on my Cricut maker. 

Your method eliminates a lot of alignment issues.

Your end result is beautiful, I am not surprised

Edited June 16, 2023 by Rolf

[Freddie]

Frank
Thank you for taking the time to give a very thorough explanation and photographs. This is very helpful for us less experienced scrollers. 

[Joe W.]

You have elevated scroll sawing to the category of "the fine works of art".

Seriously.  Well done doesn't even come close to level of detail you put into your craft.

Thanks for the lesson.