DeathFrog, are you using your diluted tempera in an airbrush? Have you tried a tempera/RR epoxy combo yet?
GregTate, Sorry, I just got around to reading your responses to the Design Master painting thread…you have a nice droll sense of humor. Even so, wouldn’t it be cool to have a board all fingerpainted up with your kids’ handiwork? I’d try it if I could get the tempera on thin enough. Anyway, I’m just curious if you’ve done any more experimentation with paints. I’m leaning towards trying the tempera, but am just a hair concerned about adhesion. Kind of a catch-22, no? Good adhesion, melt your blank. Don’t melt your blank, delam your glass.
Howzit Peter, If you want good adhesion with tempra paint, make a mixture of elmers glue and water that's thinned enough to use in your paint sprayer. add this to the tempra and the paint will stick really well. One of our airbrushers loves to use tempra and this is what he's been doing for years with great success.Aloha,Kokua
Expert advice as usual, Kokua. I’ll try that too. However, I think OregonPter is talking about adhesion of the glass to the board after a possibly thick layer of color is added. I’m thinking that if the color is limited in area and never consists of a band across the middle of the board where it might be likely to break because of poor glass adhesion, it would be alright.
OP, this could be a serious fashion risk, but I’m thinking about taping off the rail line and stringer then inviting the neighborhood kids in for an “art” session with tempera. If my nightmare is realized, I’ll just rise it off. If it turns out to be an impressionistic surprise, I’ll submit a photo to Swaylocks. (then rinse it?)
There is an artist in the neighborhood who uses a large frozen fish (over and over again) to make fish imprints on rice paper using tempera. 2X3 ft goes for $400. Very attractive stuff. Maybe do the same with an imprint of your favorite board shorts. On your board. If you say it’s art, it’s art.
Elmers. Of course. The lightbulb goes on. I’ll try it Kokua, thanks.
Greg: Yeah, I love the idea of group art on a surfboard. Thick residual tempera…what to do about that? Maybe have the kids paint their hands then put rice paper, or cheese cloth over the board when they make an imprint. That way the hand print would come through without leaving an excess of tempera. The frozen fish is too funny. I spent a year or so in Alaska on fishing vessels, I think a frozen idiot fish would make an excellent print…if you could get the spines to lay out flat.
The experts say not to use tempera but I’ve had good luck with spraying it. Thinning with acrylic floor finish seems to work well. If used really thick, as in fingerpainting, it might present an adhesion problem. Thinned out and used directly on the foam should be OK if allowed to dry completely.
DeathFrog, are you using your diluted tempera in an airbrush? Have you tried a tempera/RR epoxy combo yet?
haven’t tried that because I didn’t want to have to run stuff through my airbrush to get it out so it doesen’t clog up, but it did anyway and kinda killed itself in teh process of unclogging. So I need a new airbrush (the previous one was the foam ez one). But yes, I do dilute the paint alot, its somewhat thin layer, but it needs to be to get run though.
John, very cool web site for the fish. thx. We ought to be able to dream something up similar for surfboard art. As for me, I’m just an engineer and I took an oath not to be artistic when I graduated. We have our standards.
You can get the fins with the rays to stand out by placing a bit of modeling clay under the fins before you make the print. They look good on t shirts too. Mike
Howzit Greg, The store I buy my rice paper from is owned by a japanese family and they told me that a lot of people used the paper to do fish prints and then put the paper on sugi panel doors. After buying almost 100 rolls from them they make sure it's in stock for me, nothing like doing business with a small family run business. Aloha,Kokua
Kokua, I am really serious about trying to do some sort of imprint for a surfboard lam. May use a real fish like the artists (aka non-engineers) so. I’ll post with something after the holidays.