painting light colours over dark

[godfather]

I painted a banner in blue oils, sealed with dull coat then traced a design on the banner. I wanted to paint it white but found that even ivory mixed with a bit of light grey acrylics did not cover very well and streaked when dried furthermore the paint was building up too much. I was using pointed brushs 0, 00 so coverarge was fairly difficlut when compared to a flat brush but I did not want to paint over the lines into the blue. Any suggestions?

 

[Paul Kernan]

Just a thought. Instead of using acrylics you could try using an enamel such as Humbrol. Dilute the paint and apply as a series of glazes. Once the form is established you could go over it with oil paint to give it a little more opacity. Try this on a scrap piece first and see how it looks.

 

[Sambaman]

I'm with Paul, it sounds like you were trying to get the coverage too quickly and using paint that was too thick. I would do as he suggested and either thin down your acrylics or enamels quite thin and build them up slowly and smoothly. I'm the worst about rushing in and trying to finish it as soon as possible. But this is a case where patients is a must.

Jay H.
OKC

 

[jimias]

I am a great fan of oils and many times i have faced the same problem.I found that it is more wise to paint the light color portions first and then the darker ones as acrylic colors dont seem to adhere to oil color surface and dont cover them well, tending to built up in some spots.For your current problem i would use thinned enamel with respect to the drying time between layers.Dont try to achieve an even full coverage at once.

 

[PJ Deluhery]

I agree with the above advice.

I have run into this problem with heraldry, and I find the easiest thing for me to do is to draw the design/crest onto the primer, then paint the background color around it. That way you don't have to worry about overcoming a dark color with a lighter one. Once the design/crest is done, I fill in the background where needed. Requires a bit of planning but in the end it's easier.

 

[A.Hopwood]

Hi, just thought I'd add my penny's worth.
If you want to paint acrylcis over oils, then dilute the first coat of acrylics with Isopropyl Alcohol. This stops it beading on the oily surface.
Then you can add subsequent coats of acrylics diluted with water.
I'd agree though with what was said in the answers above. You're possibly trying to paint with too much pigment, rather than adding several heavily thinned coats to build up to a solid colour gradually.
Also, just one last thought. Different colours have different pigment density. Some brand's of pale colours will provide a better coverage than others.
The enamels might well prove to be a good suggestion too.
Hope that this helps.
Adrian

 

[godfather]

Thanks for all your suggestions! ANother related question does painting a specific undercoat help? E.G. raw umber then paint the yellow or red?