Paint with Me! The Nativity (Painting Mary)

[@markstucker9283]

Love the painted Mary. Thank You.

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

Glad to hear it brother! I'll have Joseph up by Monday next week at the latest.

[@whittler0507]

That is sharp looking Johnny ..Excellent paint work ..Just gives it life ..Thank you for sharing

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

@@whittler0507 Thanks Gene! Much appreciated!!

[@mikereed4876]

Johnny! I soak my carvings in mineral oil for a few minutes after I'm done, and I've noticed the same slight swelling/filling effect. I'm tried washing liberally with water after watching Van Kelly's cleaning video, but here in Arizona if you get the wood too wet it will crack as it dries out further. Thanks again for a great video. I appreciate the effort and skills you are exhibiting.

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

@mikereed4876 that's awesome mike. Remember, mineral oil is a non Polymerizing, non drying oil. So it will never cure, or harden and will just continue to seep a little until it eventually seeps out completely. Thats fine if that's what you're going for. A better option might be tung/teak oil if you're avoiding boiled linseed oil. All three of those will polymerize in/on the surface to some extent, hardening sealing, (curing/drying).

[@GiorgioMelina]

the "soak in water" is definitely a game changing for all those little imperfections left by the knife... tried on an old carving not finished with BLO or else and... wow...

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

@@GiorgioMelina Haha, yeah, when I figured out that's what some folks were doing, it felt like a game changer! 😀

[@GiorgioMelina]

@JohnnyTheLayton and also the painting technique with the water and so on... Really a nice video

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

@GiorgioMelina thanks for saying so, really appreciate it! 😀😀

[@moonwolf7135]

Still hope you consider making a video of painting your Santa

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

@@moonwolf7135 i haven't painted him yet, so there's a fair shake it'll happen.

[@tlbmusic]

Johnny, Do you offer the patterns for these pieces? I really like the simplicity of the design.

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

@tlbmusic i don't make any patterns, but i always post good photos of the finished figures on the community tab, and instagram/facebook. I don't have drawing skills to attempt to make a pattern. 😀

[@pawewyrobiec4240]

Good tip: washing! So, the order is: carving, washing, oiling (I'm using tung oil), painting? Correct?😊

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

@pawewyrobiec4240 i don't usually oil before painting. I'm still experi.w ting to find what I like, but on these carvings there was no oil prior to painting. After painting I did coat it in a BLO antiquing solution. I have a video on that solution called "Turd Polish"

[@SoufianeTahiri]

Soaking it in a glass of water would have used like 50 times less of water :)

[@JohnnyTheLayton]

@SoufianeTahiri Soaking it gets the water too deep too fast, running the water over the surface to wash away oils and swelling the outer portions is better. I do understand the thought though.