SEALING YOUR SURFACE

There are many great sealers on today's market; however, not all of these sealers that were designed to seal wood work with my technique.

In order to be able to take full advantage of the method I have developed for shading and highlighting, the application of water-based wood sealer is just as important as having the right blender. Multi-Purpose and All-Purpose sealers are wonderful products, but these products seal the wood so well, that water cannot penetrate through the surface of the wood. It is like painting on metal instead of wood. This might be great for some methods of painting. However, my method of shading and highlighting requires a longer amount of open time in order to soften the shading and highlighting colors that have been applied.

One (1) smooth and even application of waterbased wood sealer is truly the only acceptable sealer that I personally have found on the market that works without failing for my method of shading and highlighting. Be sure to apply only 1 thin, even coat to insure that the wood grain is not raised during the painting of the project. Applying a very heavy application or applying the sealer twice, makes the surface so smooth it is like painting on glass and again this will not work with my method of trying to shade and highlight with blenders. After the sealer has dried completely, sand lightly with fine sand paper; then, apply a stained background or a basecoated background - what ever the design requires.

Using a wood sealer that is not water-based can cause a multitude of problems while working on your project. If the surface to be painted is not wood, I recommend DecoArt Multi-Purpose Sealer.