Airbrushing my Birger Sandzen-Inspired Carving for the Tilt-Front Laptop Computer Desk

I’m in the midst of finishing up a project I have really enjoyed. Sure, it has taken me two times the hours I bid, but I am happy with the result. Actually, it has come out better than I expected, which is always a nice surprise.

This is a functional-art piece I wish I wasn’t selling, to be honest. But, I have already spent all of the down payment. So, giving the money back is not possible, so the customer will get her desk.

There have been a few pieces I wish I could have kept over the years, this will be one of them. This customer has several that I wish I could keep, so that is good, and she lives only a mile away, and takes good care of the things for me.

In carving this picture, I knew that I was trying to show a style that reminds people of the work of the Kansas Artist, the Late-Birger Sandzen. His work was wild in color, thick in texture, and very busy in layout. So, if you see those things in my carving, I have succeeded.

To add some contrast to the picture, and to make it look like I want it to, I am going to airbrush a darker tint on certain aspects of the carving. To some carvers, this will be almost like torture, but this is my art, and I do what I want. Even my wife couldn’t talk me out of it this morning, so you probably won’t either.

Here is the Airbrush Rig I have. It is an Badger Anthem 155. I bought the accessory Hose Kit, and added my own Regulator, and In-line Air Filter. The whole rig is about $100.00 US. I just hook this rig up to my air line coming from shop compressor, a 30 gallon tank model I think. I could buy the small oil-less airbrush compressor, but I don’t like listening to them run, so I use my old shop compressor for the air source. My shop compressor is not “oil-less”, so the inline air filter traps all of the drops of oil that would otherwise make it to the airbrush tip.

I airbrush with the pressure regulator reading anywhere from 15-35 psig. I change the pressure a little, depending on what I am doing. If I want fine sharp detail, with little overspray, I turn the pressure down. If I want a wider, heavier spray, I turn it up.

I bought my Badger through the cheapest place I could find it on the internet, and it turned out to be the same place my friend bought hers also.

This source is Dixie Art in New Orleans, LA. Here is the link: http://www.dixieart.com/Badger_155_Anthem_General_Purpose_Airbrush.html

Dixie Art pays me nothing for the plug, just telling the truth.

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To have a tint to spray, I choose to use lacquer tinted to the color I want to use. In this case, I am working in Birch, trying to match an old set of existing cabinets with a yellowed finish. My first step was to take the old sample door, and some new scraps to my local Sherwin-Williams store, and had them mix up a gallon of wood stain to match the color. I am not going to put the stain on the raw wood, that would be a mess, since Birch Blotches so bad when staining. Also, it wouldn’t look like an old yellowed finish if I was staining the wood. So, the key is to stain the Finish, and spray the yellowed finish. I degress from my Airbrush project, but I wanted to give you some background into why the wood is so yellow in color.

Here is a tint kit I bought through Mohawk on the internet. I use it to make any color oil based paint, stain, or finish I want. I tried once to tint Acrylic paint, but it didn’t work for that. This kit is very handy to have around the shop for sure. I didn’t use this tint kit in this project since I let Sherwin-Williams do the hard work of mixing the yellowed finish tint. Many times I have used the Tint Kit, so I am showing it here.

Neither Mohawk, or Sherwin-Williams pays anything for this plug, but I’m willing take some cash, if they contact me. I have a paypal account we can use! ha.

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Here is a photo showing the difference in using the tinted yellowed lacquer to build a finish that matches the existing cabinets.

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Here is a shot of what I am using in the airbrush. I started out with thinned Deft Satin Lacquer, about 40% thinner, 60% Lacquer (I don’t measure it exactly). Added about 6 ounces of the Sherwin Williams Stain to the gallon of thinned Satin Lacquer, you see that in the old Watco Lacquer Can.

Then, in the glass jar, you can see the final tinted lacquer after I have mixed in some Minwax Dark Walnut Stain to the yellowed Lacquer. I add some more Lacquer Thinner to get the consistency I need for the airbrush. I don’t know how much, I just wing it, and hold up the stir stick and judge how fast it runs off whether I need more thinner. If the airbrush clogs up, I remix with some more thinner. Simple huh?

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Ok, now that the tint is mixed, and the solution has been poured into the syphon cup on the Airbrush and it is time to get to work. There are always some stomach “butterflies” at this point, but I press through the fear. Afterall, I could just stop and carve a new panel if I really messed it up.

It did take me about an hour to clean up the airbrush so it would work, as I didn’t clean it well enough the last time I used it. Don’t make that mistake. Another reason why I don’t do Video, it would be pretty boring watching me brush and clean the airbrush parts.

I start by darkening some things, like tree trunks, and shadows, to get a feel for the tint, and how it will work on the carving. Remember, since I am spraying tinted lacquer onto tinted lacquer, it will melt in, and combine into one color. It does not layer, like paint does. Lacquer melts into the lower layers, so the end result, is a darker tint. Often, it looks a little different after a few hours of letting it all melt together. I have scared myself in the past, thinking that I really messed up, only to find that the melting process saved me when I checked the work the next morning.

To stop this melting process, I have also sprayed a coat of Shellac. That allows me to put a new tint on top, and it won’t melt into the lower layers. I did not use Shellac on this carved panel.

To get the stone mortar to darken up some, I just spray on the tinted lacquer, and quickly wipe it off with my finger. This removes the dark tint from the surface, but lets it sit in the cut lines. After that has time to sit a few minutes, I go back and shadow in the whole wall, keeping in mind where my Sun is in this picture that is looking to the West.

Sorry about the bald head, blame my parents.

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Another more close detail photo.

The Badger Anthem Airbrush sprays by pushing down on the finger button, and pulling it backward gently. The more it is pulled backward, the more spray comes out, and the wider the pattern that is sprayed. This does not work like a normal spray gun, where I just pull the trigger, and adjust the pattern with a knob.

With this push/pull back button, I can spray from a gentle mist, to a fairly sharp line. It takes some practice, as it is hard to get used to, but after a few hours, the feeling is natural, and it is sort of like riding a bike, it just comes back each time I use it. I’m not expert, and the more artistic a person is, the better they can use this tool. Also, using cut masks is a good way to paint, such as layering on clouds, or grass. I decided not to use the tint, as paint, only as contrast, as it was just my choice in this case.

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Here is a photo showing the carving in it’s raw Birch wood.

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Here is a photo showing the Yellowed Tinted Lacquer on the carving

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Here is a photo showing the final work, after the Airbrush work.

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Another shot, with the background blacked out.

Unit Installed at the Client’s home:

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If you would like to read more about this project, please see the following blogs:
1) http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/decoustudio/blog/2148
2) http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/decoustudio/blog/2101
3) http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/decoustudio/blog/2169

Side Note:
If you like the hammered Copper Finger Pull on the door, I hope you will come back and read how I made that myself.

But, that is information for another Blog http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/decoustudio/blog/2169

Now, you can see why my projects take me so long to complete!

thanks for reading,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com

(This writing, photos, drawings, design, and sketches, are copyrighted by M.A. DeCou 10-12-2007, any use of this material is restricted without the express written authorization of the Author. Thanks for your help.)

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com