"Kat Scratching" Paint Technique

Stage Three: Draw the Picture

This is the hardest bit to judge, as the base paint has to be firm and dry enough to hold a line, but soft enough to still be able to draw in. This will vary with the thickness of your paint, the weather, and the absorbency of your board. I usually give it about half an hour after smearing on the base coat before I try to start drawing.

I use a pencil and wipe off the excess on a cloth, my clothes or newspaper.

TOO WET: If the paint oozes back to fill the line in some areas, I just carefully redraw again over the same line until the line holds.

TOO DRY: If the paint has dried too much to be able to draw in with the pencil, you can try using something sharper such as a nail or awl. This can even work after the base coat is completely dry - sort of like doing a linocut or woodcut.

If you don't get around to drawing the picture before the base coat is dry - for example if you prepare a couple of boards at once and they dry quicker than you thought - you can put another layer of the base paint and start again.

Next stage > (coming soon)