Hand-painting a pedal

[winnetouch]

Hi,

I'm planning on hand-painting an enclosure and I'm planning to go all out. I've got my sketch ready and everything laid out. Now I just have to wait for my parts to arrive.  I ordered a powder-coated enclosure. In hindsight that was probably a bad idea. I'm going to use Graph'it Shake markers (something like posca I am told) to illustrate the design.

Do I need to prep the enclosure first? Sand it down?

And does anyone have experience with hand painting? How do you transfer your design / sketch to the pedal to minimize any mistakes? I was thinking of something like carbon paper but that's a lot of hassle. Is there any easier way to transfer my sketch?

[vigilante397]

I'm mostly following because I'm expecting pictures of hand-painted pedals Painting over a powdercoat may be fine depending on the powdercoat, but it really comes down to what that specific paint will adhere to. Some powdercoats have a clearcoat-like finish that some paint may not stick well to, so my advice would be to try a little paint on the bottom plate to see how it sticks before committing to it on the top.

I only tried paint markers on my very first pedal, and I quickly realized that in order to make it look good actual artistic talent may be necessary

Good luck, and definitely post pics

[Mark Hammer]

Sharpie makes some oil-based paint pens in many colors, that go down to very fine tips.  I picked up a few the other day, to compensate for the white rub-on lettering I'm starting to run out of.  I imagine they'll still need a few coats of clearcoat to be resilient in use, plus an enclosure wipe-down with alcohol prior to application, but for the money a very good resource for first-timers.

[garcho]

^ I've been using those for years, they're great. Molotov makes great acrylic markers, too.

You'll need to experiment like Nathan said. Some clear coat can dissolve what you just painted, or make the edges bleed. No clear coat, and the paint will rub off after a couple years.

When I do it, I put another dummy enclosure right next to it to rest my hand on, so it's more like marking up a piece of flat paper.

Keep alcohol handy to clean things up, and don't be afraid to wipe it off and start over. You're putting significant effort into something you'll have for years, might as a well make it look how you want. While you're experimenting and testing (use the bottom plate as a way to test these things), try making a mark, then wiping it off with alcohol and seeing what happens. Some ink will smear and dry quickly, you have to be careful with that or you'll see "ghost" color unless you sand everything all off, so don't be afraid to use a liberal amount o alcohol. And double check that it's not ruining the finish of the powder coat.

As far as transferring images for you to paint over, I would say let that idea go. Whatever ink ends up on the enclosure to guide you might just end up messing with your paint. I draw mine out exactly how I want it to be to scale on paper and have that right next to me and the enclosure while I'm painting. Remember to plan it out with the knobs on. They often take up more space than I think when I'm looking at the bare enclosure and imagining a layout.

[Mark Hammer]

Perhaps they make other kinds, but the Molotow ones I saw at the art-supply place the other day were acrylic-based, which may be less hardy.  They DO go down to 1mm tips, although they didn't have any in stock when I went.  The Sharpies (which did have 1mm in stock, though not quite the range of colours) were $3.99CAD, while the Molotows were something like $7.99CAD.  The price differential may not be as wide elsewhere as they were in that store, and not having bought any, I can't speak to how easy they were to work with or how quickly they dry up.

[bluebunny]

If you're lucky, Jon Patton will see this and have some advice.  He famously hand-paints his pedals.  You might be able to search for some of his posts ("midwayfair").

[iainpunk]

Perhaps they make other kinds, but the Molotow ones I saw at the art-supply place the other day were acrylic-based, which may be less hardy.  They DO go down to 1mm tips, although they didn't have any in stock when I went.  The Sharpies (which did have 1mm in stock, though not quite the range of colours) were $3.99CAD, while the Molotows were something like $7.99CAD.  The price differential may not be as wide elsewhere as they were in that store, and not having bought any, I can't speak to how easy they were to work with or how quickly they dry up.

my local art supply store has the Molotow pens for 3 euro, and sharpie for 5.
probably because Molotow are made in Germany, and Sharpie in the USA, and the Netherlands is right next to Germany.
in my experience, Molotow lasts quite long, even out in the elements (graffiti) it can last a few years before starting to look bad. sharpie is faded withing months. also, Molotow has a huge array of tip sizes, from 1mm to 60mm.

cheers

[garcho]

^ and way more colors

[merlinb]

A way to transfer anything (or at least guide lines) is to trace the design in mirror image onto tracing paper (kitchen greasproof paper will do) using a very soft pencil. Then you can flip it over and scribble on the back like a brass rubbing, which will transfer the graphite drawing onto the object.

[davent]

Sharpies are dye based, Molotov's are pigment based, pigment based is going to win every time. Compare a Sharpie 'black' to a pigment marker 'black' and the Sharpie is dark blue not black.

https://cowans.org/blogs/cowans-art-knowledge-know-how/artists-inks-pigemnt-vs-dye

[winnetouch]

Wow!

I posted this hoping to get AN answer. This is awesome. Thanks for all the tips. My first plan was to use Sharpies because they are oil-based but I couldn't source them locally in Slovenia and shipping is too expensive to justify an experiment for hand-painted pedals. Our stores only started supplying Sharpies recently and even then they usually only have the plain ol' Sharpies. Drawing talent is not a problem. I've got that in spades . Thanks again, guys.

I'll definitely post the finished pedal but because of the lockdown we are experiencing in Slovenia shipping is taking a bit longer.

[anotherjim]

How are those fine tip acrylic pens, especially white, for producing text? Given your hand/eye is up to the job? I tried an art acrylic paint pen from stationers just for marking up polarities and even thread-locking. It's yellow and not all that opaque. I'd have got a white one, but of course, that was out of stock. The fibre tip wasn't all that fine and it's now shredded and fluffy. I can't remember the brand, but it wasn't cheap. Some artist must be rich! You see demos of them using bunches of the things.
I hadn't heard of the Molotow brand. They are cheaper than the one I found before, so thanks for the tip!

[Mark Hammer]

Sharpies are dye based, Molotov's are pigment based, pigment based is going to win every time. Compare a Sharpie 'black' to a pigment marker 'black' and the Sharpie is dark blue not black.

https://cowans.org/blogs/cowans-art-knowledge-know-how/artists-inks-pigemnt-vs-dye

Are you talking about the Sharpie paint pens or the Sharpie markers?  The ones I got are oil-based.  When I think acrylic, I usually think water-soluble.  Am I confusing those markers with house paint?

[davent]

Sharpies are dye based, Molotov's are pigment based, pigment based is going to win every time. Compare a Sharpie 'black' to a pigment marker 'black' and the Sharpie is dark blue not black.

https://cowans.org/blogs/cowans-art-knowledge-know-how/artists-inks-pigemnt-vs-dye

Are you talking about the Sharpie paint pens or the Sharpie markers?  The ones I got are oil-based.  When I think acrylic, I usually think water-soluble.  Am I confusing those markers with house paint?

When i hear Sharpie, and most other's i'm sure would think of the classic, ubiquitous grey/black Sharpie marker.

The paint pen, from the Sharpie site states the oil based paint pens are loaded with ink, inks can be dye or pigment based, i've yet to dredge up anything that clarifies what the ink is in the Sharpies but i'm not inclined to be optimistic.

Product Details
Description
The opaque ink of Sharpie® Oil-Based Paint Markers is perfect for creating scrapbooks, posters, and window art

Features
Dries in minutes, resists fading and smearing.
Oil-based markers are permanent, AP-certified
Works on virtually any surface - metal, pottery, wood, rubber, glass, plastic, stone, and more
Paint markers resist water damage, fading, and abrasion

https://www.sharpie.com/markers/art/oil-based-paint/SHOilBasedPaintAquaFine.html

From Molotow's website and i'm using Mootow only because they've already been mentioned (and translated from German), there are others brands;

Q: Why to shake well a can or a pump-marker?

A: MOLOTOW™ is the only brand that ensures four times ground car pigments. To obtain the full color brilliance and opacity, this high pigmentation formula requires a well mixing. Simply shake the can and strike it against your hand – that may help to loosen the pigments sedimented on the can's ground.



Q: Paint Qualities: What does 4 times ground pigments mean?

A: Car pigments are stronger and grant higher opacity than conventional pigments. For this reason, the pigments need to be ground several times in order to facilitate the best color brilliance and opacity.


https://www.molotow.com/en/company/faq#:~:text=As%20our%20paint%20is%20highly,Have%20fun!

dave

edit;  Posca uses water based Acrylic paint.

https://www.poscausa.com/faq/
https://www.posca.com/en-uk/support/metals/

[eh la bas ma]

Hello,

If you don't want to spend your money on fancy markers and pencils, it's possible to use acrylic paint with various paintbrushes. Moreover there is unlimited possibilities to mix various materials (pieces of plastic or tin cans...) and incorporate it on enclosures. Here are some of my best exemples :


I always apply a white coating at first, and a fair amount of varnish in the end, to make the paint more resistant. It's working great and gives a warmer feeling, in my opinion. Usually, I spend 2 or 3 hours to build the circuit, and the whole night doing the painting !

[davent]

Hello,

If you don't want to spend your money on fancy markers and pencils, it's possible to use acrylic paint with various paintbrushes. Moreover there is unlimited possibilities to mix various materials (pieces of plastic or tin cans...) and incorporate it on enclosures. Here are some of my best exemples :


I always apply a white coating at first, and a fair amount of varnish in the end, to make the paint more resistant. It's working great and gives a warmer feeling, in my opinion.

Looks good, that's my approach as well!
dave

[winnetouch]

Well...

I'm definitely going with a brush and paint next time. The markers are just too inaccurate. Varying line weight is pretty much out of the question with markers .

[bluebunny]

Looks pretty good from where I'm sat. 

[snk]

It looks nice indeed, well done!

[winnetouch]

Meh... I don't know. I'm an illustrator by trade and those messy lines just bug me . I'll try to touch them up a bit .