most painters i've seen use airbrushing stuff. I don't know if this help you or not but yeah. They don't ever talk about paint formulas.
well not exactly. i know some of them use airbrush but what i meant was what brand of paint they usually used. for example(boysen,dutchboy,davies,etc.) those stuffs...
First off, hopefully this in the right section. Searched for similar threads and didn't find much. So here's the low down. I got into kendama a little over six months ago. It's been amazing. I love the challenge of improving and, being a graphic designer, the different designs (shape, wood, paint, etc.). I usually tend to combine my hobbies/passions with art and design. Most recently that's been a series of skateboards I've hand painted. [board 1] [board 2] I was hoping the community could provide me with some info on how I could professionally paint/design my own kendamas. Thinking mainly about the Tama. I aim for the highest quality final product. The boards, for example, quality wood, clean paint, water/dirt/uv protective coat. So hopefully somebody can help me out! Thanks!
@pdxbaggs Your thread's title was a bit different but the topic was the same so I've merged here with a previous thread.
I'm not looking for formulas or brand names, but what are things to look for in paint? Weight of a coat? durability? Do certain woods take a certain paint? Just looking for a little guidance?
From my friends that are artists, techniques, media, and pretty much everything required to make their art are generally highly guarded secrets kind of like recipes from a chef. I don't know how much technical information you will find that doesn't move into a kind of restricted information area but I wish you good luck since I'm sure there are some DIYers out there itching to give it a go themselves.
Well that's a sad way to approach it. Half the beauty of art is sharing with others to further the art. Although, I do understand that logic to a point. If you have a something that gives you competitive advantage, you keep it secret. In situations like this, looking for generic advice, this doesn't apply. The information I'm seeking wouldn't get me close to producing anything amazing. It would, hopefully, save me a little time and money.
An interesting perspective but not one that appears to be shared by many artists. Most have expressed that they spent the time and effort to develop their technique or media and it's what is part of their originality; it wouldn't make sense to give it away. That's not to say they don't participate in classes and workshops to get people into art but those tend to be almost common knowledge or technical rather than insider secrets. I'm not an artist so I can only relate what was expressed to me. Back to the technical aspect of painting dama, I would imagine that there are resources dedicated to wood finishers and painters that have a wealth of information regarding how to paint wood properly. Perhaps that would be a good place to start. Here's something from WikiHow.
It's still a rather difficult request to ask for these companies to teach you their clear cloat. Some of the companies that actually hand paints their tama like Terra, Sweets, Roots, Sour Mash to name you a few have worked years on their specific paint formulas. You can assume they've also spent thousands of dollars on supplies and R&D. Not any one of their clear coats plays the same and that's what unique about them. Yes it takes a lot of time and money to "experiment" with a bunch of paint formulas but once you get the one you really like it's totally worth it like @htimSxelA has mentioned. Also following @goenKendama advice is great too. If you're going for an artistic perspective, maybe go for a clear coat used by wooden toys other than Kendamas (wooden toy box, wood model toys to name a few). My best example from coating is instead of seeking something like cushion clear (Sweets), go for something icy and slippery (TK16). You might be able to find your clear coat a lot quicker that way.
@Edric Owen Ladera Turns out there was an older, by 2 days, version of this thread so they're merged now so everyone can see the previous posts. Also slipped it over into The Lumber Yard since that's where the DIY stuff has been going.