Leprechaun topper

Rainy humid day, good day to stay inside and whittle. A little more done on the leprechaun today.

Got some paint on the leprechaun today.

Now that it's painted the green I chose seems kinda bright, but leprechaun's are supposed to be bright aren't they? I carved him with his hands in his pockets as I had seen on Gene Messer's video's, made it a bit easier that way. As my carving improves I'd like to carve one with a shillelagh in his hand.

Making some progress, got the staff attached to the topper, it's a rounded out of a 2x4.

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I have researched the Minwax colored wood stains. I even went to the local big box stores looking for them. Seems you can't get the colored stains in the pint container as they have to mix it to order so a quart is the least amount you can buy. Also all of it is water based. I really have no use for an entire quart as after all how many Leprechaun sticks am I going to make? I do have a ton of acrylic water based craft paints around here from my wife's past hobbies so I started experimenting last night on some scraps to see if I can achieve the results I want. Looks promising at this point. Besides if I don't like the results on the stick I can always sand it off, right?

I needed to get this Leprechaun stick finished or pretty near done before we headed out on our extended Rocky Mountain trip. It will need to be delivered a week after we get back for my aunt's 90th birthday.

Painting is done, needs polyurethane, light sanding and a wrist strap. I will use MInwax Satin Polycrylic as the finish as all the paint work is water based acrylic. This whole piece, topper and staff is made from a 2x4. I rounded out the staff then added the dings so the stick has some imperfections in it. I also diluted the staff's paint so the natural wood grain could bleed through. Progress pics to date.

Not a lime wash, Cobalt. It's water based acrylic paint thinned down to the consistency of skim milk. I wanted the natural pine wood grain to show through the paint, more of a tint than paint.

The key to the paint's pigments absorbing into the wood rather than drying on top was the sanding. Normally I sand to a 220 grit. I only sanded this staff to 100 grit so it left the wood's pores more open to absorb the paint pigments rather than have it dry on top. I think it turned out well.

After the first coat of polycrylic (water based polyurethane) I will sand to 220 to smooth out the wood grain raised by the water, then apply a second coat for the finish.

I did some research on the web about finishing. I didn't realize how much of a difference sanding to different grits makes on how much paint or stain is absorbed into the wood. Also how different woods should be sanded to different grits. Softer woods such as pines or maples require sanding to a lower (coarse) grits to help avoid blotchy finishes and harder woods need finer grits for proper finish. Every stick I make is a learning experience. That's what makes this hobby so much fun.

Mark

Leprechaun is finished. The two coats of polycrylic really make the stick pop, hope the pic does it justice.

My aunt will receive this for her 90th birthday when we return from our trip.