Folk Art Arty Hints, Tips & Idea's


Folk & Decorative Artists Society of New Zealand - Email Address

This is a forum for us to share our ideas and techniques. This will help us grow as artists. Depending on our climate you may have to vary this solution to a sometimes-tricky problem. If you have any tip or ideas for this page please e-mail us

Tracey Sims Sunshine Coast FDA

If you are having trouble varnishing in the hot weather try keeping your varnish in the fridge.

Linda Bennett  FDA Guild (Canterbury)NZ  

When painting drawer units decorate the sides of the drawers so that when they are pulled out there is a  hidden surprise revealed.

When decorating a Bed Head, take into account the height of the pillows and bedding. You don’t want to obscure you beautiful artwork.

When painting recycled furniture it is not necessary to remove all the old colour or varnish, as long as you obtain a clean Matt surface to which your new paint can adhere.

Sherry S Nelson Renowned wildlife painter- via DFAQ Newsletter

3Tips for painting feathers:

Make sure the feathers follow the contour of the bird’s body.

Long brush strokes will make the feathers look hairy. Use shorter strokes to create a soft & fluffy effect.

Pay attention to how feather length and growth direction change within different parts of the birds body. For example, crest feathers are naturally longer and so will require longer brush strokes.

Sue Nelson- Via DFAQ Newsletter

When you have left over paints on your palette simply scrape into a jar all the reds, browns, yellows, & black for a red tone paint, yellows, greens, blues & black for a green tone paint and so on .

Mary Joass -Auckland

Instead of base coating fully the back of your piece before you paint on the design at the front. Paint on one coat only of the basecoat, proceed with project, when completed, using a 1” basecoat brush and slip slap on any remaining colours from your palette, spread them out a bit with the brush then lightly blend with a mop brush. You will have a back that is in Harmony with the front and have not wasted the remains. This is also great for the insides of boxes.

Friends Through Folk Art- Great Tips

Getting rid of smells in boxes: For painting on Cigar boxes, place crumpled newspaper in the box for a few days to remove most of the smell. Then put in potpourri. Or for strong damp smells try kitty litter leave for several days. (This tip came from the daughter of a man who restores old musical instruments)

If a flower appears dull looking, try adding some yellow to the light values. It not only makes the flower look more alive, but it gives the flower petals dimension and movement.

From Friends through Folk Art Guild: -

Fabric painting: - glue a sheet of super fine grit sandpaper onto stiff cardboard. Place this cardboard under your fabric you are painting on. The sandpaper keeps the fabric in place and can also be cleaned off very easily.

When you have painted a hinge box and find the lid won’t close all the way take index cards and put between the lid and the box and close the lid. This will stretch the hinge.

Place a dishwashing sponge on an angle in your water tub, so that part of it is in the air above the tub. When ready to float, blot your brush on the exposed part of the sponge. If your brush drags or breaks stroke, just ‘kiss’ the exposed part of the sponge, which will automatically pick up just the right of moisture for the brush. (You’ll never have a problem floating again). To clean the brush, stroke the brush on the sponge beneath the water. This is gentler than the hard ridges at the bottom of the tubs and therefore much kinder to your brushes.

When tracing designs onto your pieces use a different coloured pen/pencil so that you know where you are up to. (Remember to have a sharpener handy to keep the line sharp).

Another suggestion is to use wax paper on top of the pattern. This will leave a mark on the wax paper.

Here is a handy hint when you don’t want the dark lines of grey or blue graphite paper when transferring a design on to a white or light surface use white graphite paper. After transferring the design simply wipe your hand across any nearby dusty surface (we painters must have loads of it). Lightly rub the dust back over the white lines and they will become clearly visible. For those who are in dust free households (lucky people) use any gold bronzing powder and do the same thing.

When masking to paint a border, paint over the masking tape in the base colour where the tape joins the surface, then paint your border colour.

If you are painting the border onto a clear surface, e.g. wood grain, simply use sealer or clear glaze medium instead of a base coat.

From the Sunshine Coast D&FAA Inc

1. For an interesting blue: - Mix a touch of vermilion with Ultra Blue deep. Because orange and a blue are complimentary colours, by adding the touch of orange to the blue , you will tone down or ‘grey’ the Ultra Blue Deep. (Gloria Smithwick).

1. To create a lighter, brighter Silver, add PEARL White to the Silver. -(Megan Bice)

2. For a beautiful soft metallic green, mix Cobalt Blue Hue with either rich or Pale Gold (Megan Bice)

3. A lovely Olive Green, mix a touch of Black with Yellow light. Add more black for a darker green or more yellow light for a brighter, lighter green. (Susanne Barrett)

From Jan Cammilleri (Central Coast FDAA)
Worn out cotton sports socks make great mini sleeves to wipe your brushes on when painting. Just cut the toes out and slip onto your left arm.

From Val Hobart (Folk & Decorative Artists Assn of Australia).
Use a microwave shelf and safety pins to hang small items from to dry when painting or lacquering or a 3 tier cake rack also does a great job.

From country & Outback Folk & Decorative Assn Australia.
If you have to soak a brush put it in a babies bottle with the handle inserted through the holes in the teat. Make sure the brush is not touching the bottom when suspended. An alternative is to roll Blue Tac into a snake, wrap to around your brush leaving a tail to attach it to your water jar.

Metalware – Preparation and basecoating.
It is my policy to always clean and prepare any piece of metalware in the following fashion. Sand down with a wire brush to get rid of surface rust if it is old then wash in a solution of warm water and vinegar. If it is new just wash in the water and vinegar solution. Dry thoroughly. Prime with a good rust proof and preventative product regardless of its age and condition. The one I use you can be applied with you’re a normal basecoating brush and washed up in water. Seal the metal with a smooth coat of ‘Jo Sonja’s All Purpose Sealer’. You can never be sure you have totally eliminated the risk of rust but if you do the way I’ve suggested you have done your best.

Basecoating metalware
It is very hard to get a good tooth on such a smooth article and yet still get a smooth basecoat. Metal unlike wood transfers temperature very fast, thus base coating a large tray or such like in a warm room thus the metal would warm up then the warmth would be transferred to the paint very quickly. It would be easy think that all we need to do is add a little ‘Jo Sonja Antiquing & Retarder’ medium to the basecoat but that dilutes the binder in the paint then reducing the chances of it adhering permanently. David Jansen suggests mix equal amounts of basecoat and ‘Jo Sonja All purpose Sealer’ and apply with a large brush in the cool part of the day. Don’t worry about streaks at this stage. Fast cure this coat with a hairdryer then wet sand with 4oo wet sandpaper. Now you have a very tough smooth basecoat, give it another coat this time use equal amounts of paint and ‘Jo Sonja Retarder & Antiquing’ medium. This will take longer to dry and the brush marks will level out and cover your previous streaky coat.

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