Most wood carvers that I talk to, including myself, prefer for their completed and painted wood carvings still look like wood. That means that we want them to have some wood grain showing through that paint. I feel that this adds to the beauty of the wood carving. It also lets the person looking at the wood carving know immediately that it is a wood carving.
There have been times when painting my wood carvings, that I have coated the paint too heavily and it makes the finished piece look like it could possibly be made of plastic, ceramic, or some other non-wood material. The key to allowing the wood grain to show through is to use a paint wash.
Paint washes are accomplished by watering down your desired color of paint. It will take practice getting the right proportion of water to paint. I like to keep a piece of scrap wood of the same type that my project is carved in to test the paint wash. Another option that you have to test your paint wash, is to use some newspaper.
Save some old newspapers and when you are ready to test a paint wash for it transparency qualities, you can apply the paint wash directly to the newspaper. If you can see the newspaper enough to ready the print, you have a paint wash that will allow the wood grain to show up after the wood carving is completed.
