I used the blue painter's tape, but the paint still leaked under the tape:
How to paint straight edges on a textured surface
This DIY Friday post applies primarily to fine artists but people trying to paint their homes on a budget could try this as well.
Painter's tape is a wonderful invention: the different degree of tackiness it provides allows you to use it as a mask to create a crisp line without peeling paint off when you remove the tape. The newer tape labeled "for delicate surfaces" has an even lower degree of tackiness, so you can safely use it over more recently painted acrylic (The paint should still be "touch dry". You don't have to wait overnight like with the regular blue tape.)
Blue tape is an excellent tool, but...
What if you are painting over a bumpy surface? How can you be sure the paint won't ooze under the tape? My solution: Golden gloss gel medium. It is an acrylic medium that goes on cloudy but is transparent when dry. This provides an invisible, waterproof barrier that seals the edge of the tape securely to the canvas yet it also can be cleanly "broken" when you peel the tape off.
Tutorial #1:
Materials:
- Painter's blue tape (1" or 1.5" recommended) For this, use the regular blue tape, not "delicate surfaces"
- Golden soft gel gloss
- acrylic paint
- soft-bristled, nylon, "flat"-shaped brush (The brushed size will depend on the size of the surface you are covering.)
- canvas or other surface for the painted edge to go on
Step 1: After securing your regular, blue tape to the canvas (or textured wall), run your fingernail along the edge of the tape to secure it to each "hill" and "valley" on that surface.
Warning! If you skip this step and leave a bump in the tape, you get a lump of dried gloss gel later.
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| Here is the mistake. |
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| This is the result. |
Step 2: Using a soft-bristled, nylon "flat" shaped brush, load your brush with soft gel gloss (about half way up the brush.) Paint with short, slow strokes (about 3" long) along the edge of the tape line. The brush stroke direction should go along the tape line. Avoid up and down motions that would push the gel underneath the tape. The layer of gel should be smooth, not super thick.
Step 3. Let the gel dry for at least one hour. (Two hours would be better.) When the gel dries it should look glossy, but clear, like this top edge of the tape:
Step 4. After the gel dries, apply the acrylic with your clean brush. This time, your brush stroke direction does not matter. Even if you push paint up and down over the edge, the dried gel keeps the paint on top of the edge of the tape.This allows you to paint more freely, not worrying about the tape edge. In the photos below, you can see I allowed the paint strokes to gov over the tape edge.
Step 5. Wait a few minutes. Then pull the tape off slowly. Instead of pulling straight up, try to keep your tape close to the surface as you pull. You should get a clean, straight edge.
This painting (a work in progress) will soon be available on my etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaintingsByKEGilmore?ref=si_shop
For decorators or DIY home painters that want to do this on their walls, you can also try a similar technique with a possibly less archival, but also less expensive product called "mod podge", explained in a tutorial by Dana of Dana Frieling Interiors:
http://makethemwonderblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-paint-straight-lines-on-textured.html
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