wood painting - The woodgrain is its own design

Gather unto you some supplies:  

• Untreated wood  
• Oil Paint  
• Rags
• Terpenoid   

Consider for easy cleanup:  

• Plastic Sheeting  
• Disposable Tablecloth  
• Dish Liquid  
• Disposable Gloves  
• A smock, apron, or grubbies   

Time of work: From 30 minutes to a few hours 

Time from start to finish: 1 week (because of drying time) 

Any piece of wood that hasn’t been treated or finished will provide a canvas. 

My favorite place to gather untreated wood for art projects is construction sites or hiking in the woods. You can also buy a plank of untreated wood, such as fir or pine, at your local home improvement store, and either ask the staff to cut it into pieces for you, or cut it into pieces yourself.  

For this project I found an inexpensive crate at a craft store. The photo gallery below shows a variety of results using different sources of untreated wood. 

I’m using oil paints for this, with some colorless odorless terpenoid and a t-shirt rag.  

1.  Wet the surface of the wood with terpenoid using a brush or a rag

2.  Squeeze some oil paint from the tube directly onto the wood.  

3.  Rub the paint into the wood the fabric. Rubbing the paint into the wood forces the pigment into the woodgrain. 

Tip: You can mix paint on the surface of the wood as you would mix paint on a pallet, creating intersting color shifts.

4.  When you’re happy with your creation, take a fresh piece of fabric and take a swipe across the entire surface to remove any excess paint.  

Tip: Depending on the piece of wood you're working with, you might create more interest by wiping off some, but not all, of the excess paint. 

5.  Let the piece dry. With oil paint, it can take several days for the paint to set.

Tip: If you’re happy with a bit of sheen, you can use Galkyd in your paint to shorten the curing period, or you can paint a layer of Galkyd across the surface when you’re finished. 

If you want to hang your piece, you can use any of a multitude of hanging kits. I’m happy to drill two screws in the top of the piece and use twine for the hanger. For long pieces, I wrap some copper wire around the ends and hang it from the center of the wire. There are a multitude of inexpensive hanging kits available to choose from.