Acrylic Reverse Paint Combinations

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Randy Simmons

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Jun 28, 2012
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Hey everyone,

I have recently started to get into doing acrylic pens. I vowed not to, and I did. I am a weak man.

I like to play around with color a lot, and I have a really pretty dark blue/black blank I would like to use. I was going to take the easy way out and paint it blue, but I was wondering what else would work.

I'd rather not KO a nice blank, so I thought I'd ask if anyone knows about reverse painting with random colors. Let's say I painted the inside white. Would I just see an ugly white bar where the tube is, or would I get a much lighter blue color?

If anyone knows what goes good, and more importantly, what looks like garbage, that would be great.

And if this leaves us scratching our heads like congressmen I will give it a whirl and post a lot of pictures :D
 
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Randy Simmons

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Ed,

I also searched for acrylic reverse painting. I didn't find the specific thread you mentioned, so thanks for that. I haven't found any "paint jobs" where the tube shows through, and I am assuming that it is something that is fairly hard to pull off.

BTW, the blank I mentioned is one that you sent me ;) I have quite the stack of exotics freebies building up, haha!
 

BSea

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I use silver more & more. But it really depends on the blank . If it's a very clear blank, your better off painting it the primary color of the blank. Based on what you describe, I think you'd be safe with a medium blue or darker. If the blank is very opaque, then silver or darker grey color should be fine too. I rarely use white. More often than not, white will make the colors less vibrant.

I can't remember where I read it, but think of the color behind the blank like you would the primer of a car. The main primer color for cars is grey, so maybe that's why silver has worked so well for me.
 

ed4copies

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Ed,

I also searched for acrylic reverse painting. I didn't find the specific thread you mentioned, so thanks for that. I haven't found any "paint jobs" where the tube shows through, and I am assuming that it is something that is fairly hard to pull off.

BTW, the blank I mentioned is one that you sent me ;) I have quite the stack of exotics freebies building up, haha!


One nice thing about freebees: If you experiment and it does NOT turn out real well, you are "out of pocket" nothing. On the other hand, if it DOES work, your profit potential from selling it is greatly enhanced!!

Enjoy and learn!!!
 

Brooks803

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Aiken, South Carolina
I'm like you. I like to play with colors. Bob was on the money with recommending silver. It typically allows the blank colors to be enhanced but not change. Unless it is a very translucent blank. White will only suck the color out of the blank and turn it pastel.

Do you have a pic of this blank? That might help us give better advice on a color option. Sliding a painted tube in and looking through a light won't work well unless you go ahead and turn the material down to an almost finished diameter. That will allow the most light through.

I myself prefer darker colors. For me it needs less coats of paint to cover well. Light paints will need up to 4-5 coats to hide the tube and glue completely.
 

brownsfn2

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Jun 23, 2011
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Plain City, OH
Really like the link that Lenny provided. Great idea.

My most common color used is Black. I usually try to match the color I want to bring out more in the blank. For Example if there is red in the blank I might reverse paint with a dark red to make it more red. I usually cut a small about off of the blank and turn it down and paint the inside to see the effect if I am unsure how it will turn out.
 

Brooks803

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Aiken, South Carolina
Here are some examples of paint choices and their effects.

Same exact blank:

Reverse painted with a light skyish blue (to match the color of the raw blank)

100_3756593x700.jpg


Reverse painted with a dark midnight blue

100_2350566x700.jpg


Another set of identical blanks:

Reverse painted with a medium blue (to match the blanks raw color)

DSC00973661x700.jpg


Reverse painted with a darker navy blue

100_2109700x667.jpg
 

Jim Burr

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Feb 23, 2010
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Reno, Nv
Another big fan of silver...but I've that stuff like Mexican Agate works better in black. One of those things where you get to say "Hmmm...what do I want to mess with today?"
 
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