I don't think it's very surprising to say that many available wood finishes wind up in the 'boring' category of brown. Don't get me wrong - earth tones have their place, but artwork is supposed to be expressive. This week in the shop, I've been playing with a few wilder options to strike that balance between widely acceptable and funky.
Having tried all sorts of finishes over my life, I've found that each has it's strengths and weaknesses. Water base has a wide variety of colors and is simple to clean, but tends to pop the grain too aggressively. Oils come in many healthy shades, so long as it's brown. The dry time is not to be taken lightly either. Hard oils are relatively newer for me, and have a lot of great properties, but the monotone strikes again.
This week I experimented with some pigmentation and some custom blends to see if it was at first possible, and then to what extent a custom color could look like. Magenta was left over from a custom Halo prop and the blue from some early resin tests. Also laying around were some mica and pearlescent white pigments. There may be some expanded possibilities if the finish remains durable and colorfast. Follow-up with results is in the works.
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