The early pieces of tinware were decorated with oil paints and mediums. You may find it easier, however, to work with acrylic paints and mediums. Below I’ve listed tools and materials for both.
OIL PAINTS
There are many different brands of oil paints, each with a wide range of colors.
OIL-PAINT STRIPING BRUSHES
If you use oil paints, you’ll need oil-painting striping brushes. When properly dressed with the paint, these brushes leave a very fine stripe line.
Oil vs. Acrylic
These two half-sheet waiters have the same design; however, the design on the left was completed in oils, while the one on the right was done in acrylics. The two white central flowers are overpainted with yellow, vermilion, and black details. The green leaves and red berries have yellow details. A yellow stripe is around the edge of the floor, and comma strokes, dots, and a yellow stripe are around the flange. COLLECTION OF RAY AND PAT OXENFORD
QUILLS
Quills are the type of brushes that were employed by
the early decorators of tinware and are used primarily
with oil paints. Both round and flat quills are available
in many sizes. I prefer to store my quills in an enclosed
box so that they are flat when not in use. You can purchase special brush boxes at art-supply stores for this
purpose.
ACRYLIC PAINTS
Today artist acrylic paints and mediums are also available from many different companies, and here too there are many colors in both tubes and
bottles to choose from. I paint in both mediums. I have tried many different brands of acrylic paints and mediums over the years, but I prefer the
JoSonja’s products.
MEDIUMS
There are several mediums you can mix with the paints:
These are just a few of the mediums available in JoSonja’s line of products.
STAY-WET PAINT BOX
Storing the paint in use for a particular project in a stay-wet paint box
keeps it fresh for weeks. Keep the sponge moist and the lid on the box
when not in use.
WAXED PALETTE
A waxed palette is a great surface on which to mix paints and dress the
brush with paint.
BRUSHES
You need various sizes of many kinds of brushes, such as flats, rounds, filberts, liners, and stripers for different types of strokes. Whether you decide to paint with oils or acrylics, purchase good-quality brushes; your finished product is only as good as the quality of your brushes.
WATER CONTAINER
A container for water, especially when using acrylic paints, is needed to clean your brushes, and this one on the right in the picture above has had many years of use. A good way to clean the dried-on paint from your water basin is to put a few drops of dishwasher soap in the bottom of the water basin, fill to the top with water, and heat in your microwave oven for a few minutes. Dispose of the dirty paint water, and your basin will be clean again. (Do not pour it down a drain, as you can clog up the system.) The basin has ridges in the larger end to rub your brush to remove excess paint. You can also store your brushes in the holes around the top edge of the basin.
WOODEN BRUSH HOLDER
I prefer to store the brushes I am using for a project on a wooden brush holder. Ray made these holders by cutting dowel rods in half and filing grooves in which the brushes can rest.
PICK BOARD HEART
Pick boards often come in the shape of a heart and are used to remove paint from your brushes. Work soap into the bristles and then run them back and forth across the pick board to loosen the paint.
PALETTE KNIVES
Palette knives, which come in many sizes and styles, are used to mix paint colors or blend mediums into your paints.
SPRAY BOTTLE
A spray bottle is handy for misting the paint and keeping the underneath sponge or shop towels moist in the paint box so that the paints stay fresh and usable.
TINWARE
You’ll need to obtain some reproduction tinware that is unpainted or raw tin, such as this miniature document box, straight-spout coffeepot, Betty lamp, oil filler pot, candle sconce, and napkin holder. All of these pieces were made by Ray (see page 165).
You also could use hot dipped tin pieces, which are still being manufactured today, though they’re somewhat hard to find. Hot dipped tin has a wavy appearance and is elegant just left unpainted. You can see this wavy appearance on the tapered cup, candle sconce, and Betty lamp, which are just polished, with no preservative, decorations, or varnish on them. Ray made these pieces as well.
SHOP TOWELS
Blue shop towels are great for blotting your brushes. I like to cut them into smaller pieces to keep beside my palette or paint box. You can also use them in your stay-wet paint box, along with waxed paper, as described below.
WAXED PAPER To prepare your stay-wet paint box, cut several blue shop towels to fit into the box. Thoroughly wet the towels, squeeze out the excess water, and cover with a sheet of deli-wrap dry waxed paper. Fold the waxed paper around the towels, tuck in the ends, and place into your paint box.
SHEET TIN AND MAGNETS
Pieces of sheet tin in various sizes are great for preparing your tracing paper patterns. Cover the edges with tape before using. Then use small magnets to hold the tracing paper and pattern in place. These magnets can be purchased in craft stores and are usually packaged in tubes of about twenty-four.
TECHNICAL PENS
Technical pens with permanent ink are ideal for making your pattern tracings.
GLASS CLEANER
Keep a small jar of Windex or other liquid glass cleaner on hand, and dip the pen tip into it if it becomes clogged or the ink won’t flow.
TRANSFER PAPER
Transfer paper comes in both sheets and rolls. An inexpensive way to make your own is to cut out black portions of advertisements from newspapers. This works well for transferring patterns, especially onto a white or light background.
STYLUS
A stylus is a tool for tracing over the pattern lines to transfer the design onto the object to be painted. It has a fine point on one end and a somewhat heavier point on the opposite end. You could also use an old ballpoint pen that no longer has ink to trace the design, although a stylus is somewhat finer and easier to use.
SANDPAPER
Cut sheets of 600-grit, 1,200-grit, and 1,500-grit sandpaper into small squares, rounding the corners so that you do not jab them into the object while you are sanding.
DISHWASHING LIQUID
In a small plastic container, mix a drop or so of Palmolive or other dish liquid into some water, and keep it on hand for preparing your wet sandpaper.
SCRUFFY PADS
Various stiffnesses of scruffy pads (white, burgundy, and green) are also used for sanding purposes.
TACK CLOTH
A tack cloth is used to remove the paint dust after sanding each coat.
RULERS AND
MEASURING TAPE
Flexible plastic rulers and metal rulers with cork backing in various sizes are important tools for making patterns and laying out your design on an object. A cloth measuring tape is helpful when working on a round object such as a coffeepot.
PENCILS AND PENS
Drawing pencils, chalk pencils, and pens are essential for drawing, tracing, and marking.
ERASERS
Kneaded and pink pearl erasers are used for removing drawn lines
from an object.
WASTE BAGS AND PAINTER’S TAPE
Fold down the top edge of a small waste bag and attach it to your work
area with blue painter’s tape. Use it to discard paper towels used for anything that is smelly or of a hazardous nature, such as oil paints, mediums,
or turpentine. At the end of your painting session, unfold the top, squeeze
out all the air, and tightly tie or knot the top. Dispose of properly in a
metal trash can with a tight-fitting lid or a hazardous waste container. For
my waste bags, I recycle the plastic sleeves from newspapers.
VARNISH
Varnish is used as a medium with oil paints and also as a finish coat once the decoration is completed. To keep a skin from forming on the top of the varnish in the container, turn the can upside down, punch a small hole in the bottom near the edge, and insert a screw eye. To get varnish from the can, remove the screw eye, turn the can over, and allow the varnish to flow out of the hole.
VARNISH BRUSH
You need a 1- to 1½-inch flat brush to apply the varnish.
TELEPHONE BOOKS
Old telephone books make a great surface for working the varnish into the brush, as well as cleaning the varnish from the brush when you are finished.
PRIMER
Rustoleum red primer is used for the first coat of paint on all your tinware pieces, before applying the base coat that will serve as the background color.
FOAM BRUSHES
You’ll need several 1-inch foam brushes for applying the primer and base coats.
BRIDGES
Bridges in various sizes help keep your hand off the painting surface. Ray made various sizes from wood, but you can purchase commercially made bridges.
METAL CANS, SMALL PAPER CUPS, NYLON STOCKINGS, AND PLASTIC SPOONS
Recycle your metal cans, especially tomato paste and tuna fish cans, for use when painting. Small paper cups fit into the tomato paste can, to strain paint. Cut old nylon stockings into squares, stretch over the top of cup and can, secure with a rubber band, and strain your varnish or paint to remove any specks of dirt or unmixed paint. A plastic spoon is helpful for measuring paint from a can and also depressing the nylon stocking when straining paint. Recycled metal cans can also be used for storing brushes.
LIDS
Miscellaneous lids are good for holding small amounts of specially mixed colors or painting mediums. You also can use the larger lids as covers over individual oil paints that you’ve mixed with the varnish medium when painting. This helps keep your oil paint fresh longer, so that it does not dry out so quickly. A nutcracker is handy for removing paint tube caps that can be difficult to open.
ACETATE
Dura-Lar is a clear acetate that
is great for making a permanent painted pattern or
for covering a painted
pattern that is preserved on black
cardboard. Bristol
board and vellum are other types of
painting surfaces on which you can prepare
patterns or practice designs.
TRACING PAPER
Tracing paper, in a variety of sizes, is the paper of choice for making the line-drawing pattern to trace onto the object to be painted.
LIGHTBOX
A lightbox is an excellent tool that helps you see the design through the tracing paper when creating your patterns. It’s an expensive item, but if you are a serious painter, you’ll most likely invest in a lightbox. They come in a variety of sizes.
BABY OIL AND BATH OIL
Work some baby oil into your quills after they are properly cleaned to prepare them for storage. If you forgot to clean a brush properly, work some Avon Skin So Soft into the bristles. It helps soften the dried-on paint.
WIPES AND PAINTER’S SWIPES
When working with acrylics, use moist wipes such as Wet Ones to wipe off smudges of paint and clean your hands. Oops! Painter’s Swipes are good for cleaning your hands when working with oil paints.
ENAMEL PAINTS
Enamel paints called 1 Shot in black, yellow, and red are used in oil painting. They are mixed with varnish and tinted with tube oils to create the desired color, especially yellow.
LIGHTER FLUID AND COTTON SWABS
Ronsonol lighter fuel is used sparingly on a cotton swab to remove any yellow 1 Shot paint that you placed incorrectly. Use it as soon as you realize you made a mistake. Yellow enamel will leave a yellowish haze on the surface if not properly removed.
TURPENTINE OR MINERAL SPIRITS
Turpentine or mineral spirits is used to clean oil paint from your brushes or quills. Keep the cap secured tightly while not in use. I like to keep a small amount in a clear glass jar prominently marked with the contents and swish my brush in it to clean. Make sure the lid on the jar is secure when not using.
ROLCO VARNISH
Rolco is another type of varnish that can be mixed with oil paints. As with the other varnish, use a screw eye in a hole in the bottom of the inverted can to keep a skin from forming over the medium.
DRYING OVEN
I prefer to dry my tinware in a drying oven to keep it dust-free and to speed the process of drying or curing the paint. Ray and I transformed two nitrogen etching ovens into drying ovens by removing the etching equipment and converting it to electric. We use a 100-watt lightbulb for the heat source. Each oven has multiple pullout drawers and a glass door.