I thought you all might appreciate a sneak peak at a project I'm working on. It isn't finished yet (still need to complete the drawers and install hardware), but I am ecstatic with the way the finish turned out.
This is a slightly modified version of a signed and dated American vernacular 1830 chest over drawers. This is a little later than I usually like to work, but it is a form that was used for many decades before this time so it didn't bother me too much.
The original:
The piece is pine with two coats of shop-made yellow ochre oil paint. Over top of that is a shop-made glaze containing dark brown ochre pigment, linseed oil, a bit of stand oil, and japan drier. This is made rather thick so that the brush strokes will stay and so that the glaze takes longer to dry, giving the artisan more time to move the pigment around to suit the design.
The graining decoration only took 30 minutes to execute on this large piece. I'd say it definitely improved the looks. We went from bare pine:
to ugly yellow ochre:
to this in about 3 hours of actual work (total time on the piece is about 30 so far, will have a bit more in drawer making).
I really like trying out the decorative techniques of the past. It is a nice change of pace from most of the period work that is done today.