Have you ever looked at all the beautifully painted furniture on Pinterest and think, that that furniture painter must have a magic paintbrush? Everything they touch seems to turn to gold. HA! Let’s be real. Right here, right now. There are times I admit there are times when it seems to flow with designs and colors. And then there was this day! *insert music from psycho here* I was so close to burning this sucker.
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Furniture Painter Block | Behind The Scenes
I’d love nothing more to tell you the step-by-step how I got to the finish line, but the truth is… I never want to rerun this race! Seriously, I went through three finishes before I settled on this one. Yep, I settled. I think most furniture artists would agree that they don’t love everything they do. We are our worst critics. I had just never been this close to literally burning a piece of furniture.
Before & After Furniture Painter
Here is my subject that I have to work with. Nothing unusual… most of the pieces I work on look a lot like this. It appears that another artist had some fun with this one. Clearly, it was time for a much-needed makeover but, the finished product still has to be right with the artist… that would be me!
First Attempt
Which was… eh, okay. It would have been better had I not during midstream decided ( the second attempt) that it needed a drippy finish and totally screwed it up. The above picture was the amended version. You can see where the paint had run, and I couldn’t fix it at that point. So, I went to bed hoping I would dream of the perfect idea. Just sleeping on it sometimes fixes everything.
Last Attempt
Well, the next morning, I was up early and anxious to fix this hot mess I had created. Color on top of color, on top of color… you get the gist. It just seemed to be getting worse, not better.
Mini-mental breakdown… I had to revert to calling my best friend for advice. Ha! A lot of good that did. She was like, “what’s wrong with it?” Gaaaah! I was so frustrated. I should have known that she wouldn’t see my vision. Furniture painters see things no one else does. We’re weird that way. They call it being “CREATIVE.” A blessing and a curse.
Extreme measures were needed here. What do you do when all else fails? You grab your electric sander and start over. This is not the way I had envisioned this piece.
Extreme Creative Measures Win
Shortly after sanding the whole piece down, it started taking on a whole new look. I liked it. I changed the green to blue and added the copper leaf to the handles. A copper gilding wax was added to the drawers as well. It had that beachy vibe.
Not too bad considering where I started. Again, the creative process wins. Does this sound like you too? If so, know that you are not alone and never quite creating and experimenting. Sometimes, happy accidents turn into masterpieces.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Now you know the good, bad and the ugly of a furniture painter’s life. 🙂
Until the next project… xo, Do
