Stone Bridge Designs Collectible Chalkware

If desired, paint chalkware with a coat of white gesso as a base coat. It seals the chalkware and fills in the tiny bubble holes and surface roughness that may occur in the casting process. The gesso will be thick. DO NOT DILUTE THE GESSO. It is supposed to be thick, and diluting may cause peeling after you paint. Allow 24 hours drying time before painting.

1. Buy several thicknesses of craft paint brushes. I suggest you purchase artist brushes, as they are higher quality, and do a much better job on intricate and fine line details. Make sure you buy at least one very thin line brush for eye lining and lashes, and a dot brush for doing the iris of the eyes. The detail that you are able to do on the eyes will depend on the size of the eyes. It is much easier to add more detail to larger eyes than small ones.

2. Use acrylic craft paints, which are available in 2 oz. squeeze bottles at any craft store or Wal-mart. Start by painting the flesh color on the faces, hands, etc. Many times 2 or 3 coats of each color are necessary for proper coverage. Then paint the beard, mustache, hair, eyes, and eyebrows in white. You can add a few light grey brush strokes to the mustache, beard and eyebrows to add depth--especially around the mouth area. Paint the cheeks in a dusty rose color. After this dries, mix a little of the flesh color with water, and dab this with a brush around the edges of the rose color that you used on the cheeks. This blends the blush on the cheeks with the skin color so that it looks more natural. (If you are interested in having a more detailed santa, instead of what is often described as the "primitive" look, you can outline areas such as where the sleeves meet the coat, or the edge of the hat, between the fingers, etc. Check the chalkware photos close up to see what I mean. This lining is done last, after everything else is painted, and is done with a thin lining brush in black or very dark brown).

3. After you have the face and hair done, paint the clothing and accessories in whatever colors you like. Don't be afraid to use something other than the standard red and green for santas. The nice thing about the acrylic paints is that they can be mixed together to make just about any color you wish. Paint the fur on the hat, coat and sleeves in a white, cream, or brown shade, and use the lining brush to paint small dark brown lines in varying directions on it to show texture. You can add all kinds of accent designs to your chalkware, such as snowflakes, holly, or others. A magazine on folk art painting or a book on the topic can be very helpful to give you ideas.

4. Allow chalkware to dry for a day. Once your santa is painted to your liking, you can use a water-based antiquing finish to make the santa look old, and to mute the paint colors a little bit. I use "Folk Art Antiquing Water-Based Acrylic" in deep brown. Make sure it is a water-based one. I DO NOT use it as a rub-on and rub-off finish as it is sometimes used. I use it as a wash by diluting it with water at about 1/6 finish and 5/6 water, and then paint it over the entire painted chalkware piece. It is much easier to use this on chalkware as a wash, instead of having to rub off a very thick coat of this antiquing finish, because it is very difficult to do so evenly. This step really makes the chalkware look like an aged heirloom. I never paint a piece without this step. Give it 24 hours to dry, and then finish with a water-based, paint-on varnish in a satin finish (I like Jo Sonja's products).