Original painting of the guitar with your own hands

Creative people have personality. A bright, memorable image, like a gemstone cut, is able to emphasize the talent of the artist, to make him recognizable among his admirers.
Today we will talk about the unusual technology of painting the guitar and not only. Its peculiarity is that the result is completely unique, because nature creates it by spontaneous mixing of colors and shades of paint. No one will surely have a second such tool!

A few words about the technology itself

The name Swirling / Engl. Literally means twisting, swirling, circling. Designers immediately became fond of it, giving their creations incredible dynamics from endless lines.
Indeed, from the outside it seems that someone invisible hand made a storm in the bath with paint, forgetting to mix the whole multi-colored range together. And the thing is that the paint itself is on the surface, and for painting no additional tools are used - brushes, rollers, etc.
So, for a creative experiment, we need:

• Container for solution.
• Water.
• Paint (oil, PF) of several colors.
• Transparent glossy varnish.

The toolkit is as follows:

• A mixing stick for imparting a swirl to the coating.
• Masking tape (adhesive tape).
• Sandpaper.
• Brush for varnish.

Swirling painting process

1. Before preparing the solution, it is necessary to prepare the processed surface of the musical instrument itself. Remove strings, pegs and other removable parts. Separate the fretboard from the guitar deck. So it will be easier for you to immerse it in a container with a solution.
2. The surface to be trimmed must be cleaned from grease and varnish. In the case where the base color on the wood is missing, it can be pre-applied as a base. This moment is designed for the amateur, and is not a prerequisite for swirling. As you can see in the photo, the master's base color of the guitar is white. Having a basic coating, you do not need a primer. But if it is a clean tree, it must first be primed. Soil should be selected from the same chemical group as the paint.
3. All places that should remain untouched by paint must be glued with masking tape. To the deck, you can attach a semblance of a neck from a wooden lath so as not to leave fingerprints after immersion in a bath with a solution.
4. The solution for swirling is prepared from water and sodium tetraborate or boric acid, at the rate of 1 teaspoon / 1 liter of water. The proportion is checked by immersion in it of paint, which should remain on the surface. For swirling, usually 3-4 shades of paint are used. However, the rules do not exist here. The thickness of the lines can be varied by hand.
5. Slowly immersing the element in the solution, guide it along the formed colorful film, as if collecting paint on it. Remember, the technology is designed for one dive, and you will not have a second chance to create a unique picture!
6. After the painted guitar element is above the surface, shake off the rest of the solution from it and set it to dry. Drying time depends on the type of paint, usually 12-24 hours at a temperature of +20 degrees Celsius.
7. The pattern formed by the paint lines must be fixed. To do this, a transparent or amber waterproof varnish, for example, polyurethane, is suitable. They cover the entire surface of the guitar, including the back, its hidden zones.
8. The final part will be polishing the varnish surface. Some craftsmen use sharpening machines with felt circles for this. But if there is no experience in this, it is not worth the risk, since the felt heats the surface very quickly, and you need to use it very carefully. For manual polishing, sandpaper-nulevka with a grain size of 1000-2000 is suitable. After the final assembly, the tool will become a truly unique masterpiece of creativity and design!

Practical tips

• Before embarking on a Swirling-style guitar stain, get started on unnecessary pieces of plywood or wood. As soon as you fill your hand and can confidently cope with the process of painting, drying and fixing with varnish, proceed to create a masterpiece.
• The adhesion and compatibility of various types of paint, as well as their solvents, is not always suitable for this technology. Do not experiment with the nitro group of varnishes / solvents, to which water is contraindicated in principle. Try using low-cost paints in combination with reagent and water. Expensive and branded counterparts certainly will not make the surface to be treated worse.
• To obtain a perfectly finished surface, the craftsmen use closed rooms, dust-free - finishing chambers. If you doubt the final result, after painting, turn to professional painters, for example, in car repair shops, which with the help of spray guns will do this job perfectly.

Swirling is still trending today. He is interested in web designers, furniture makers, artists and makers of glass and fabric. However, this method of decoration is perfect for the restoration of an old guitar, which left scratches, chips or unwanted inscriptions. A complete update will give her a second life, allowing everyone to also delight with the unique sound of everyone around.