Paint design lay out ?

[Stick Bender]

Hi guys  I was wondering what you guys use for laying out your paint designs , I'm looking for some type of maker/ pencil that will mark on sinew but erasable  if you don't like the design, plus that can be painted over  figured I would ask you bow artist  for a answer VS going to the art store ,I was just going to stain & seal this bow but after looking at all the nice paint lately figured I would give it a shot ?

[ajooter]

I do all my stuff free hand with paint markers for bow but I'd like to try using a brush and antiquing the finish at some point.  Some of the earth pigments Simon uses look great. You can always use a painters tape and leap frog it up the limb as you go.  I've done that on occasion when I use aerosols.

[PlanB]

More important then the pencil is the eraser. Get a kneadable eraser at an art store You can remove just about anything with that kind of eraser, and you can knead it into a sharp point for removing a tiny spot.

A soft pencil like a 6B will be easy to draw with and erase on just about anything. Hard pencils ca dent and scratch a line making it harder to remove. Light pressure if you use those. You can go over the dwg. with the eraser lightly before painting to reduce graphite pickup by light color paints. Hard pencil gets less pickup -- personal choice either way.

[Stick Bender]

Thanks great info I can wood carve & sculpt ok but very weak in drawing /painting I appreciate the help!  I have some indian designs in mind but might take a few trys.

[bradsmith2010]

I would gesso the back and lightly sand till smooth
draw with a pencil,,
if you don't like it,, erase or lightly gesso over it and try again
if you want an ochre tone,, put ochre in the gesso,, or any color you want the background to be,,
then finish over with any varnish or spray that is compatible with the acrylic,, since it is sinew,, I would then put a heavy layer of poly over that,,in addition to what you sealed the acrylic with..
if there is a glaze of hide glue,,,, then use a test piece of wood with the same glaze to see what works best to seal that,,,,
once sealed,, then poly over that,,
archival art varnish will seal most anything without damaging it,,then you can poly over that,,
but if in doubt ,, always best to try on a test piece,,

[Dakota Kid]

There's a temporary grease pencil for laying out measure mark when installing vinyl graphics. They are made by stabilo and come in several colors. I'd stay away from the blue. It can leave a stain if left on more than an hour. 

[George Tsoukalas]

Well, I'm not an artist so I'd listen to someone like Brad who is. Jawge

[mullet]

I did my last one with primitive paints and pounded bamboo brushes. That's why it looked kinda ugly.

[simson]

I do a rough pencil draw, just a few lines for orientation. Then I go with paint out of earth pigments + hide glue.