A product called acrylic medium or polymer medium is used to thin paints for brushing and spraying. It is available in both gloss and matt finish. Either works well.
Supplies of this type are available from arts & crafts stores such as Michaels.
This type of tool is rarely needed in clock work since most of the faux finishes were rosewood.
The grain on clock cases tends to be a long straight grain instead of the wavy or arrowhead shaped grain often seen on walnut veneers.
Digital photos that can be enlarged to full size and printed are very helpful.
Make sure the colors in the photo are relatively accurate. Here the photo is being held up to the side of the actual case to compare colors.
Interestingly, a thin sheet of veneer (from some non-exotic wood) is often applied to the wood case before faux painting.
It may be that these panels were painted in mass prior to installation on the clock cases.
The case here had damage to the base veneer and a new piece was cut and installed. Dings along the top of the case were filled with a wood filler product.
Once needed repairs are completed, the panel should be sanded smooth.
Primer/Sealer: The base wood should be sealed and primed prior to beginning faux finishing. A flat eggshell colored alkyd enamel works well for this.
The primer is sanded smooth once cured.
If imperfections remain they can be repaired at this time.
Don't worry if some of the underlying wood "peaks" through the primer.
The freshly mixed paint is brushed over the eggshell primer to provide the base color for the wood finish.
In is not necessary (or advisable) to try to produce a
perfectly even finish with the yellow ocher. Brushing along the length of
the wood will leave brush strokes and light/dark areas that begin to establish a grain direction.
Study the reference photos of the desired wood pattern to get a feel for the colors in the wood then mix and apply several of the previously noted colors to the test piece.
Hold the test piece up to the reference photo or reference veneer to confirm that the selected colors are correct. This may take a little customer mixing, but not too much.
Keep in mind that a top glaze will be applied to set the overall tone of the panel once the wood grain pattern has been completed so it isn't necessary to get too carried away with matching color at this stage.
Applying Grain: Select one of the grain colors and, referring to the reference photo, begin to paint in the grain along the length of the piece. A stainless steel ruler works well for keeping things generally straight. Keep referring to the reference photo to determine the width of grain lines and any waviness.
If the pattern gets way off course, just wipe the paint with a damp sponge and begin again. A little patience here and a good grain pattern will come.
It sometimes helps to take the photo of the wood grain
and lay in on the piece then lightly mark the width of various grain
patterns with a soft pencil. These marks are then used to align the ruler
and paint grain.
The initial grain color and pattern has been painted on the side of the cottage clock case. It's not pretty at this stage, but a pattern is beginning to appear.
Remember that additional layers of glaze will be applied and will soften and obscure most of the sharpness of the base lines shown here.
The one-inch throw away brush has relatively stiff
bristles and can be used in a "stipple" (jabbing) fashion to create some
light and dark areas within each grain.
Since the grain being created is a rosewood, the over glaze is a redish color made from burnt sienna.
The glaze is brushed over the entire case side.
Creating Grain Detail: Allow the over glaze to dry for a short while and become jello-like then, using the stiff bristled throw away brush, make short strokes into the soft over-glaze.
Study the two photos closely and you'll see the very fine dark lines seen in real wood grain in the lower one. This is achieved with the short, jabbing strokes in the soft glaze.
Another way to affect the look of the grain pattern is to allow the paint to cure overnight then lightly sand it with 400 or 600 grit paper. This will soften the look, but you must be careful to not get carried away.
Top-Glaze: Once the grain pattern has been
brushed out to your satisfaction, a final top glaze is applied to set the
overall shade of the finish. With the rosewood the final top glaze was a
brownish shade made with raw umber acrylic.
Again, two parts water to one part acrylic medium creates the glaze base. Actually little acrylic paint is needed to tint the glaze enough for use.
Allow the top glaze to cure then determine if a second coat is needed to reach the desired shade.
Several light coats are usually necessary to get the tone dark enough and the look deep enough.
I'm a sucker for hand rubbing the shellac. It applies a thin, even coat with no chance of a run.
Practice Pieces: Test pieces, and more test pieces. A cheap way to work out the details.
Project Case & Summary: As can be seen, the materials to do faux wood grain are few: Three or four acrylic colors, some acrylic medium, some inexpensive brushes and some door skin for practice. Investment is under $20.00 and the paint supplies will last for years.
There are some other "high tech" techniques for creating wood grain that can be done in the shop, but that's another story.
Give it a try and you'll be surprised how quickly you pick it up.
If this presentation made sense and you feel you can duplicate it let me know. My email is tnttemple2@cox.net
Good Luck,
Tom T