I was commissioned to make this book cover into a painting.
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That is very clear. When you say paint on glass, what paint is this? I assume you’ve painted the glass then laser’d some of the paint off? I’d like to know more about the technique if you have time?
I’ve also a contrasty book cover I’d like to engrave for display, but I was thinking to use white on black (or maybe black on white) sign laminate.
Thanks for sharing this!
I use Rust-Oleum 2x spray paint, white gloss and black gloss. I spray the white on thick. I spray it in 3 directions to ensure it is thick and doesn’t laser through. I spray the black on in two directions very quickly to keep the layer thin. The bottom line is to be good at this you have to learn to spray a consistent thickness for the same power and speed settings to work. I run my 5watt laser at 47% power at 3000mm/min. I just got a new 20watt, and I haven’t done any tests yet outside of burning the work area on my waste board I keep the laser attached to. I take the picture to be used, and I upload it to the img-r.com website. This is where i manipulate the pictures I use. I crop it if necessary, resize it in mm and 300dpi. I then invert the image and adjust the contrast. I’ve been doing a +75 contrast change on most of the pictures to make faces come out better. Every picture is different. Your overly contrasted picture may need adjustment in the other direction or may be fine as is. Make sure you use passthrough on your LightBurn Settings. The great thing about these is that there is always a second chance. Many of my paintings like this have a failed version of it on the rear inside. I think it’s funny as many of the classics are painted over another painting. No one will see these unless they open up the back of the frame. If you have two failures in a row, just scrape off the paint with a razor from both sides, a little acetone and your back at the beginning. Oh yes on the img-r site I use the Norton White Tile for the material type.
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A couple more things. When saving the file on the Img-r website, save it as a .jpg. it is a much larger file size than the .png option, so I figure it has to be better. I use Minwax Polycrylic in the spray can form to protect all paintings, including Paint On Canvas paintings. I spray two thick coats on every painting for protection and UV protection. This stuff is the best. It is safe for the paint. It goes on cloudy and lumpy looking, but it aways flattens out to a beautiful clear finish every time.