Finishing Wood Grain

After completing the wood grain patterns, the next step was to cover the grain with a glaze that would give it the appearance of stain. Hopefully, the glaze is thin enough for the graining to shine through and will interact favorably with the base coat's color. The "stain" was made by mixing the color we wanted, then adding a clear gloss glaze that will make the finished product appear to not only be stained, but finished with a coat of gloss as well.

When the finish is applied, it's always preferable to run your brush strokes in the same direction as your grain to keep the pattern consistent. It's also a little tricky to get all your glaze on before it starts to dry without using so much that you wash out your original pattern. The best way is to get the thin coat you want on, then run your brush in long "finish strokes" from edge to edge, or else you'll wind up with ugly marks where you picked up/placed your brush. And once you start, don't stop. When the glaze dries you won't be able to blend another coat into the original and you'll wind up with hard lines on the places you missed! All in all, this was a fairly simple technique that just takes some practice to get the hang of. The finished product is great though!