Wood finish and paint question

[femina]

I recently sculpted a huge figure from a white pine log. I used an oil-based walnut stain and was not totally happy with the results. I decided to augment parts of the piece with paint / wash / glaze. I have tones of acrylic paint - both craft and artist grades - but I don't know if I can use this over oil stain. Do I need primer? Do I re-sand the areas? Or should I use oil-based paint? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[J Wilson]

Your best bet is to try a woodworking forum and ask people who are more likely to be familiar with stains. However, my guess based on artist materials is you either need to remove the oil based stain, prime the area, then paint it. A woodworker familiar with the materials and process would most likely know with more confidence, or possibly offer other tips.

[arttorney]

The acrylic stuff won't adhere properly over the oil stain. It'll peel in short order. I hope the oil stain didn't soak too far down into the pine for the sanding solution. The oil paint idea is not that bad. I would sand the areas to be painted lightly so there is a tooth for the paint to grab. Steel wool will make the surface feel smoother to the touch, but of course it is making tiny scratches. That might be one good approach to keying your target surface.

I painted a pruning scar on my peach tree with flake white oil paint before and the paint survived a year of weather better than the house paint I used on my fence.

Talk to the guys down at the paint store about what they got available, but take their advice with a grain of salt. Maybe get a similar small piece of pine to do some technical development test swatches on before further working of your sculpture. I don't know how much detail is in the areas you want to re-work but sanding over and over again can't help but change the surface contours eventually.

[The Pariano]

I think the oil paint would be a fine option- shellac is similar to wood stains and many artists use it prime a surface and paint over in oils.