Granite projects and questions

[Jackie McGowan]

Hello all,

Just thought I'd show off a couple projects. These are HD Granite. The Baby one is going to be a Christening gift for my cousin. And the other is my first multi tile image - only two tiles though - thought I would start out small. Cause I only did this one just to see if I could :). They are both brightened with the opaque white from laser sketch and the baby one is colorized with water color pencils too. That opaque stuff I'm using is kinda hard to put on/take off... my arm hurts! (it's pretty thick) I know some of you are using the titanium white oil paint, which I have not tried yet but I will. When I do would I just rub it on with a rag and then rub it off right away? or do I let it set some? What's the best way? I'm assuming this would spread better. Also does anyone know what I can thin the opaque stuff with? I don't know what it's made of. I did try acrylic paint once but I couldn't get it on even and I couldn't get all the excess off. I also heard you can use printers ink??? Wouldn't know where to buy it... any input appreciated as always:o

[Jackie McGowan]

Here are the photos a little larger.

[onur cakir]

Jackie, those are great. I feel so upset when i see your granite works because HD granite is not sold here in Turkey :(

Also you saved my day by telling that you use water color pencils (we call aquarel). I was looking for stuff to color engraved granite !

Can you please explain brightening procedure a little bit more ?

First engraving and than brightening and coloring ? What is the order ?

[Frank Corker]

Love the colouring on your baby tile. I bet that took a while to do. As for the 'Le ravissement de Psyche' that looks sooooooooo nice.

[Tim Bateson]

Two thumbs up Jackie. You're light years ahead of me. I hadn't even thought of coloring a granite tile.

[Steve Clarkson]

Jackie,

I am SOOOOO jealous!

[Belinda Barfield]

Jackie,

I am SOOOOO jealous!

Steve, now you can add colored pencils to your matches list! I'm right there with you.

Beautiful work as always, Jackie. You are truly talented.

[Jackie McGowan]

Thanks everyone!


Jackie, those are great. I feel so upset when i see your granite works because HD granite is not sold here in Turkey :(

Also you saved my day by telling that you use water color pencils (we call aquarel). I was looking for stuff to color engraved granite !

Can you please explain brightening procedure a little bit more ?

First engraving and than brightening and coloring ? What is the order ?

Onur,
yes your order is correct engrave brighten then color.

To brighten I just dab the opaque white on with a cotton swab in a small area, work it in with a rag then wipe and buff it off with a clean rag. But as I said this opaque white stuff seems too thick. I would like to hear from someone using the artists oil paint to know the procedure for that. I'm assuming it's the same but just not sure if you should wait some before wiping it off.

The coloring took I'd say about 20 minutes- but that's the fun part, I use the water color pencils and then a cotton swab to blend or lighten the color.

[John W. Love]

Jackie those are gorgeous! I didn't know you could color the granite...now I want some of those water color pencils to try! Can those be purchased at any art/craft store like Michael's or Hobby Lobby or where do you get them? John and I have been using the titanium white oil paint, and I don't know if we are doing it "correctly" or not...but we just rub a fairly good amount on all over the tile and then rub it off again. It seems to work fairly well. I am curious if it would work better if we let it set some before rubbing it off, may be I'll try that later today after I figure out why my machine is acting up lol. I'll have to pry myself away from our roses to do it tho lol. We were actually also thinking that maybe we could use other colors of the oil paint to color our tiles...but with the way we are doing the paint I don't think it would work to do more than one color.

Alicia Love

[Bob McGinn]

Using the oil base paint works very good. Apply small amount and normally leave it overnight. Buffs off without lots of effort. Attached 12x12 HD tile with titanium white applied.

[Andrey Anfimov]

Jackie,
you are great artist!

[John W. Love]

Ok, I've reapplied the white oil paint to one of the tiles I did the other night will leave it on for about 8 hours and then remove. Once it's done I'll post the before and after pics and let you judge :)

Alicia Love

[Jackie McGowan]

John,
I got my water color pencils from Michaels. I know you could also use pastels or pastel pencils (the powdery kind not the oily ones). I was wondering if the oil pastels would work (I'll have to test those).

Bob thanks for the oil paint info.

The coloring is not as hard as it may look, the coloring will only stay where the engraving is and the image is already there (it's not like you are drawing it) Your just adding color, mostly you just need to know how to mix colors somewhat and get the feel for the pencil on the granite (weather to shade lightly or hard). I urge everyone who has not tried it to do a small one if you do the photo tiles.

[James Aldrich]

Jackie
How durable is the water color pencil on granite? Does it wash off, or do you put a sealer on it after it dries?


Jim

[Jackie McGowan]

James,

You can dust it with a dry cloth and it will be fine but It will wash off with water so It's not for outdoor use. I just pray artists fixative on it to protect it a little. I will at some point try the poly stone sealer over it to see what happens.

[Dee Gallo]

Beautiful job, Jackie, truly inspirational!

Not only is the color technique intriguing, but your layered composition is so effective especially in combination with the color.

Thanks for sharing, it's hard to keep up with your work!

cheers, dee

[John W. Love]

I just got home from the day job and Alicia mugged me at the door and said I just had to look at this. I am soooo totally impressed. That looks awesome! I guess I will be making a run to Michaels to pick up an assortment of colors.

Bob, I really like your tile. looks great. Where did you find your design at? I have been looking around for designs similar to that to make some samples for flooring. I know once upon a time I had a lot of those types of designs when I was using paint shop pro, but I am sure they were on one of the older computers that went to silicon heaven years ago.

[Dave Johnson29]

Here are the photos a little larger.


OK, Jackie, you have to STOP! You have gone way too far!!! ;)

I am at the point of setting fire to my laser, I do not deserve one when you are turning out beautiful stuff like that. I am in awe of your artistic talent and skill with the laser.

Fire-Marshall Dave.

[John W. Love]

Ok I applied the titanium white oil paint to my tile around noon...let it sit all afternoon in direct sunlight and rubbed it off around 6:15 pm. Not quite the same as leaving it overnight but I was anxious to see the results and I figured the direct sunlight would speed the process some lol. I do think that it lightened the whites more...but it's kind of hard to tell for sure...and my before picture leaves a lot to be desired. I will have to do more testing to know for sure but here are the pics...these are all the after pics...the before pic I can't upload here because I already uploaded it in another thread here http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=103634

Alicia Love

[Abdul Baseer Hai]

Jackie
What shade in the water colors do you use for human skin.

Abdul

[Bill Cunningham]

As far as the oil paint goes, a very little goes a long way.. A blob about the size of your fingernail can be squeegeed all over a 12x12 tile.. I usually seal the stone with the poly stone sealer 'before' engraving. Microscopic porosity in the surface can trap the colouring and put a haze on the finished piece. The sealer fills those holes.. If your in a hurry, a few passes with a heat gun blower will speed up the process. It won't dry the paint, just thins it out, and lets it soak into the engraved portions..After a few hours, you can buff off the stone, and polish it up with a soft rag. This one was done using that technique. After the oil drys for a few days, you can then seal the entire piece with the poly stone sealer.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=83653&d=1204996476

[Steve Clarkson]

Bill, do you have any name brands for the poly stone sealer that you use/like?

Thanks!

[Bill Cunningham]

I just use the stuff from H.D. It's the same stuff you use to seal grout, stone, and shower stalls.. Just brush it on, let it soak in for 15 minutes, and wipe the rest off.. This keeps the stone protected for outside use..

[Steve Clarkson]

OK, Thanks!

[Belinda Barfield]

Steve,

I would recommend not using any sealer on granite that is wax based. Many sealers that are used for slate, and grout, contain wax. In my experience, once you get it on granite, it is very difficult to remove. Get a good quality silicone impregnator, not a color enhancer. A word of caution as well, some sealers are not recommend for use in flooring applications because of slip risk.

If you ever have a problem with stubborn oil stains there is a product called Ol (not a typo) Killer. It is avialable through suppliers to the stone working industry, Gran Quartz for example.

[Steve Clarkson]

Belinda,

Is a silicone impregnator a sealer (or in lieu of)? Is there a name brand sealer that can be purchased locally that you would recommend?

Thanks!

[Belinda Barfield]

Belinda,

Is a silicone impregnator a sealer (or in lieu of)? Is there a name brand sealer that can be purchased locally that you would recommend?

Thanks!

Here is a link to some good information on sealing of stone:

http://www.naturalstonecareinc.com/faq.htm

This is what we use to seal all granite and marble installations:

https://ecom.granquartz.com/VIA9/viaListProducts.jsp?stackTitle=314P^Premium^Impreg nator&searchText=0070&reqTitle=TITLE_VIAUSERDOCLIST

You do not have to clean your tile(s) with the recommended cleaner. Acetone or DNA work just fine. For the impregnator (sealer) to work effectively the tile must be allowed to dry for 24 hours prior to application of sealer. Following the time guidelines carefully. Humidity, or lack thereof, in your shop will change the cure times of course. If you get distracted and leave the sealer on too long it will start to tack up. If this happens wet a cloth with a little sealer and go back over the tile. I use a cloth to apply sealer, not a brush or roller.

I want to stress one thing, use of this sealer will not change the appearance of the tile. It won't make it shiny, it won't deepen the color. The purpose is purely protection of the stone.

Hope this helps.

[Steve Clarkson]

Thank you....that was very informative.

[Phil Garcia]

Beautiful work, it looks like you have that process down pat.

[Jackie McGowan]

Thanks again to everyone who sent praises and the info on the oil paint experiences and the stone sealer. This is really good info and I'm sure it will help me in my work. (I'm always learning here and would truly be lost without SMC)


.
Jackie
What shade in the water colors do you use for human skin.

Abdul

Abdul - I actually have a flesh colored pencil but I do add a little pink very lightly over it (if it gets to pink add a little yellow) For skin the key is to go lightly (if too many pencil line marks just blend with cotton swab)

[Nicole Hernandez]

Thank you so much for posting these.. I had lost my inspiration awhile back and have not touched my equipment. You made me want to get busy..

Great Work!

[Dee Gallo]

Using the oil base paint works very good. Apply small amount and normally leave it overnight. Buffs off without lots of effort. Attached 12x12 HD tile with titanium white applied.


Nice work, Bob - may I ask what your settings were for this piece? Did you make the various shades with simple greyscale fills? Did you keep it between 20-50%?

thanks, dee

[Bob McGinn]

Thanks Dee. The tile design was completed in Illustrator using grayscale settings from 0% to 95%. Settings were 26 Power / 100 Speed 600 DPI - Stucki (Epilog 45W 2" lens - manual focus using 0.003 shim stock to achieve light drag). So far, the best results (for me) working with granite, marble etc have been achieved by tossing all of the recommended setting guides out the window and dropping the power way down and kick speed up. Some of the grayscale work is taken all the way down to 10 Power / 100 Speed - to get lighter shade items to show color seperation. Although that photo does have the titanium white oil base applied, the results as removed from the machine were also impressive. All the oil base does is make it all 'pop'. The granite was right from the shelf at Home Depot.

[Miguel Pinho]

Hi everybody

I'm new in this forum so i will first introduce myself. My name is Miguel, i'm 25 and i'm from Portugal. I have my business in memorial art and i use very often laser engraving.
You can see some of my works at www.jopedra.com (http://www.jopedra.com)
Hope to do friends among here and share work experiences.

See you

[Dee Gallo]

Beautiful work, Miguel. Welcome to the Creek!

cheers, dee

[Mike Null]

Miguel

Welcome to Sawmill Creek. I had the great pleasure of visiting beautiful Lisbon several years ago. (naturally, I brought home some Sandeman's.)

[Miguel Pinho]

Miguel

Welcome to Sawmill Creek. I had the great pleasure of visiting beautiful Lisbon several years ago. (naturally, I brought home some Sandeman's.)
Thank You all for this good welcoming.
I hoped you liked Lisbon, it's a beaurifull city, but i'm from the north of Portugal, one of the most beautifull regions of the world ;) visit if you can...Guimarães 2012 -European Capital of Culture.I discovered this forum by luck searching in google when i was looking for laser engraving pictures.
Does someone have religious pictures with good quality ready for laser engraving in black granite? maybe we can change a few.

See you soon

PS. IN PORTUGUESE WE SAY "ATÉ JÁ"

[Andrey Anfimov]

I use the same method as Bill.
Seal - Engrave - Paint - Seal.

I used two marble tile 12x12 inch.
Next time I will use one tile 24x12 inch.
I don't like the gap between tiles.

[Miguel Pinho]

http://jopedra.com/imagens_artefun/artefun14.jpgDoes anyone here have religious pictures ready for engraving in black granite? maybe we can exchange some...
Waiting for anwsers.


Best Regards from Portugal

[Miguel Pinho]

Hello Mr. Onur

The granite floor that you made, can you tell me if it was a vector image for corel draw?

Best Regards from Portugal

[Miguel Pinho]

Do you work with black granite engraving Dee?

[Dee Gallo]

Do you work with black granite engraving Dee?

I have done a few, would not consider myself an expert. There are many more people on the Creek who are better at it than I am. I do not use PhotoGrav, I do all of my prep work in PhotoShop.

You should do a search for granite engraving and you will get lots of info. This topic has been discussed a lot! Plus, look for the "Gold Method", this is a macro you can put into PS and make it automatic.

cheers, dee

[George Brown]

I use the same method as Bill.
Seal - Engrave - Paint - Seal.

I used two marble tile 12x12 inch.
Next time I will use one tile 24x12 inch.
I don't like the gap between tiles.

Absolutely beautiful!! How did you apply the paint? Wipe it on with a cloth, squegee it across?? How long did you wait before wiping the excess off?

[Miguel Pinho]

i used white grafitti spray, and quickly passed toillete paper to spread the painting.

[Andrey Anfimov]

I use oil paint and solvent. I apply paint with soft white cloth and wait for 15 min. Then I wipe out paint so only very thin layer of paint lay on marble. After that I dry marble for 24 h. I repeat this procedure for 2-3 times.