What do you do to paint your carvings and small turnings. I have made a few dozen small holiday ornaments. But my painting skills are leaving me scratching my head. With Rustoleum water based paint, the finsh comes out lumpy and uneven. With the cheap craft paints from walmast, I get really nice results from one color and then the same unsmooth finish from other colors. Should I be priming the pieces before painting? Perhaps watering the paint down slightly? Should everything get a coating of friction polish (I used unwaxed shellac) Maybe wipe on poly. One lady, a former Art teacher reccomended that I skip the water based paints/acrylics and use oil based rustoleum paint. Once painted should the items get a finish coat of clear lacquer? I have painted about a dozen ornaments and the resulting finishes from the hobby paint and water based rustoleum are just terrible. Thanks