Seems a girl I work with is a brilliant artist, so I've asked her if she can paint a picture on my boot-lid She wants to know what paint to use and if the paint already on the boot needs any prepping. Can she use enamel paint? Homebase sell small pots by a company named 'Plasticote', I believe. Would that be okay and if so, can she just put it straight on the cellulose paint without any prepping? Cheers chaps.

I'm not an expert in paint, but pretty nifty with gel coat which is similar
Always need to key the surface up, but any scratches can always be rectified by some 1000 grit paper and some g3 cutting compound and a decent buffer,
That's actually not very helpful response but may be useful
It may be difficult to establish a smooth finish. But I geus your not fussed too much?

Im no pro, but Cellulose based paints would be best as the bodywork would be cellulose, but then again, its not that workable with a brush. So i dont know.

On the prepping front get it nice and dry and clean, then maybe a light sand to scuff the surface a little, it should help with the paint bonding.

But as ive said, im no pro at this.

Jack

Enamels will be fine, if you only want tiny amounts of each colour you could try looking at the little tins of Humbrol used for painting airfix kits. Not sure if you'd need to key the surface first, you might end up with a matt boot lid, but then you could put a clear lacquer over it afterwards. You would want to clean off any wax it might have on it. I'd probably just wash it, then wipe it over with some white spirit. Depends how good you anticipate this artwork being.

With what mediums does she work best with?

As long as it doesn't react with the clear lacquer you are gonna put on top to protect it from street ravages, could do it in water colour, acrylic or even oil?.. .

Just how artistic can the painting ona boot lid be???

On both the full bootlids I've done, I've keyed the surface and put a few coats of primer on first, sanding between each coat, painted with acrylics and then sprayed clear lacquer over the top. After about 10 years, the lacquer started flaking along the top curved edge, taking some of the paint underneath with it, but it could easily be retouched, if I had the will to do it.

On the two that only had a smaller design on half the bootlid, I just used acrylics straight on the cellulose. Don't think I varnished one of those, but did the whole bootlid on the other. Bear in mind that as the lacquer ages, it turns slightly yellow, which may be a consideration if your design features large areas of white, or is a partial design on a white bootlid.

Watercolour/gouache isn't going to work because it needs the paper to absorb into, and being water-based, won't last. However, if the artwork calls for it, you can get a translucent watercolour effect by thinning the acrylics slightly with water.

Haven't tried oils. I'm sure it would adhere, but I suspect they won't dry as flat, and you'll end up with a brush-textured surface. Similarly, I reckon enamels would adhere, but if you have a large area to cover, it will cost a fortune.

I did my car's name 'tattoo' in Hammerite, and that's stuck like shit to a blanket for the last 22 years!

I've got a spare bootlid???

...and I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts.

I'd go for humbrol enamels as Joolz suggests. If you visit their website you can view all the colours you'll need and buy them online. They're only about £1.60 each, and you'll also find thinners, various different laquers and brushes/airbrushes on there.

We use stickers for our boot art

Cheers guys and gal, certainly plenty of food for thought there, I'll have a chat with her later and see what she says.