Tips for Painting With Boxwood
Boxwood is our gorgeous grassy green that gets its inspiration from the bright leaves of the Boxwood plant.
Boxwood is a vibrant and striking color choice, but it can also be a bit tricky to use. To help you get a flawless Boxwood finish, we've put together some tips and tricks so you know what to expect with this gorgeous green.
Boxwood Pigments Tend To Separate
We recommend that you consistently stir your mixed Milk Paint throughout the duration of your painting project. Because our Milk Paint comes in powdered form and is mixed by hand, it’s a good practice to stir it every few brushstrokes - particularly with Boxwood.
To explain why it’s so important to stir Boxwood, let’s have a quick color lesson.
To make the color green, you need to mix blue and yellow together.
In the paint world, blue and yellow pigments have different densities (how much mass there is per volume). The different densities of these pigments causes them to separate from one another, much in the same way oil and water separate.
In the paint industry, this tendency for pigments of different densities to separate is called “float”, and is common with green shades of paint (regardless of the brand).
Of all of our colors, Boxwood has the highest concentration of blue and yellow pigment and it tends to separate in your cup. You can kind of see that happening in our Boxwood paint blob below.
As the blue and yellow pigments separate in your container, you'll dip your brush in and Boxwood will brush out looking more olive rather than a bright grassy green.
To help maintain a consistent color throughout your piece, we recommend that you stir Boxwood frequently (about every 2 or 3 brushstrokes).
Touch Up Boxwood With A Full Coat
Related to the point above, it's best not to do spot touch-ups when you're painting with Boxwood. To maintain consistent color across your piece, apply an entirely new coat of paint rather than touching up one small spot.
Mix Slightly More Boxwood Than Needed
When you’re whipping up your batch of Boxwood, we recommend you mix up slightly more than you think you’ll need. Having this extra bit of paint will give you some breathing room and help avoid having to mix up another batch if you run out. Remember, we don’t advise touching up Boxwood, so it’s best to have enough for a full coat.
For tips on how much Milk Paint can cover, visit this post.
Finish Boxwood With Hemp Oil
The grassy green goodness of Boxwood truly shines when it’s finished with our Hemp Oil wood finish.
Our colors get as deep and rich as possible with Hemp Oil. The darker shades like Artissimo, Tricycle, Typewriter and Boxwood look especially dashing with this finish.
One of our favorite methods for applying Hemp Oil over darker colors is by wet sanding. Here’s a tutorial explaining the process.
Once your Hemp Oil has been wiped back and had a chance to dry for a few days, consider topping it with our wax finishes for extra durability!
We hope that our tips will help you work with Boxwood more effectively. It's truly a gorgeous green and one you should definitely have in your repertoire of MMS Milk Paint colors.
Share your Boxwood projects with us on our social media channels. We love seeing what you’re creating!
