Protective table finish

[alianos]

Hi,
I am generally new to woodwork. I have an old coffee table made from plain wood. My intention is to sand it and then paint an image on it. My question is this, can I paint it with art supplies (i.e. acrylic or gouache colors) and then cover the whole thing with a protective finish so it be cleaned etc? (preferably matt)

If that's not going to work what is my alternative, what colors can I use? And in turn will these colors require a protective finish?

Thanks in advance!

PS. and if it is not too much trouble, any online place where I can buy small quantities of paint and DIY material? (as it is only a tabletop!)? Does like, THE standard place exist?

 

[Chrispy]

Hi alianos, and welcome

What you propose sounds OK to me, acrylic paint sounds good then protect it with a water based matt varnish. But please please please do a test piece first to make sure the colours stay put when you apply the varnish.

Artists paints from art shop, or even paint tester pots from a diy shop would work varnish from same place.

 

[alianos]

Aha, so varnish was the missing word. Thanks for the information!

I cannot post links, but how about air spray varnishes? They came up while googling for "water based matt varnish" and seem like a good idea as they are less likely to ruin the paint with brushstrokes. You happen to know if they are they any good?

I'll post a pic of the result (when the freaking weather gets better!)!

Thanks again

 

[Chrispy]

Sounds like a good plan, I don't know how hard wearing it would be, but it would make a very good base for a brushed on coat later on.

 

[alianos]

Hi,
It all worked perfectly. I got yellow, blue, and red acrylic paints to mix the colors that I wanted (200ml tubes for £2 each from "the works", I think I used ~100ml alltogether including the wasted color). When the paint was dry to the touch I scratched it with sand paper to create the "old" effect. I then covered the whole thing with a water based varnish as suggested (small can, costed another 6 quid). The varnish did not ruin the color during application and we cleaned it a couple of times by now, seems pretty safe!

Thanks again for the tips

here are some links of the final product (sorry for spaces, cannot post links)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent. com/u/42309276/IMG_0649.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent. com/u/42309276/IMG_0653.JPG