Tape can be a good method to mask off areas, but you have to use the right kind or your lines will still end up looking messy.
I started off by using some very thin tape that we had lying about in the drawer to mask off the edges for the
[checkered dress], but I gave up on that method after a short time. The trouble was it was old tape and the edges were not very clean.
In the end it seemed to be messier than doing it by hand... plus I got fed up with waiting for the paint to be dry enough for removing the tape.
I do have quite a steady hand for painting most of the time, so that helps. If I make a mistake, I just paint over it again until it looks the way I want it to. (I'm very particular, so this can mean spending several hours until I have it exactly as I want it). I also use a lamp with a magnifying attachment which helps me to see small details/errors that I would probably miss otherwise - my eyesight isn't as good as it once was.
That dress is the most difficult design I ever attempted to paint. It lay around for several months unfinished, because I lost patience with it and grew bored with the idea.
Then one day, co-incidentally,
Guarrenzino suddenly mentioned he was working on a custom lady in a black and white 60s outfit ("Cilla"). I remembered my poor half-finished klicky and told him about it. I probably would never have finished it without the encouragement (nagging?
) I received from him. (Thanks, David.
)
Jochen has some very helpful info about paint masking techniques on his website:
[Jr-x.de: Customising with Paint]And as you can see by looking at his customs, they are very effective!
