In a dramatic shift of focus, today’s post is about a fantastic and ancient product made from the secretions of the lac bug somewhere in India. Will humans ever cease to be amazed by the goo that comes out of bugs? Not likely. Here is a picture of the stuff after its scraped off the trees where the bugs do their business. Beautiful stuff, right?
Then we take it and turn it into this:
Shellac! Why should we care you ask? What has this got to do with anything? When will I be a real boy? What is the average air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Well, to answer your questions in reverse order: 14mph; never (we need to talk); and because I use this stuff to paint on. After you put a couple of coats of acrylic gesso on your board or canvas, apply a coat or two of this bug goo to seal the surface and make it all nice and smooth to paint on. Try to find it in spray form to get a nice, even coating. Be careful of dripping and don’t apply in direct sunlight, since it takes no time to dry. Don’t use a brush because you will never get this crap out of the bristles. Always use a palette knife and then clean with some variety of solvents! Happy shellacking!