Coloring before carving

[Lin]

Have been planing to try this for quite awhile but had to wait until the holidays were behind me. Both of the following projects are plain ole Lowes pine. I used purple leather dye on the smaller project and red chestnut stain the the other before carving. I also used a couple light coats of spray lacquer on them lightly sanding to seal the wood somewhat after coloring but before carving. Both of them will have something done to the edges...so they aren't just retangular pretty boards and then onto adding another color or leaving light...not sure yet how I will proceed. This was to see how it went. I was really surprised that I didn't have any issues with the machine seeing the dark purple board for measuring. I do have a ceiling light right above my machine so maybe that helps. I do like the stark contrast of light and dark. Love the centerline text. Used the 60 degree bit on the smaller piece and the 90 degree bit on the larger one. Can you tell...this kinda excites me...new possiblities for very bright colors....without hand painting...lol
Lin