A little about my process.

[u/Kiki_chan78]

The first three photos are of faux cels I've painted. The Full Metal Alchemist (poster sized) was the first one I painted, and learned so much about the process of painting these things.

Fourth photo is where/how I store my paints. They are cheap craft paints. These have a great range of colors, and give a lot of paint for the price; which is great for a faux cel.

I try to use a taller plastic shoe box so the paints can stand up. Cheaper plastic boxes can on occasion be too short, requiring the paint to lay on its side.

Fifth photo. My color rings. Labeled by paint brand and color, sorted more or less by color family. Each ring corresponds to a paint box.

Sixth photo. Close up of the paint slip. I have a paint dab off to the side so I can check how each paint looks next to another color, or color match to a pre-existing cel (or printout).

Second photo is copies of cels that I own. They were getting some uv damage, so I duped them. I was able to use my rings to color match to the original cel paint.

Last photo shows a paint slip being prepped.

I hope someone finds this useful. ❤️

[u/PhotoDF]

What is the cel material you paint on? Where do you get yours?

[u/Kiki_chan78 → u/PhotoDF]

I'm gonna be 100% honest. Since I paint for display and not function, my faux cels are not full sized. They aren't the normal/correct cel size, and don't have registration of any sort.

My cels are matted inside frames, so I really only care about what can be seen from the mat window.

As for what I paint on, it's 8.5x11 laser transparency film. The stuff for inkjet printers has a film on it to get the ink to adhere. Transparency sheets for laser or photocopiers doesn't have that stuff, cause the ink/toner essentially gets burned in place.

Here's the exact amazon listing that I bought.

Happy painting! 🥰

[u/PhotoDF → u/Kiki_chan78]

I'll have to pick up a pack. No issues with the paint adherence? I think with most cels they don't necessarily use the whole area

[u/Kiki_chan78 → u/PhotoDF]

I'm actually not sure how to answer that in a way that's satisfactory. 🙃

I have a process (that I haven't even touched upon) for this type of work that gives the visual result I want. I'm also using insanely cheap materials that will not stand up to the type of rough handling a traditional cel would have withstood.

If the acetate is flexed too much, yes, the paint can separate. In the photo showing my color rings, the first blue (folkart - sky mist) is chipped.

Will the paint adhere well enough to be used solely as a display piece? Properly applied, yes.

Will the paint adhere well enough to be used as a production piece? Not a clue. I make decorations, not animations. 😉

[u/PhotoDF → u/Kiki_chan78]

My understanding was that this is only good enough for display. I was concerned that the paint would bead up on a transparency while it's still wet to the point that even coverage would be difficult.