Paint questions

I would like to paint some letters that are cut into the board. I also want to make the board into a stain or spray paint it a color. Example would be a black background clock with white numbers carved into it. I assume painting it black first then hand painting the numbers is best. What is the best way to paint the numbers with. Like what products should i look into buying? I see there is paint markers? Then I assume i should clear it at the end?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It is a birthday present for my dad this weekend!

Thanks Ted

There may be a better way but here is how I do it
Paint the base color, in your case black. 1-2 coats of shellac. I then paint the letters, I use spray paint and wipe off the excess. Any overspray is easily wiped off with paint thinner as paint thinner does not react to shellac.

Hi TedOlson,

There’s may different techniques. The forum search feature is very powerful. I think a few of the results may be applicable to your needs:

https://discuss.inventables.com/search?q=paint