How do you paint kendama?

I personally use water based acrylic because of it's easy use and light wight. Oil based would work just as well, but will add more weight. One important thing when using water based paints is to have a good base coat of acrylic medium or gesso. This is needed because the wood will soak the water out of the paint and it will chip easier. The base coat is only necessary if you're painting on a bare wood grain Kendama ball. If you still have the original coat of paint, sand it down slightly so the acrylic paint will have more to hold on to. After applying the base coat of acrylic medium or gesso give it time to fully dry and set up, paint on your acrylic paint (2-3 coats, giving time for each coat to dry), and BE SURE to follow up with a semi-gloss polyurethane spray top coat (2-3 even applications of the spray, giving each coat 2 hours before applying the next). Let the kendama sit 24-48 hours until the polyurethane sets up.

If you want more shine to the ball, you can use full gloss polyurethane.