Coordinated movement of the shield

While painting walls, ceilings oil paintings, moldings, etc. it is frequently necessary to paint a straight edge between two abutting surfaces, such as an edge between two walls, one wall and a ceiling, or between a trim molding and a wall. Since this is difficult to do freehand, even by the most experienced painter, various devices have been developed to enable a painter to easily paint a straight line along an edge.

Painter's tape having a width of one inch or more is typically applied on the surface which is not to be painted. While the hand-painted oil painting tape will keep paint from being applied to the surface which is not to be painted, the application of the tape to the wall or surface is time consuming, difficult to apply evenly in a straight line along the edge, and difficult to prevent the seepage of paint beneath the edge of the tape onto the surface which is not to be painted.

Shields in the form of a thin plastic cheap oil paintings member have also been slid along the edge as a barrier to keep paint from a paint brush on one side of the shield and off of the adjoining surface which is not to be painted. However, the use of such shields with a paint brush require two hands and a simultaneous coordinated movement of the shield and paint brush along an edge. This is difficult to do by inexperienced painters. Further, even for an experienced painter, the simultaneous movement of the paint brush and shield is difficult in certain conditions, such as along the edge of a ceiling, in narrow spaces, etc.