Ryan....The only thing that I probably do different from you is that after I am finished with the carving and before I do any painting I put one coat of minwax wipe-on satin polyurethane [i.e., I use the wipe on because it's a very thin coat] on the the whole relief carving and then after it dries I sand it with 800 grit sandpaper...That protects the wood against moisture but at the same time it allows a water base acrylic paint to stick to the wood.