In my opinion, the sealer would keep the air from reaching the paint to make it dry. Do you have any leftover critters? Maybe you could experiemtn with one and see if it works. Wierd problem - good luck.
-Sprout

No experience with this, lizzardly...sorry...maybe someone can help, I hope! :-( Jeanne S.

I made one a few years ago, I used black spray paint then sponged on copper acrilc craft paint, then sprayed it with clear coat after it dried. Dont know if this will help you or not. But good luck. I love my critter ball :)

It sounds like the black base coat and the bronze top coat do not want to play together nicely. I've had this happen in the past and I shared your frustration. The only solution I ever found was to strip all the paint and then repaint with a different type of paint. Wish I knew more about what kinds of paint can and can't be used together, but I'm clueless.

On second thought, since the bowling balls didn't have the sticky paint problem, I'm thinking it might be the material that the garden critters are made from that is chemically reacting with the paint.

I had this problem too, with the handles to a pair of garden clippers that I spray painted with fluorescent paint. The paint didn't dry and the handles were a sticky mess. Unfortunately I can't remember how I solved the problem.

I think that removing the existing paint from the critters and going with a brush-on acrylic paint might be your best option. I'd try any new paint on a small test area, maybe on the under side of one of the critters, before repainting them.