New blog post today again, but like yesterday's I don't really have much to say (other than I'm still here and haven't abandoned my blog?). Just showing a few pics.
These are the rest of the pieces I patinated with the valkyrie stamping shown here. Together with that antiqued brass piece, I also added a few other things. Like the "antique gold" ring above. Not knowing what metal it really was (antique gold being used for brass ox as well as antiqued gold- or yellow-plate over various metals), I had no idea how it'd turn out. It ended up looking pretty rustic. Like it was excavated at some archeological site. Huge pic: IRL it's perhaps 20-25 mm wide. Can you see the faint striped patterns at the upper right and lower left parts? That's because those two sections were wrapped with craft wire -- made for this pic -- when buried and then removed afterwards. The wire acted almost like a resist (I'm planning on trying resist patinas too one of these days). An effect I want to explore more.
The second piece was a stamped silver-plated filigree drop. Here it was partially about testing the plating and partially about using what I could find. The patina is as uneven as it looks. I'm not sure if the rusty bits are patina developed on this piece (which might be a steel-cored brass stamping) or if it's stains from the third piece seen below. Anyway, I like the darken areas, but on the other hand you can get such an effect much easier with e.g. LOS or the egg oxidation method. I think this one will be subject to more patina or faux patina methods. Not sure exactly what -- heat patina? paint? rust paint? LOS? -- but something else will be done to it.
The third piece wasn't any kind of copper alloys, which is what I've used the most for buried patinas, but an iron alloy butterfly (more exactly a Vintaj Arte Metal decorivet). I'd painted it with acrylics and alcohol inks in several layers, but even after adding a protective, shiny lacquer it didn't look that good. So instead of trying to remove all the lacquer and paint, I chucked it in the sawdust, thinking vinegar, with time, effects everything. And it did. The piece didn't come out of the sawdust look like this, but some of the paint and original black patina (cf. small butterfly on the left in picture) had gone and the rest of the paintwork could easily be peeled off.
This too is a piece that will probably get another round of patina or paintwork. It does have an interesting aged or distressed look as is, but the steel colour is a tad boring. I want to keep the uneven surface with dark areas so perhaps a sheer wash of colour, heat patina or perhaps even a bit of rusting if I can make that happen in a controlled way (this might work, I've got some of that as well as the acrylic-based iron paint to go with it).
PS! If you want to see what rusted iron paint looks like I've shown an example here. Read about all the Magic Metallics products here.
Awesome stuff! I bought up a bunch of pewter things at the Bead & Button that I want to try my hand at patina-ing. I bought the entire Swellegant line and have been playing with some bead caps and such. I love the rustic looks. I just don't have the hang of it yet, but I am having fun playing! I just wish there were more hours in my day!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the day.
Erin
Thanks! I was looking at the Swellegant line just the other day. Those products look fab, lots of possibilities in those bottles. I'm going to envy you a bit for having all of thos products. *lol*
DeleteYes, playing with patinas and paints is just so much fun! And hopefully you end up with some gorgeous or interesting results too. (If not, one can just go on and on, trying new things on top of the previous -- though unfortunately, as mentioned a few posts earlier, it's not always possible to undo everything. But most things can be improved if they don't turn out great the first time.)
Great results. They look like something that has been buried for centuries. I'd love to see what happens if you go further with the ones you are not satisfied with. Can't afford any stampings just now. :-( but I'm really inspired by your patina adventures and will be following what you do :-)!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteYeah, my stash of stampings etc have been dwindling too and I can't really buy more at the moment (also, I want some sheet metal or tags to work with now too). I've thinking of going through my things-to-sell-or-swap box and see if I can find some old plated beads and components. The kind of components I don't really use anymore and are cheap enough to sacrifice. The supplies that doesn't feel good enough to make jewellery with can be just the thing for experimenting/playing with paints and patinas.