Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Options for Coloring Metal

Julie Holmes

I love combining color and metal and of course my medium of choice is enamels.  Lately I have been seeing other methods of adding color that are achieving stunning results.  Vintaj Patinas are beautiful  and look like they would open up a whole world of design ideas.  There is a good video about using these patinas here: http://youtu.be/k0QZtHIB8nQ.  It doesn't seem too difficult and looks like a lot of fun!

Another technique I've seen to give a candy-coat appearance is the use of glass paints over polished metal.  Pebeo makes a glass paint called Vitrail that can be purchased here.

Heather talks about using Pebeo Vitrail on her metal clay on her blog.





John and Corliss Rose of 2 Roses Studios have developed their own method of adding color to metal.  They told me once it involved colored pencils...beyond that, it's a mystery to me, but shows with some innovation and tenacity what can be achieved.

How do you make your work more colorful?

4 comments:

Libellula Jewelry™ said...

I like to use our old friend liver of sulphur, Jax patinas, vinegar/salt/ammonia, enamel, and porcelain paint. Pebeo is my preference in porcelain paint, too. I have the Vintaj/Ranger patinas on my wish list. Alison Lesniak uses them on her etched copper & brass jewelry and the effects are stunning. http://www.copperheartdesigns.com

I took a class with Teva Chaffin http://www.YandTbyTeva.com on using alternative methods to add color to PMC and it included the use of Prismacolor pencils. I did not like the result but I did enjoy using the Pebeo porcelain paints.

Maneki said...

The mention of Pébéo Vitrail made me think of two other paints from that company that I want to try on my jewellery: Fantasy Moon and Fantasy Prisme. (If you haven't heard of them, check out the links, they seem pretty cool.)

I like to experiment with different things to colour my work, from verdigris patinas and wax to decoupage and rust paint. I've got a Pinterest board that's pretty much just about patinas, colour, crackle etc.

Right now the focus is on patinas. Have tried alcohol ink and got a few very nice results, but moved away from it. However, I did try to "boost" the colour of my ammonia patina with some ink recently.

My favourite piece is a heavily vinegar patina'd brass stamping that I added a heat patina to. Want to try heat patina on rusted steel too. I really like "combined patinas" -- and resist patinas.

If you consider white a colour, then I'd also add gesso. Fab product, great effects. And it can be tinted, painted on etc for more colour too.

On my list of things to try is not least coloured pencils, distress embossing powder and oil paint. Did enamel as a kid in school and it'd be fun to try again. Crackle paint/medium would be interesting to work a bit more with too. E.g. Tammy Tutterow have done some cool pendants with alcohol inks and clear distress crackle paint on embossed metal.

stacilouise said...

I have been dying to try enamel (torch fired) and have everything I need but time;) I prefer regular patinas myself.

Just to clarify, the vintaj is more of a paint, as it doesn't react with the metal, it just coats it (from what I understand from those who have used it). I have heard people really like them and some combine them with traditional patina's, which react with the metal to create their colors.

Anyway you do it, adding some color to metal is always fun!

Mystic Indigo said...

I can't wait to get my order of the Vintage patina's in...beautiful work!

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