As promised I thought I'd show you some of the experimentation's I've been making using polymer clay recently, specifically in relation to obtaining various metal effects on the clay. For speed and ease I used a celtic design rubber stamp that's been kicking around at home for years to imprint a design into the unbaked polymer, then faffed around with a variety of mica craft powders and mica based eye shadows, sealing the colours into the clay with a sculpty satin glaze. These are the results of my first attempts at emulating antiqued copper, pewter and gold effects;
with some particularly bad close ups for good measure;
COPPER
PEWTER
GOLD
Eventually I'd like to be able to work in a more freehand manner stepping away from 'bought' stamps which are prohibitively expensive (on my meagre budget at least!) and a little restrictive in relation to the type of thing I'd like to be producing. More experimentation needed there though I think!
These are marvelous! I could see them as a centerpiece for some lovely artwork.
ReplyDeleteCenya
Good job again, they are definitely looking the part of copper, pewter and gold. looking forward to seeing some of your free hand work, your imagination is your only limitation :-)
ReplyDeleteAaron-Paul
These look great! Looks like you'll be having a lot of fun experimenting with these finishes...
ReplyDeleteI end up doing a fair bit of hand finishing to spec with the picture framing, with various combinations of wax, gesso, gilding cremes, paint etc... I really enjoy it as long as the deadlines aren't too tight!
Thank you Cenya, I was thinking last night of perhaps using them to cover the top of an old scruffy wooden box - I have several more tiles so it might just be do-able!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment Aaron-Paul, you're right of course about the imagination bit, although I think my lack of skill and proper equipment might also hold me back for a while. I like dabbling around though and seeing how things evolve so hopefully something good will eventually come out of all of it!
Ha! I think our posts collided there Carrie! I did try using gilding foils in copper and gold on a couple of similar tiles but they unfortunately looked too bright and new for the effect I was after - I should maybe have persisted with them a bit longer though to see if I could maybe have 'antiqued' them using acrylic paint or something. Like you say, half the fun is in the dabbling to see how things evolve!
ReplyDeleteTry dark oak wax on top to tone down the gold/metal leaf, I tend to do that a fair bit... though if your'e using gold paint/varnish instead that is spirit based its worth sealing it with an acrylic clear sealer first so the wax doesn;t lift it back off. The dark wax can give it quite a nice distressed look. You can also get 'rottenstone' powder for a final finish to get an aged look... :)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the thumbs up on the wax and rottenstone Carrie - I've not used either so will definitely look out for them and have a play; it'd be a pity for all that gold leaf to go to waste!
ReplyDelete