Monday 18 February 2019

Pitted Enamel Surfaces for DecoArt

Hi it's Brenda here with you today. Back in September I revamped a small panel I had made way back at the beginning of the year and used the 'pitted enamel surfaces' technique to age it a bit more and to seal the surface. I then used it for the front cover of a hand made / hand bound sketch book / journal. You can find that post at Bumblebees and Butterflies - here.


This technique is not brand new and has been around for a while but I have been honing it to use with my fluid media acrylics and mediums.

I got so into it I researched different metals and made a swatch for each one using different colours of media fluid acrylics, metallic paints and some texture sand paste. Let's take a look.

Pitting is a form of corrosion and Wikipedia states that pitting corrosion, or pitting, is an extremely localized corrosion that leads to the creation of small holes in a metal.

Pitted Transparent Enamel
(Enamel is a natural form of quartz. In simple terms, enamelling involves a glass paste being applied to metal and then heated to fuse it to the surface. The finish of the enamel can be translucent or opaque depending on the temperature used to melt the glass. Higher temperatures result in a more transparent and durable enamel while lower temperatures give a more opaque and fragile surface.)
Create a surface that you want to be covered in clear enamel. I chose a piece left over from a previous experiment to use - shown below.



Pitted Surfaces Method
1. Pounce an embossing ink pad all over and cover with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE).

2. Use a scrunched piece of dry paper towel and a small dry paintbrush to remove some of the UTEE to leave some holes or pit marks - tap off the excess.

3. Heat emboss.

4. When cool, rub some Raw Umber/Paynes Grey/Dark Grey/Black paint over and when it is almost dry wipe over with a babywipe to reveal the dark pits in the surface. 

5. When dry repeat step 4 again.

I used Dark Grey Value 3 for the pitting.



Pitted Coloured Enamel
(To give enamel a particular colour, a certain number of special coloured components (pigments and dyes) have to be added. With these, almost any colour can be achieved.)
To begin paint the substrate with any colour you like - with Christmas coming up I used Pyrrole Red.
Repeat steps 1 - 5 above.


This would look great die-cut or stamped and cut out as a pillarbox methinks.


Pitted Gold 1 and 2
To start the first swatch paint the surface of the substrate with gold media acrylic paint.
Repeat steps 1 - 5 above.
I used Raw Umber on the gold.


To start the second swatch paint the surface of the substrate with texture sand paste and dry it. Then give it a coat of gold media acrylic paint.
Repeat steps 1 - 5 above.
Again I used Raw Umber on this one too.


You can see how the sand texture paste added a different texture in places. Variations will occur depending how much of the UTEE you remove before heating it. This next photo shows how much paint I spread on the surface and let almost dry.



Pitted Brass 
For step 1 paint the surface of the substrate with a mix of gold and raw umber media acrylic mixed together. 
Repeat steps 1 - 5 above.
I used raw umber on the brass.


Pitted Silver
For step 1 paint the surface of the substrate with silver media acrylic. 
Repeat steps 1 - 5 above.
I used Carbon Black on the silver.


If you have got any of the DecoArt metallic paints you can try any type of metal finish you want.

Pitted Pewter
Here's a swatch using the Extra Sheen metallic paint in Pewter with Paynes Grey pits.



Pitted Rose Gold
Here's a swatch using the Extra Sheen metallic paint in Rose Gold with Black pits.


I hope these help with any metal embellishments you want to alter or maybe even just create some backgrounds.

You can also find this post over on the DecoArt Mixed Media Blog where I also added a Christmas card with gold and silver pitted bells.

Thanks for stopping a while and .....
xx


12 comments:

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Loving this technique Brenda, I had forgotten all about it but had been thinking about all those embossing powders that are sitting there unused! Maybe I should get them out. Have a lovely creative week, Angela xXx

froebelsternchen said...

Fascinating techinqie Brenda!

Have a happy week!

pearshapedcrafting said...

Wow Brenda! If I wasn't just about to watch a film on TV I would be off to my craft room! I shall bookmark this page first though! Hugs, Chrisx

Lisa said...

Just bookmarked this post so I can come back and try these!! Your tutorial is fabulous!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts

A Pink said...

What a informative and interesting post, Brenda . Great to see all the results of your explorations and experimenting with the the 'pitted names surfaces' techniques all of which are fabulous. So generous of you to share - thank you!
Hugs x

SewPaperPaint said...

SWOON! This is an amazing technique and I am now itching to try it again! Love love these samples and your creative genius my friend. Big hugs, Autumn

Gina said...

Wow...was just looking at enamelled signs yesterday...never thought to make my own!! Gorgeous finishes XXX

Redanne said...

A fabulous blog post Brenda, so many wonderful results! I really love the red enamel, it looks amazing. Thank you for sharing your techniques, I have bookmarked for future reference! Hugs, Anne xx

Jenny Marples said...

LOVE this clever technique and the gorgeous results you've achieved with it Brenda! I've not seen it before and feel totally inspired to give it a go. Thank you so much for sharing even more of your amazing creative ideas x

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Brenda this brings a huge smile to my face as I gasp at all that created texture. I love the chemistry of embossing powder and it's ability to let us play and develop it more. How clever to research and catalogue your results a great way to reflect back on your findings.
Amazing.. Thanks so much for sharing. Hugs Tracey xx
P.S I'm playing catch up again x

Susie Bentz: My Time to Play said...

Found you through Jenny Marples - what a fabulous technique and informative tutorial! I am definitely going to give this a go. Thanks for all the info and samples!

Lagene said...

I also found you through Jenny Marples, thanks for this technique tutorial!