Paint always adds magic in a big hurry. I had decided we would make the compass star look like it was cast in copper and bronze. The lettering will be 23K gold for extra pop. We used Modern Masters acrylic metallic paint. This metallic paint is brilliant and holds up well outside in our experience. Best of all we can apply it by hand with a brush. A little paint goes a long, long way. I whipped on two quick coats of gold purposely going well onto where the copper would go next. When I applied the copper I only needed to cut in once making the job quick. The copper covers extremely well. A second coat was done to be sure. The piece was extremely bright at this point but I'd tone it down shortly.
The first glaze I applied was a rich caramel color. The glaze is put on thick in small sections and then wiped off with a small soft towel. I had to work quick to keep a wet edge between areas. After the first light colored glaze the textures already popped a little more a. Back it went under the fans to dry.
The last coat of glaze was a dark chocolate with a hint of metallic purple to deepen the shadows dramatically. I worked from top to bottom, jumping quickly from back to front and side to side to minimize dry lines between segments. The work went quickly and the piece instantly came alive. The dark brown was the same color we had mixed for the plane over a year ago and visually united the plane with the frame through which it 'flew'. Everything suddenly made sense.
It will dry in the warm studio overnight, waiting for tomorrow's finishing touch. I'll be adding the 23K gold to the lettering. In the next installment I'll take some pictures of the gilding process and show just how easy this amazing technique is.
Stay tuned...
-dan
