EXPERIMENTING WITH METALLIC PAINT!

METAL OXIDATION TESTS #1

Inbetween getting ready for Open Studios, I was doing some experimental tests with some new paints that I purchased.   They have metal particles suspended in a mixture of binding and pigment.  When sprayed with an oxidizing chemical, they rust or create a verdigris.  I wanted to incorporate some of this into my paintings but needed to have a better idea of what I might expect on different surfaces, letting the paint dry first or adding the chemical spritz while still wet, using two coats, putting one metal pigment over another, etc.   I tried to create as many variables as I could think of.  The above image has tissue paper, Tyvek, watercolor paper, etc. with iron pigment, copper pigment, and bronze pigment.  I used some stencils and a bunch of various sized gears as a resist.  Now that all my holiday company has gone home, I can concentrate on doing some serious painting in the studio.  

METAL OXIDATION TEST #2

This is a piece of Tyvek that I had printed previously with some abstract acrylic.   I wanted to see what adding to the surface with the metallic paints, oxidized, would look like. This piece will either get more layers of something or get torn up and incorporated into another work.  Saving paintings that are "dogs" allows you to work uninhibitedly in an experimental fashion without the fear of ruining something. Learning what not to do is often more valuable than learning what works.