Acrylic Varnish and Mica Powder

These are different views of the same sheet. Click on the picts for a more detailed view. I did about a 5 foot long sheet of red rosin paper. I only had a little bit of the Golden's soft gloss left. I did have some Golden's polymer gloss from doing collages (like how Jonathan Talbot does it). I figured that would work since it is glossy as well. BTW, make sure you use a large tarp or something else waterproof underneath your foundation. The color wash soaked through areas of my paper. That was not going to come out of my carpet. Clean out your container and paint brush immediately after each layer while waiting for it to dry.

What I did first was crumple the entire sheet. That took a little time since the sheet was so large. It gets easier as you paint on it. I poured the gloss into an old margarine tub. I randomly added in some different colors of Perfect Pearls (different colors than my metallic only colors of Pearl Ex). I just used a large, flat, cheap brush and randomly brushed it onto the red rosin sheet. I did not fill in every crevice. I let some areas open so that the ink could absorb in. I just made sure that I did not leave a glop somewhere so it would not dry like the rest of the sheet. I let that dry completely. I poured the excess glossy mixture back into a container and covered it to save it for later.

When dry, I crumpled the paper a couple more times. I then used the same margarine tub and brush and poured some Adirondack color wash into it. I used the brush and randomly brushed the color wash in different areas. I let the excess pool into the crevices and did not use a paper towel to dab the excess this time. I just left the excess there. I used about 3 or 4 color wash colors in different spots until the whole thing got covered. I let it dry completely. I used Butterscotch, Pesto, Expresso, and Bottle. I liked the Bottle color the most for this project.

When dry, I crumpled the paper again and took out the gloss mixture and used a flat brush to randomly apply it to the peaks of the sheet. I did put in some more interference Perfect Pearls in the gloss mixture. I let that dry completely.

When that was dried, I crumpled it yet again. I took some copper acrylic paint and swiped it against the brush bristles horizontally so that there was a thin stripe of paint going across it. Using a light hand, I swiped the brush back and forth across the peaks of the paper. I would even out any globs. The copper only showed up on the top of the texture. I crumpled again and then did the same thing with iridescent gold paint. When I was done with that, I crumpled the paper again and let it dry.

When I was working on it yesterday morning, my dh came upstairs and commented on my working on a large piece of aluminum foil. I laughed at him and showed him the back side - which was red rosin paper. I looked at it later and figured that it might look like foil to someone who does not do this type of thing. It did certainly look metallic to me.

There is a primitive collage that hangs over my computer. I look up at it every so often. It is my favorite piece that I have ever done. It hangs by some copper wire. The funny thing about it that there is only one small section of it which is actually a metal sheet. I had embossed "Create" on there and aged it with some paints. The paints are still changing colors every so often. The rest of it is paper and some brads. I painted some primitive focal images. The backgrounds are faux metallic paper backgrounds. Yet, when you look at it , it all looks like metal. You would have to look closely or look at the back side to know it is just painted paper. My intent was to convey the message that people should create art even if it is not fine art. You should create even if all you can do is create a crude drawing. Create just to create. Do something that you like or that makes you happy. My focal images here were very basic geometric shapes and designs. Compositionally and aesthetically, it is my favorite piece. There is another found object metal collage that comes in a close second.

Okay, I seriously digressed. I guess I have a knack for turning paper into metal - or at least to look like it.

Comments welcome.