|
Figure 2: Rae knew she would have to mask off parts of the design which had a layer of water-based sealer over them, so she searched at drafting supply stores until she found an extremely low-tack 3-M tape. It is called “Safe-Release for Delicate Surfaces #2080.” It worked well over our sealer, but it was not down for many hours.
Figures 3-6: Starting at the outer edge (the background of the map) she masked off the curve and painted many small brown dots using a stippling technique. We do this so that the color is not a uniform brown, but is made up of mottled colors like the floor. Those of you who have my manual or have taken our seminars know that we use the most translucent pigments we can and that we add Golden’s Acrylic Gel Medium to all our colors to make them more transparent. Rae begins by laying out a palette of colors on a foam picnic plate and squirts gel medium over each one. (The wet gel looks white but dries clear and is made of the same base as the acrylic paints we use).
Figures 7-13: So as not to be taping over fresh paint, Rae moved to the other end of the patch and began with a new palette of colors in a lighter shade of brown to mimic the paler and more blotchy look we got inside the globe Flattoo. (These areas got lighter because the sticky Flattoo which acts as a mask, pulled off quite a bit of stain when we removed it after etching the surrounding lines). Even though there is a gray line traversing this section, it was easier to paint the whole shape brown first.
Figure 14: When this rectangle was done, Rae masked off the last gray section of the patch using five or six pieces of blue tape, each only two inches long. By placing each at a slightly different angle, one can make an outside curve quite easily.
Figure 15: On an inside curve, however, the masking tape can be laid down in one piece, stretched on the outside and crimped and pressed on the inside using one long strip.
Figures 16-20: The most difficult color to mix is the gray-white color we got after etching around the Flattoo. It is lighter than the original concrete, with tiny bits of darker color giving it a sandy look. Rae’s mixture came out lighter than the rest of the etched circle, but remember that acrylic paints dry a shade darker than they are when first applied. She used the same color after masking off the gray longitude line.
Figures 21-22: The patch is greatly improved, but we saw that all the new colors were a bit brighter than the background. To take care of that, Rae tinted some clear sealer with a small amount of Raw Umber and Raw Sienna and brushed it over the painted area. Now the patch is barely visible.
We have found that you should charge by Time and Materials for faux painting when the necessity for it is not caused by something you did. Our present rate is $45 per hour; this job took Rae about four hours to complete and used up perhaps $15 worth of art materials.
We hope this gives your confidence a boost when the unexpected occurs on your job site. For issues you can’t figure out, please use the forum to get your questions answered so that your final product is something you can be proud of.
Happy Staining,
GG
|
