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Walkabout Crafts - The online gift shop for buying and selling arts and crafts |
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Home > Craft Topics > Projects > Lapis Lazuli
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Materials
and Equipment
Paint
Artist's Oils
French ultramarine provides the nearest colour to the brilliant blue of
lapis lazuli. To create the subtle shaded background, you also need a
deeper blue, such as Prussian blue. A similar colour can be made by
mixing French ultramarine with a little burnt umber. A further range of
shades can be created by mixing a little Titanium white artist's oil
colour with each of the blues. These paler shades are used to spatter
the surface lightly with drifts of fine speckles.
Transparent Oil Glaze
For the background, mix the artists oil paint with a little transparent
oil glaze. This gives a translucent effect, similar to polished stone.
It also makes the paint easier to work with by preventing it from drying
out too quickly; this allows you time to soften and blend the colours.
You need very little glaze - about one part glaze to two parts paint. To
make the oil glaze, first mix the oil colour with a few drops of white
spirit, then add the glaze and mix.
Bronze Powder
Lapis lazuli has gold flecks in it, which are known as fool's gold
because they are not actually gold but yellow pyrites. Use bronze
powder, which is available in various shades of gold, to reproduce the
flecks. Dip the paint brush in white spirit first and then the powder.
Flick the brush to produce tiny cloud - like splatters, or gently trail
it over the surface in subtle drifting swirls of gold.
Brushes
The size of brush you need depends on the area of background you are
going to paint. A 1.2cm paint brush should be suitable for medium to
small items. Use a 2.5cm size for larger areas. Use a good quality brush
that does not shed hairs; before you start, make sure that there are no
loose ones left which could spoil your work. To spatter the paint, use a
small stencil or artists brush. If you want to add marble like veins,
you will need a fine pointed artists paint brush or a feather.
You will need:
Household oil based primer / undercoat in white
artists oil paints in French ultramarine, Prussian blue and Titanium
white
Transparent oil glaze
Bronze powder (gold)
1.2 or 2.5cm household paint brush
small stencil or artists brush
a fine point artists brush or feather
synthetic sponge
clean lint free rag
fine abrasive paper
white spirit
two saucers for mixing colours
satin finish polyurethane varnish
wax polish
softening brush
1. Having prepared the surface, paint the item to be decorated with
white primer / undercoat and leave to dry thoroughly. When dry, lightly
sand the surface with fine abrasive paper. Remove any fine dust
particles from the surface by gently wiping over with a cloth dipped in
a little white spirit.
2. Add a few drops of white spirit to the French ultramarine artists oil
to make it easy to mix. Then add the glaze in a ration of one part glaze
to two parts paint; mix well. With the paint brush, paint this glaze
mixture onto the surface - cover about three quarters of the surface,
leaving cloud shaped areas in white.
3. Mix the Prussian blue with the white spirit and glaze in the same
way. Fill in the white shapes with the deeper blue.
4. Using first the sponge, then the rag, dab all over the surface to
remove any brush marks and to blend the edges where the two blues meet.
Do not blend to a point where the colour becomes completely even. Remove
any remaining marks by lightly dusting the surface with a softening brush.
5. If you wish to create a marbles effect, add the veining at this
stage. To form the veins, dip a feather in a small amount of white
spirit; then drag it gently through the painted surface to create wavy
lines to imitate veins. The white spirit will remove the blue surface
paint to expose the white beneath. Restrict the veining to one area of
the object only.
6. Place a little French ultramarine in one saucer and a little of the
Prussian blue in the other. Add a few drops of white spirit and titanium
white artists oil to each and mix to produce two new paler shades of
blue, but do not glaze. The mixed paint should be of a creamy consistency.
7. Lay the surface to be splattered as flat as possible. Using one
colour and the stencil brush, spatter the paint lightly over the painted
surface, creating fine drifts of tiny spots. When satisfied with the
effect, follow this with the second colour. To avoid runs, allow the
paint to dry partially before decorating the next surface.
8. Dip the stencil brush in a little white spirit and then the bronze
powder and gently spatter it in the same way as before. Alternatively,
trail the brush lightly through the surface to remove small areas of
blue glaze and then add tiny splatters of gold.
9. When you are satisfied with the overall spattered effect, leave the
object to dry in a warm dry place away from sunlight. When it is
completely dry, protect the surface with two coats of polyurethane
varnish. Then, for a really professional finish, polish with a little
wax polish.
Why not send us images of your finished projects to be included on this page - or if you prefer to improve on this page please send us your step by step images - simply email us your image (s), along with your name, age and hometown - enjoy!
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