Paints and Metal

Paints and Metal. Surely not something you read about every day, right? Hobby Lobby was a dangerous place for me last week. I got two more metal drawer sets. These weren't just unfinished, scuffed up metal. These were spray painted in a paint room somewhere in China.

Originally one was bright white and the other was bright blue. The colors were yucko in my studio. I needed to distress these bad boys! Remember, Tim Holtz and Anna Griffin are my crafty idols. So you've got the vintage, old, worn, tattered, dragged through a hurricane look going on. A great look, right? :)

I started by sanding the finish to roughen it up a bit and remove any shiny coatings they may have had. If you don't rough up the surface a bit, it won't want to take paint or ink. This project is all about the acrylic paint stash. It was so lovely digging them out of the dust.

There are artist acrylic paints. You can purchase some of these in the chain craft stores. Others, you can only get from art supply shops. These are not the acrylic paints you get in bottles on sale at AC Moore for 2 for $1. Just want to clarify. The color names are all from the pigments they are made from.

Here are the paints I used on the white set of drawers:

Liquitex Basics:
Red Oxide
Burnt Siena
Cadmium Red Medium Hue
Raw Siena
Burnt Umber

Martin/F Weber Co - Prima:
Alizarin Crimson

Jo Sonja's:
Indian Red Oxide
Brown Earth

Windsor & Newton - Galleria:
Mars Black

Daler-Rowney:
Copper (MIT)


These are the paints I used on the blue set of drawers:
M Graham & Co:
Quinaoridone Violet

Windsor & Newton - Galleria:
Permanent Magenta
Winsor Blue

Daler-Rowney:
Purple
Deep Violet

Liquitex - Professional Grade High Viscosity:
Dioxazine Purple
Prussian Blue

Martin/F Weber Co - Prima:
Iridescent White

Liquitex - Basics:
Iridescent Silver
Acra Magenta

Jo Sonja's:
Red Violet
Carbon Black
Storm Blue
Colony Blue

There are multiple layers of different paints. I wiped off some paint here and there. I sanded some wherever it looked like it needed it. Mostly, I just dry brushed the different paints on. Each piece doesn't have all the same colors.

I didn't want these to look brand new. The bright colors just aren't my thing. I like old, worn stuff. Dark colors are also my thing....Maybe it's from all of my time in the Adirondack Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains. No hot pink there!

Now if bright colors are your thing, you can still do this! Just use brightly colored paints. Same techniques. No biggie. Anyone can do this!

Oh and a paint clean up tip! I put all of my paints on a styrofoam plate. They hold a lot of colors! And when you're all done, you just throw it away. No clean up! Just make sure you put it in a trash can that is lined with a plastic bag since the paints do stay wet for quite some time.

This week's Inky Hot Mess projects!

Until next time *

Paints and metal can be fun! Try it out.