October 19, 2012

Tutorial for Painting Lucite Flowers

Wanna know how to make some pretty painted Lucite flowers for yourself?  Do ya?  Huh?  Well, listen up, because I'm about to tell you.  You're going to need some kind of paint.  I used Vintaj patinas.  I know they adhere well to the Lucite and I haven't tried anything else, so what kind of paint you use is up to you.  I used:


You will also need some glaze.  I had this on hand, so that's what I used.


You will need something on which to mix those two things, as well as a mixing utensil.  I went low brow and used a paper plate and some toothpicks.  You'll also need some sponges.  I'm known for being a bit messy, so I opted for some disposable gloves and I covered my work area in newspaper.


You will also need some Lucite flowers.  I used some frosty white ones and some in colors. 


Pour a little puddle of glaze on your plate and add a few drops of patina.


Looks pretty cool when you drop it in there, huh?  Stir it around a bit and then dip your sponge in it and start sponging paint on the flowers.  I did several in one sitting (maybe a couple dozen?) so by the time I'd finished sponging one color and started with another, the first ones were dry enough to hit with that second color.  Just keep dabbing on paint until you get something you like.  I used blue, olive green and teal with a touch of bronze on the ones in the first photo.  Here's one during the process:


And here they are after I've done all the sponging I'm going to do:


Now comes the scary part:  antiquing.  Mix some glaze with a dark brown or black (or I guess you could use whatever you want - I used brown with a drop of black).  Use quite a bit of glaze in your glaze-to-patina ratio here.  Then go over the whole flower with it:


Told you it was scary.  Now wipe off the excess, leaving the color mostly in the cracks and crevices.  You should end up with something like this:


Let them dry well and then hit them with a coat of clear glaze to shine them up.  Sit back for a minute and admire your handiwork:


Here are some others I did in different colors earlier in the week, layered up with some brass filigree:


Now for the disclaimers:  I don't profess to be an expert at painting Lucite flowers with Vintaj patinas.  I don't know if it's against any rules and I don't know if the resulting floral artworks will last into the next millennium.  Nobody told me I couldn't do it, so I did.  It worked for me.  If you try it, I'd love some feedback.  Have fun!!

21 comments:

  1. Absolutely LOVE. Thank you for sharing this wonderful technique. :)

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  2. These are beautiful! I may give it a try... I did get one color of patina and have only played a little with it. This gives me a little more encouragement to play more!

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  3. Oh thank you so much for posting this, I am just starting out with playing with these patinas and this has given me so many ideas!

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  4. Those are pretty, thank you for sharing.

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  5. Oh, makes me really want to buy those Vintage Patinas right now! Great job!

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    1. hahaha - I hear you. I just HAD to buy all of them - and I don't even do metal work!

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  6. I'm so glad you posted this! I love how your flowers turned out and I would have never though of using my patinas on my lucite flowers that are just sitting in my stash of goodies,...right along w/my patinas that I have yet to open and try! Love the disclaimer at the end,...sometimes I put off sharing things I experiment with on my blog because I'm not sure if it's the 'correct' way to do stuff, but I love and appreciate your honesty mixed with humor!

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  7. Love it, thanks for sharing... headed to the workshop right now to try out your technique. Lucky for me, I have the whole array of Vintaj colours, I think :))

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  8. Gorgeous! I just used some Ranger Alcohol Inks on some of my lucite flowers and a couple of polymer pendants. Scary, but I think they turned out great. I had read somewhere that you couldn't use alcohol inks because they'd melt the plastic - they didn't.

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    1. Thanks for mentioning Ranger Inks; I was just wondering if that would work! Now off to experiment with some Lucite!

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  9. Love this idea! I passed on buying flowers the other day because they were just a tad too bright but this would drop them down a notch to usable!

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  10. Thanx for this great tutorial. I am going to try this.

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  11. I love this idea - I have been wondering what to do with my lucite flowers and now I know. Just one ques - how long did you have to wait for the first colors to dry up before antiquing? also will acrylic colors work in addition to patina inks?

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  14. Beautiful!!! I have that paint and glaze, and lots of flowers. I make flower jewelry a lot to sell. Now i will have some beautiful flowers to you. Thank you so much for sharing. Barbara

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  15. Hi - what do you use to seal the flowers after you have painted them? thanks!

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