Painting mouldings is an easy and fun project for anyone!
Did you ever think you can’t paint? Did you even screw up “paint by numbers’ and are you a specialist at colouring in over the lines? Well,who cares if you go over the liens a bit, or customise your paint by numbers art? Yes, you CAN paint, it’s easy to get satisfying results by painting mouldings using simple techniques on mouldings. Here is a little project I have just enjoyed doing. It takes no skill lat all. You don’t even really need a steady hand with a paintbrush!
I started off with our Large Ornamental Crown in Unfinished Off-White.
It then got a base of bronze spray paint. In this case I used Montana Gold Copper Effect Spray Paint, but any bronze or copper coloured metallic spray paint will do. Remember to use respiratory protection and spray in a well ventilated area.
Once you have your base, you can start “colouring in”. I used acrylic paint. Any acrylic paint is fine, but i prefer to use a good quality paint such as Golden because the pigmentation is so much better, so you will need less coats. I did 2 coats of each colour in a thin layer to prevent brushstrokes. It’s a bit like paint by numbers – you pick an area and colour it in! It doesn’t matter too much is you go over a line a bit – we’ll fix that later during the aging stage. (If you don’t like the aged look, try to be as accurate as you can at this stage, but you can always touch up later if needs be).
Also, if you find you don’t like the colour you’ve painted it, don’t stress. You can always go over it with a new colour, so throw caution to the wind and go where your heart takes you.
I decided to use 2 shades of turquoise. Here is the first darker shade. I used a pebeo matt acrylic paint in emerald and aqua blue.
And here it is after the lighter shade:
In the above picture, you can also see that I lightened the bulbous area towards the top of the crown, This is because I intended to redden it, so a light base underneath would help.Here it is after I painted in the red.
Next is the fun stuff – Gilding wax. Here, I am using Antique Gold Rub “n” Buff, but you can use any Gilding wax. A little goes a very long way. I like to dispense a tiny bit onto a piece of paper or card and use a cloth and a finger to pick up a bit of it, rub than onto the card a bit to get the excess off, then lightly go over the high points of the moulding. It really brings out the dimension and brings it to life. Pick a colour that enhances the colour underneath. If you use gold, use a light gold, For silver paint, you can use a silver wax. The wax is always much more shiny that the paint, so even if you use what seems to be the same colour, it will give it dimension.
It’s also really good on non-metallics. Silver on black or grey looks great, for example. You can even use a contrasting colour wax, especially in areas such as the bulbous part of the crown where the engraved pattern is. It will bring out the details. I went over the whole red area to tone the red down and make the detailing pop. I’m looking forward to trying out this ruby red wax on a black background – I am always interested in playing with unusual combinations and finishes.
If you don’t like an aged look, you can stop here. Do any touch ups if needs be and tra-la! You are done. I do like an aged look though, I think it gives character and depth, so I used a Golden Acrylic Raw Umber diluted with water and washed around all the nooks and crannies.I then simply wiped it away from the high points that I wanted to stand out. Here it is half way through this process.
This is the stage at which any little mistakes will probably get covered, but if not, you can go ahead and touch up any bits that you feel need it. Just be aware that you cannot paint over the gilding wax. Here’s my finished crown.
It’s your turn to have a go at custom painting your own resin mouldings now, and don’t forget to share your project photos on our Customer Projects Facebook page – I love seeing all your work.
Becky
