finished a different finish






This mirror is a copy from the original wooden one i'd made earlier. It's cast in plaster of Paris, which turned out quite a challenge cos of the delicate shapes combined with the brittle characteristic of gypsum. I still managed to get one or two good casts (with accompanied swearing, sorry bout that). I will try out casting it in resin too, but proceeded with the gilding process to see how that would work (i.e.learn from my mistakes :))



It's very time consuming with all the details. First a red base which is easy with plaster cos it takes any craft paint. Then a thin layer of acrylic gilding size, letting it rest for 15-20 minutes till it's tacky. And finally applying the leaf metal. And repeating this process section for section. 





The metal had a harsh shine to it as you can see on the right side of the picture. I toned it down a little with colored gold wax as you can see on the left side of the picture. That gave the added benefit of picking up on all the detailing so I'm more then happy with this finish. Hope you like it too.  


Enjoy creating
Debora


14 comments:

  1. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

    I am so happy this worked out for you, hope you find a resin that works too. I have a liquid gold paint (real gold) that I bought from Angela Jones a few years back, so I am going to try that, I haven't used it yet, hope it is still ok!!!!

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  2. Your mirror is so very wonderful, Debora!
    Love, Susanne (Miniature Dreams)

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  3. Ton miroir est magnifique! Heureusement qu'on le voit dans ta main car on pourrait croire que c'est un vrai en taille normale! Bravo!!!

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  4. I think it is BEAUTIFUL!!! I love it too!!!!!

    That wax worked a charm on the depth of the gold color.

    I can't imagine how brittle plaster is even adding glue. I look forward to hearing how you like casting resin.

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  5. It looks really good!
    Yes, you should try casting in resin, it is so much stronger.
    The gold size I use is already red and will stick to resin, metal, plastics etc. It stays tacky for quite some time, so it gives you plenty of time to work with. You can even leave it overnight. The negative about that is that the newly gilded surface will rub off easily until it dries completely. Does the size you use do that as well?
    The wax looks good on the metal. Real gold leaf does not have that harsh shine, but just as you did now, you still may want to use a wax or something to pick up details.

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  6. PS: I am still glad you did not gild the original. I enjoyed seeing that two weeks ago!

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  7. @ Elga, like I said, can't wait to see your version. Fingers crossed it comes in one piece.
    @ Catherine, as soon as the resin comes in Ill share my adventures with it with you. Only hope the cat won't start playing with it making resin-marks all over the house... :S
    @ Josje, yes the gilded surface is very delicate and gets damaged quit easily. I left it for 24 hrs, but still buffing the brown wax resulted in bare spots. Hence the gold wax to touch that up. Probably takes a good few days to harder through??

    Jeffery mentioned the red colored gold size to me. But that's oil based, no? Is that opaque enough to cover a white or beige surface? Cos the thickness applied is thin as you can imagine.

    Most directions advise you to seal the gold (or metal) afterwards, with a shellack or other varnish to prevent tarnish. I do hope that solely wax will keep it's shine.

    Im so happy with all your feedback at that time, on gilding it or not. This one turned out really nice but i'm glad too, that there is the original wooden version as well.

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  8. It's very beautiful with the gold finish!

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  9. El espejo ha quedado muy bonito como todo lo que haces

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  10. Hello Debora,
    The mirror looks fantastic. You did a wonderful, meticulous job with the goldleaf...VERY impressive!
    Best,
    Giac

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  11. Debora, all i can say is wow, you have so much patience. This is beautiful. x

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  12. It is AMAZING!!! It's a gorgeous mirror! =)

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  13. Me ha encantado, es un precioso espejo, bueno todo es precioso

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