Crackle Finish Used In A Painting

Because I salvage, repurpose and reuse just about everything, and because I usually have 4-7 projects going simultaneously, I was able to make this crackle glaze sky.

It's one of my unique, art-backed wall art pieces.  I usually paint or collage onto the backs of my pieces.  It's really like receiving two pieces of art in one.  The backs are experiments, studies and practices.

Rather than wash the finish, as I completed another project, down the drain, I began to brush it onto the incomplete sky.  As the brush began to dry and drag across the surface, I spritzed it with water.  I continued to make long strokes from the top of the blue-shadowed buildings to the top edge of the board.  I think the sky was still the original white surface.

Once my strokes of crackle glaze was dry, as the instructions directed, I painted on the coral color.  It made a nice falling stars sky.  I like fantastic skies too!

For this crackle finish paint technique, I used Plaid Enterprises FolkArt Crackle Medium.

Papier Mache How To: Base Coating

Papier Mache How To

Base coating paper mache is the next to the best part.

I used gloss acrylic paint, rather than matte, because I am going to leave some of my white base coat showing in my painted design.  You can also use gesso, which is a favorite of some.  Though I am going to use a clear sealer I preferred my white coat to appear finished.

I gave these napkin rings three coats of the paint, allowing them to dry between each one.


I also alternated brushing left to right, and top to bottom, in order to completely cover the newsprint.

I had to take extra time and care to paint the rims of these papier mache circles.

Now that I've drawn the peppers onto each ring in my papier mache project, I will be designing and painting on my design.  The colors will coordinate with my hand embroidered napkins.