Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Coloring on Metal

Not long ago, I stumbled across the work of Deb Karash, who does amazing fabrication work and likes to color on metal.


Yeah. You heard me right. She colors. With colored pencils. On metal.


Are those not stunning? Seriously!

Now, you know that I love all things metal. And when a friend showed me a Deb Karash piece that she actually owns, I decided I had to start experimenting. And let me stress: THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT. (Before I begin, I have to apologize for showing you the gorgeousness above and then subjecting you to my poor little copper etched cow. It's what I had available to play with, left over from a recent etching class. Be kind.)

After reading a whole bunch of stuff on the interwebs (a lot of which was contradictory, I might add) I set out with a small copper etched cow, a bottle of gesso, a 24 pack of Prismacolor pencils, a heat gun, and a few assorted odds and ends.

Before pickling and cleaning.

After pickling and cleaning.
I cleaned her up really thoroughly and dried her off with a clean terry shop cloth.



Then I gave her several thin coats of gesso, drying each one with the heat gun.

Set the hot piece on a bench block, which will cool it rapidly. Use pliers!
After several coats of gesso, I lightly sanded her to expose the raised areas of the etched metal and to smooth out any bumps.


Prismacolors! Don't you just love this tin? 24 great colors to play with - reminds me of the first day of kindergarten!


And then, literally, I just colored her in.


I wasn't particularly neat, and I pressed really hard with the pencils. As you may be able to see in this photo, that left some little wax crumbs behind. I used a soft, firm brush to clean those little crumbs off.


Then, I heated her up with the heat gun again, just until the surface of the color started to look soft.


I also scorched my clean terry shop towel. Don't be like me. (Seriously. Those heat guns are HOT. At about this point of my experiment, I realized I probably should have been heating Bessie on a soldering brick or something fireproof. You know, other than cloth. Sheesh.)

I repeated this several times: color, clean off, heat with the heat gun. Between heatings, I let the piece sit for a few minutes on my bench block to cool off. I should probably tell you at this point that several of the instructions I read online involved baking the piece in a 275 oven for 10 minutes. Between every layer. After putting Krylon spray on it. (Did I mention that this was after every layer?) This is why Deb Karash is so awesome and I am not: I am not that patient. Heat gun. ::Insert Tim the Tool Man grunt here.::

Then, after about three layers of color and the final heating, I buffed the piece with a terry cloth towel....


... and then lightly sanded it back with a sanding sponge.


And then, because I am incapable of doing anything with metal that doesn't involve either enameling or patina baths, I dunked it in Novacan Black for 30 seconds, which darkened all the raised etched areas that were exposed in the final sanding.


Final step: REN WAX!!


So let me point out that, once again, I diverged from the instructions on the interwebs because I am impatient. The instructions were to put the final coat of Ren Wax on the piece, let it dry, then bake the piece in a 275 oven for 10 minutes.

I think you can guess what I did instead.


The Ren Wax flashes and gets very liquid in just a few seconds. Then, when I put the hot metal on the bench block, it cooled immediately and I was able to buff it without waiting.

Because waiting = bad.


Here's the finished little piece - not my usual style at all, but I think there's a lot of potential here. I'm no Deb Karash (obviously) but I think with some further experimentation, this is a process that has a lot of promise for some of the mixed media work I'm fascinated by these days.

So what do you think? Worth some additional effort??

Until next time -



Serious note: heating wax and metal usually results in noxious fumes, most of which are really bad for you. Some of what I am suggesting here may not even be safe - I was experimenting, and I have a lot more research to do. If you decide to try this yourself, make sure you're working in a well-ventilated area and wear a respirator. I wear one in my studio whenever I solder or enamel, and I should absolutely have worn one when I was doing this experiment. Don't be like me.




35 comments :

  1. An interesting process. I'm not a patient person either which is probably why I have not moved on from just stringing jewelry and a bit of wire work. In fact just yesterday I started a patina experiment which takes three days and already I'm itching to do all the steps at once. Bud I do love this idea of coloring on metal. Thanks for sharing. Oh, and your cow is darling!!!!!

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    1. A three day patina experiment??! I don't blame you for wanting to try all the steps at once! Make sure you let us know how it turns out!

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  2. That is awesome Francesca!! It turned out adorable!!!!

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    1. She is kinda cute, isn't she?? Not my usual at all, but she's really sweet and might be a nice whimsical touch in a mixed media piece.

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  3. OH Francesca! This is awesome and I so want Bessie for myself!!!!

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    1. Hmmmm.... maybe she needs to come live at your house??

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  4. I haven't moved to etching (yet), Francesca, but this pencil crayon colouring looks like a great way to add pizzazz to metals. Sweet!

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    1. Monique, you don't need to wait for etching to start with this - cut out some metal shapes and go to town. The blending and shading is super easy with these pencils. :-)

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  5. Holy Cow!!!! (sorry, I just had to say that!) What an out-of-the-box thing to do. I hope you continue your experiments. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hahahaha! Yeah, this was outside my usual thing but I sure had fun!

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  6. What a fun experiment! Every single thing I do is an experiment. I made a ring and a pendant yesterday from etched metal and this would have been brilliant to try to add a little more spice to the pieces. I will tuck this knowledge away for another day. And I am like you. Waiting = Bad. ;-) Enjoy the day. Erin

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    1. Glad to know I'm not alone, Erin! Also, I haven't tested the durability of this finish - might not be the best choice for a ring or a piece that gets a lot of wear. I just honestly don't know - so if you try it, check in and update us, won't you??

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  7. Patience is a virtue... one virtue that I lack! Love the process and the cow!

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  8. I love your experiment, Francesca! What a sweet cow! I have heard of this technique before, but really didn't know what it entailed...thanks for sharing! I need to go find a heat gun!!

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    1. I had one left over from my very brief flirtation with scrapbooking. This is why you never throw anything out, amiright?? RIGHT??? (That's what I tell my husband, anyway.)

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  9. Love it! I love the soft antique looking texture you ended up with!

    I have to say... I have had a life-long love affair with Prismacolor pencils (they also make Primasticks! Gasp!). As an illustrator in my Chicago days (hmm 20+ years ago), I used them heavily in a mixed media painting style with acrylic washes and air brush. NOBODY makes color pencils like Prisma, and trust me I tested them all! The beauty of Prisma is the ability to layer and layer and LAYER.... You can also scratch them back in a sort of sgraffito effect. Yum.

    I just know you are going to have fun exploring!

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    1. I'm taking a mixed media monoprint class in August - I am so excited. Color is taking over my life - enamels and now this. I have no idea what's next, but my head is exploding with ideas. I spent two hours the other night looking at video tutorials about dyeing silk, for heaven's sake!!!

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  10. so- the instructions said to put krylon on and then bake???? isn't it flammable? anyhow, yours turned out great! I have often thought of trying to do that also, I think I saw some of her work in art jewelry once. its on my list for my spare time (LOL).

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    1. Yup - multiple coats of Krylon, if I was reading them correctly. I didn't have any, so I skipped that part. And yes, all that stuff is flammable, but at low temps it should be OK - I'm just pretty sure I don't want to cook my food in the same oven where I was baking wax and Krylon!!

      You have spare time? You're doing it wrong, then!! ;-)

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  11. Loved your experiment, gesso is good for so many things. I wouldn't have thought to do so many layers of color and heating but your cow turned out really great. Think it would be fun to do some experimenting with that whole process. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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    1. Glad you liked it, Dolores! Let us now how your own experiments turn out!

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  12. This is amazing! Like chemistry for artists. Ordering gesso, thinking on where are the prisma, wondering if my watercolor pencils or pastel pencils will work, trying to find the heat gun (most probably sticky from the last honey pull!)and singing the 'why oh why' song....'why oh why' can I just not clean or iron or cook or eat until I have explored EVERYthing ART?????

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    1. Tracy, thanks for the reassurance that I am not alone in that "try everything" phase of my artistic life!! Inquiring minds want to know: what's a "honey pull"??

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    2. :) Pulling honey is a quick phrase used by honey bee keepers to mean harvesting the honey...it's a sort of pulling it out of the comb. The latest technique uses a heat gun to lightly melt the end caps on the comb to release the honey for spinning in the extractor...there is no way to do it without getting sticky! lolol

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  13. I have played with this technique before and found it really inspiring. In fact - its still on the top of the To-do-when-i-have-more-time list! I wanted more saturated colors so I am going to try with black gesso next time around...

    I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Deb at the ACC show in Baltimore this Spring. Lovely lady... and the work is so intense in person!

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    1. Jenn, I am jealous! Would love to meet her - and she offers fabrication classes that I have added to my wish list for next year. Her techniques are just amazing. The one piece I've seen in person was nearly sensual in it's intensity - the color is brilliant in tone but very soft in visual texture. It just begged to be touched.

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  14. Bessie is too cute! And I loved reading your post, you sound just like any other average person...with not a lot of patience the first time they are trying something and want to know quickly what the end result is going to be like!

    I have not a single gene related to patience in me...hence I will never make my own components. But you should definitely take this further on! With rich colors and flowers and paisley patterns! Looking forward to it!

    BTW, what is gesso? I suppose I will google it now :)

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    1. Hahahaha! Glad you like Bessie, and that I sound like any other average person. Most days, I feel completely insane and out of control, so my plan to fool everyone must be working. Mwahahahaha! ;-)

      Gesso is an acrylic formulation that's used to prepare canvas and other surfaces to be painted. I stole it off my husband's art table, but you can probably find some at any craft store.

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  15. This was such an interesting post! I love the way the little cow came out. I'm trying to gain patience to do things that take much less time, so I'm happy to be able to read about more complex techniques I just know I'm never going to do. It's fun to live vicariously!

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    1. Oh Ann, thanks for that! Patience is a hard thing - I'm pursuing it in several areas of my life, which means I sometimes can't find the energy to accommodate it on my workbench. LOL!!

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  16. Thanks for sharing your experimentation post. Ummm - patience, not my virtue either. Maybe that's why my resin bottles sit unopened - you mean I have to wait for it to dry?!
    But this has possibilities. I know I have a brand new heat gun somewhere, and ren wax, clear guard, prisma pencils, respirator. Guess I need to get some gesso. I've been playing with the lead free solder and thinking of ways to color it. This may be an experiment to try in my studio of "things I want to in my spare time".
    Oh, and I love Bessie. Reminds me of my summer vacations on relatives' farms.

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  17. Thank you that was a great tutorial, I found it inspiring, :-)

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  18. She taught a class locally and I wasn't able to attend, I hope she comes back. I might just have to do some experimenting as we'll. your cow I adorable!

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  19. Francesca, I love Deb Karash's work and hope to take a class with her one day, so I was delighted to read your blog. I have colored pencils and a torch....I love to etch...I am going to try this. Thank You for a lovely interpretation.

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