Bronze Patina - Sculpture Tutorial #4 - Paul Barton

A brief introduction to Patina formulas. Video demonstrations are to follow.

Further information on patina work application:

1. The surface must be clean. By clean I mean all oils and oxidation need to be removed. The most frequent oils are oils from your hands so do not touch the surface with bare hands. Use rubber gloves during wash and subsequent handling.. We clean the surface by bead-blasting immediately before patina. Other methods include a good detergent wash in water and thorough rinsing then wiping with a solvent. We use methyl alcohol. Rubbing with Scotchbrite pads during washing helps improve the surface for patina and helps remove oxidation. Dry with compressed air, clean towels and/or a hairdryer. Patina within 1/2 hour.

2. Apply a base coat. Most base coats are liver of sulfur or Birchwood-Casey M-20. These can be applied either hot or cold. I apply liver of sulfur hot and B-C M20 cold. Use spray or brush to desired color. A good solution for liver of sulfur is a lump of Liver of sulfur about the size of the end of your thumb to 1/2 gallon of distilled water. Make this solution new every time you use it. After applying the base coat, rub the patina under running water with Scotchbrite pads and/or scouring powder and rags. This should be done carefully to avoid taking off too much patina on the high spots, your call. this step gives depth to the patina. Rinse well and dry. Don't touch the surface with bare hands. You could just stop here for a traditional brown patina. Just heat it up and wax.

3. Apply patina coats. Patinas are usually a series of washes applied to the hot surface. The color you achieve is dependent on the temperature of the metal, the composition and strength of the solution and application. Heat the surface of the bronze slowly and evenly staring at the base. You will notice that the surface forms a watery sheen and then the water sheen will dissipate. Keep heating. The goal is to get and even heat in the section you are working. Keep in mind that thick sections need more heat, thin sections take less heat but cool faster and that heat rises, so the top will probably need less heat. Do not over heat or you will burn most patina solutions. The correct temperature for a given color takes some experience, so keep at it and go slowly. When the work is hot enough, in most cases, a drop of water will just bounce off the surface. Start spraying and/or brushing on the solution evenly around the work. Keep heating and applying until you get the color you want. You can apply different solutions for different colors and layering effects and this is where the art comes in to play. The color at this point will appear to be flat and saturated, this is not the final color after waxing. The best way to see what the final waxed color will be is to wet the coating and observe what the color is while wet, just before the solution evaporates. Experiment.

4. Apply wax while the work is still warm to seal the patina. Re-wax when completely cool and buff.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• life
• nude
• figurative
• sculpture
• bronze
• patina
• fomulas
• tutorial
• information
• Paul
• Barton

[AcePro]

Paul Barton, you are a real man. Multi-talented, informative. If every person on this earth strived to be more like you, I think the world would be a better place. Thank you so much!

[ohLOLhaha]

Thank you. Very informative.