I've had an idea floating around in my head this last week or so to make some enamel earrings using liquid enamel over a black base with an abstract and simple {very!} scratched design.
My previously mixed liquid enamel colours had sat on the shelf for a few months since I last used them and had dried up so I needed to add some distilled water to them and stir like a mad thing to get them mixed and smooth again before I could start.
I decided to create a couple of new colours from two existing liquid enamel shades so added some more yellow and green to a boring green colour I had to produce the bright green shade in the middle. I also added more blue and green to another mix to produce the greeny-blue shade on the right. That's the great thing with liquid enamels - you can mix them and create new colours.
To begin I enamelled some copper shapes on both sides with an opaque black then applied a layer of liquid enamel.
On my first attempt the liquid enamel was too thick and when I scratched the design most of it flaked off in big chunks. So after a bit of swearing, I washed it all off, then added more distilled water to my liquid enamel colours and started again...
Liquid enamel layer too thick - you can see the bumps in it as it's drying.
Second attempt - much smoother. I've found the liquid enamel needs to be thick enough to cover the enamel/metal base properly but liquid enough to flow and find it's own level, especially if you need to add a bit more.
Now I did forget to take a photo of the scratching the design bit in my excitement but this is what I used.
It's a tool used in metal clay work and it should have a metal ball at the end. I have no idea what I did to it to make the ball fall off but filed and sanded the end was ideal to use to scratch through the liquid enamel layer!
The green-blue earring just after firing. The colour gets brighter as the copper and enamel cools. The scratched design was experimental and quite "loose" as you can see :D I think I'll call it "abstract"...
I find it hard to be very precise with sgraffito designs!
The finished earrings.
The finished earrings.
I got some crackling effects going on too which was unexpected but I quite like the look.
I'm hoping my next attempts will be better. I think I'll add a bit more water to the liquid enamel so it's a bit thinner in the hope that will avoid the larger chunks coming off as I scratch the design.
As ever, working with enamel is a learning curve but it's fun to experiment :D
Copyright © 2015 Cinnamon Jewellery. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment