DECOUPAGE TUTORIAL
If you have some time to spend, much patience and imagination, you can make your Russell’ theme Xmas presents by yourselves. The cost is not high, the “things” where you can make your decoupage can be found in specific shops or even at home, depending on your creativity. Everything can be decoupaged, even a tile or an old LP.
Your friends’ll be happy to have a personalized gift and you’ll be much satisfied for making something original.
The Decoupage technique (from French decoupier: to cut) is a very old one. According to some researchers, this technique comes from Middle Age when watercoloured paper strips were stuck to the walls and old monks used golden cut papers to decorate.
As centuries went by, this technique has developed and improved.
In XVII century in Venice, where at that time Chinese and Japanese varnish decorated furniture were trendy, since they cost a lot, artisans and furniture makers from Venice had the idea to imitate such expensive furniture, by cutting the original prints and then stick them on the furniture they made, perfectly imitating Oriental inlaid works,
but keeping the prices low. The decoration was protected by a gloss similar to Oriental varnish.
In XIX century, in Victorian Age, in England rises the Print Rooms technique, completely decorated room walls, by stuck to the walls prints and frames.
TILE TUTORIAL (1st image):
MATERIAL:
- 1 tile
- 1 flat poit about 3 cm, soft bristle (when you choose the brush, pass it on your face, it has to be as soft as a fard brush)
- sapecific glue for decoupage - you can find many of them in specialized shops , but you can also do it at home, mixing 2 parts of vinavil glue and 5 parts of water.
- Water-based cracled-effect paint for decoupage, you can only find them in specialized shops
- Flatting for decoupage - it's rather expensive, but very bright and gloss. Instead of this, you can also use a normal flatting for outside, but pass many coats.
- Silver oil colour
- Bronze oil colour
- A pc printed image
- A hair drier
- A white and clean duster
- Absorbent kitchen paper
- plastic dishes
PROCEDURE:
- measure the tile and print the image you have chosen, after resizing it by any graphic software ( in windows xp there's paint)
- wash and well dry the tile
- Quick put the printed image into the water you have previously put into a plastic dish
- gently take it out, paying attention not to tear it and rough dry it between 2 absorbent paper sheets
- turn it up side down and pass an abundant glue coat on the print back
- gently take it and lay it (the front side up) on the tile
- Start passing an abuntant glue coat from the centre to the external part, as if you're drawing many rays, in order not to create bubbles.
- let it dry for about 1 h or, if you're enough skilled and you don't have enough time, you can dry it by the cold air hair drier from a distance of about 25 cm
- when the tile is completely dried up (when it's wet you cannot see the image very well and it's rather dull), pass the water-based cracled-effect paint for decoupage by irregular strokes, never passing twice on the same place (otherwise the cracled effect won't be able to act)
To have a thin cracled effect: wide strokes and a little quantity of the varnish
To have a deep cracled effect: short strokes and a lot of varnish quantity (paying attention not to drain on the tile)
The cracled effect aim is to give the things you're working on an antique shape, as an old painting with its cracled canvas.
Let it dry for about 45 min. If you aren't enough skilled in, it's too risky to use the hair drier, 'cause it could only dry the external part of the varnish and not making the cracled effect at all.
The more you let it dry, the more numerous cracks you'll have.
- when everything is dried, put a bit of silver oil colour on a piece of normal paper or on a piece of plastics and with a soft and cleaned piece of duster, pass a fine coat of oil colour on the tile; in this way you'll see the beautiful cracks on your tile, where the oil colour went inside.
- same procedure with the bronze oil colour.
- with a soft and cleaned duster take the exceeding colour away
- Oil colour takes the length of a Bible to get dried.
To fix and gloss everything, you can pass some coats of flatting on your tile, letting dry it between a coat and another
- Sign it using, for instance a copper colour for material and your unique gift is ready to be delivered. |
