Bronze Powder Stenciling

Materials:

600 Wet or Dry Trimite sandpaper
small piece of brown paper bag
flat black latex or oil paint
wooden frame
pre-cut stencils
ROLCO Aquasize water-based gold size
bronze powder palette (Richgold, Roman gold, silver or aluminum)
2" foam brush
soft stencil brushes
Pink Pearl eraser
small piece of velvet or chamois
tack cloth
Venetian red (brown red) acrylic paint
sponge or paint brush
satin varnish or shellac

1. Paint wooden frame with several coats of flat black paint, sanding using 600 Wet or Dry Trimite in between. If last coat has little dust bumps, rub with brown paper bag--it is a mild abrasive that won’t injure the surface.

2. Rub the surface with a wet sponge or brush and Venetian red acrylic paint (figure A). This simulates the rosewood look under the stenciling.

3. Wipe surface with tack cloth before applying size.

4. Stir water-based size but avoid bubbles. It goes on white (figure B) and turns clear when it is ready to stencil into. It will receive powders until the surface has been sealed with a finish coat of varnish or shellac.

5. Mark the center of the side of your frame for pattern placement. Size the surface with polybrush and Aquasize. Give it a thorough coating evenly distributed with one pass of the brush. It is water-based and starts to dry immediately. Do not recoat. It is ready to stencil into when it has turned clear--generally in about 5 to 7 minutes.

6. Position the stencil on the frame. Using The Stenciler brush (figure C), pick up some powder and tap the excess out on paper. Begin stenciling, taking care to work from highlight to shadow (figure D). Work from the stencil edge into the opening, shading with the brush in a circular motion (figure E). You can always add more powder, but if you have applied too much you can’t take it off.

7. The frame is ready to apply the finish when you have completed stenciling. Any satin varnish, water-base or oil is satisfactory, as is shellac.

Tips:

Size a piece of black paper and practice before you do your frame.

Flat surfaces are best for stenciling.

Before removing your stencil, put the chamois tightly around your finger and pick up any loose powder on the stencil surface. This will reduce the floating powders when you remove the stencil.

Avoid mixing your powders together on your palette (figure F). You will be doing a multi-piece stencil. Remember to try and get a unit-behind-unit look.

You can lightly erase any loose powders 24 hours after stenciling, before applying a finish coat of varnish or shellac.