Artist Marie McGehee creates a faux mosaic table the easy way--using paints and glazes.
Materials:
grease pencil
sheet of acetate
pattern, if desired
latex paint-white or other light color
carbon paper
ballpoint pen
wide paintbrush with dry, stiff bristles
acrylic paint or house paint colors as desired
glazing liquid
raw umber tinting color
black latex paint
brown toner
turpentine
varnish
Steps:
- Use a grease pencil to draw mosaic patterns on the acetate. Create various sizes of geometric shapes or use a pre-selected pattern if desired.
- Prime surface of the table with two coats of light-colored latex paint.
- Place a piece of carbon paper onto the table surface and place acetate on top of that. Trace over grease pencil patterns on the acetate with ballpoint pen.
- Paint the carbon copied shapes on the table surface with desired colors of acrylic or house paint.
- Using a dry brush and a palette (an old plastic plate will do), blend the black latex paint with brown toner but keep the brush fairly dry.
- Lightly brush the black/brown color across the painted shapes on the table to produce a grainy texture (figure A). Let dry.
- Cover surface of the table with a glazing mixture of 1/3 glazing liquid, two drops tinting color and enough turpentine to make a milky mixture. Let dry.
- Apply two or three coats of varnish to finish the mosaic table.
)
)