Isle of Crafty Creations: 'A Rusty Life'

Saturday, 6 March 2021

'A Rusty Life' - MDF Mixed Media Tag

Hello!

This week I am recreating one of the mixed media samples that I made for the last Bee Crafty HOCHANDA show but on a smaller scale and with step by step photos (there are quite a few!)...

1) I started by adding some MDF pieces to the tag...

2) To create the rust texture I used grit paste, this was focussed mostly around the edges where the deepest rust would be...

3) Black gesso was painted all over the piece to create a base...

4) To create the metal look for the rust to be on, I used the two different shade of silver paint from Dina Wakley...

4) To create my rust effect I use 4 colours of acrylic paint - a dark brown, a red brown, a mustard yellow and a red rust colour...

5) The first layer is created using the red rust colour. I add some to the top of the tag then spritz on lots of water to create drips of colour down the tag...

6) Next I start with my yellow rust (I work light to dark but some people create their rust dark to light, it is personal preference) and use a stencil brush to stipple on the areas I think would have the most rust. These tend to mostly be where the grit paste is underneath...

7) The next layer is the red brown and I put this over the first layer but still leave some of the yellow showing. If I find too much yellow is covered I just go back in with some more and keep doing this with all the layers until I am happy...

8) To complete the rust I add the dark brown. I tend to keep this to the edges or where the grit paste is thickest as I think of this as being the oldest rust that has gotten really dark over time...

9) At this point you could leave the colour as it is but I like to lift it with some silver dry brushing to also bring out more of the details...

10) I love the idea of brightness against the rust, so next I stamped and cut out some of the butterflies from the regular Birds & Butterflies stamps and dies set...