Happy Fall, friends! The weather is cooling down and starting to feel like Fall, so that put me in the mood for some Fall crafting! Some of my very favorite Fall decorations are pumpkins ... I have them scattered all over the house! So naturally, when I spied this plain bisque pumpkin at the craft store, I had to scoop it up and find something fun to do with it!
To transform this pumpkin, I turned to my Tommy Art paints and began by giving it a base coat of Brown Black Chalk Color (I left the stem unpainted for now, so I could use it as a handle to hold the pumpkin and turn it as I painted. You can see the original color and texture of the pumpkin/stem in the photo below.) The pumpkin started out very smooth:
Tommy Art Chalk Colors are high-quality, rapid-dry, chalk-based mineral paints. The chalk color offers superb coverage, opacity, porosity, and lightfastness, which adheres to most surfaces without preparation. Available in more than 35 colors, these chalk-based mineral paints are suitable for a wide range of decorative styles and come in three color ranges: pastel, neutral, and intense.
Next, to give the pumpkin LOTS of fabulous texture, I applied Volcano Paste thickly over the Chalk Color:
Tommy Art Pastes include a number of mediums appropriate for creating special effects. Available in nine colors, they are thicker than paint and have a gritty/sandy texture. Use the pastes with a palette knife to create the natural look of sand, rock, rust, or stucco. It can also be used with stencils to add interesting relief effects. Some Tommy Art Pastes can be mixed with Tommy Art colors to transform the chalk-based paints into modeling pastes!
Here's a close-up of the wonderful texture I created:
Then to highlight all that fabulous texture and lighten up the black color of the paste, I applied White Coating over the Volcano Paste. I worked in small areas at a time, working the Coating into the deep crevices of the Paste and quickly wiped off the excess. The longer the Coating is allowed to dry, the more difficult it will be to remove with a dry cloth; although rubbing with a damp cloth will remove more of the Coating color (which I did a little of, as well):
Tommy Art Coatings are semi-transparent, acrylic liquids. They can be be mixed with other colored coatings or with Tommy Art colors. The coatings come in five different colors (Antique, Dove Grey, Grey, Neutral, White) which are used for transparent and semi-transparent effects, while also serving as a protective finish.
This is what the pumpkin looked like on both sides, after applying and rubbing off some of the White Coating -- I love all that great texture! Additionally, I lightly sanded away some of the White Coating and texture in a few spots:
For the final step of the pumpkin, I used a little Neutral Wax on a soft cloth and wiped it over some of the smoother sanded, darker areas of the pumpkin. After allowing to dry and buffing the wax with a dry soft cloth, this deepened the black color a little and gave another kind of texture to the pumpkin -- a bit of shine!
Tommy Art Waxes are a creamy, solvent-based beeswax that can be used to add color or to create a seasoned look. Ideal for use with wood, plaster, and metal. Each of the four colors (Amber, Antiquing, Neutral, White) produce their own decorative effects. They are easy to apply and buff and are an excellent way to protect surfaces.
To finish the pumpkin stem, I painted it with the same Brown Black Chalk Color I painted the pumpkin with, then very lightly applied White Coating with a damp cloth. Using a damp cloth thins the Coating a little and helps to prevent too much Coating from being applied. Then I wiped away the excess.
Here are a few more close-up finished photos:
Have you ever painted and transformed a piece of home decor ... or furniture? I'm having so much fun, I just may try something larger!
Thanks so much for joining me today!
That's a great project !
Posted by: Marjorie Dumontier | October 14, 2017 at 03:56 PM