Acrylic Paint - Metallics & Pigment Powders questions

[Rob Pierce]

Hi All,

I have some questions about metallic acrylic paints.

For years I have used metallic acrylic paint, usually DecoArt's
Metallics or Golden's artist acrylics. They work nice and I've
achieved good results using them.

However, I am trying to improve the useability of the metallic paint,
particularly in the opacity. Undercoating with yellow oxide (for
example) does help but only cuts down on about 2 or 3 coats.

Has anyone had experience mixing metallic pigment powders with clear
binder? I would love to hear how well that can work. My idea is that I
want to possibly make my own metallic acrylic paint and increasing the
amount of metallic pigment in order to make it much more opaque than
what's in off-the-shelf bottles. The color I use most is DecoArt's
"Emperor's Gold" which is a very yellow, bright gold - perhaps might
need some additional tinting to approach this shade of gold?

Alternatively, does anyone know of a good publication that might
outline good procedures in these processes?

Thanks

Rob Pierce
www.robpierce.com
vitreo...@earthlink.net

[Cliff D. Weller]

In article <i5gi70hn5j977j1fj...@4ax.com>,
vitreo...@earthlink.net says...

>Has anyone had experience mixing metallic pigment powders with clear
>binder?

I don't think this is what you're looking for but I'll
throw it out there anyway. I've been able to purchase
small vials of metallic glitter in various colors
from Walmart's craft dept. I assume craft stores have
similar items. Sprinkle it onto freshly applied clear
acrylic medium, allow to dry, brush on another clear
coat, and you'll have a sparkly finish that won't
flake off. You may need additional overcoats of the
acrylic medium (or varnish) to fully contain the flakes.

As for metallic pigments, these are also available in
various forms from suppliers of pure pigments. I keep
on hand both a black and rust-colored iron oxide sold
as by ceramic suppliers, which I mix with clear acrylic
medium and use as a primer instead of using the usual
acrylic gesso as a ground for beginning a painting.

[paula]

> Has anyone had experience mixing metallic pigment powders with clear
> binder? I would love to hear how well that can work. My idea is that I
> want to possibly make my own metallic acrylic paint and increasing the
> amount of metallic pigment in order to make it much more opaque than
> what's in off-the-shelf bottles. The color I use most is DecoArt's
>

not sure if this will help ,but, if i want a good deep colour i first
paint with a like colour in acrylic then go over with a metallic and i
find that one coat is o.k. better than 3 or 4 of metallics anyway.