Before Applying Antique Gel

[Katariina]

Just started my day, keen on finally trying out the Antique gel as I realized that I don't have the right kind of resist! What should I apply before the gel then? You can see my selection next to the work. Oh, and I do have a bottle of Angelus Satin Finisher too. I don't want my colours all covered with the dark brown gel that I plan to use. Need instructions asap. And how long do I have to wait after I apply some of the chosen resist to apply the gel?

[Bob Blea]

Hello Katariina,

I can't read the red label product but the wax probably isn't going to help any. Typically you would want either a lacquer based product or an acrylic based product for a resist. I'm assuming the painting on the leather is acrylic based, so I probably wouldn't use a lacquer based resist because I would be worried that the lacquer could dissolve my paints. I would choose to go the acrylic route, something like Resolene. If you don't have a leather supplier handy (I'm assuming you don't have a local store you can go to) there are other options. Art supply stores commonly carry a product called Acrylic Matte Medium, at least here in the US. Liquitex is a well know manufacturer here in the US. It can be used like Resolene over acrylic paints, though I would want to water it down 50/50 with water and apply it in several light coats.

Hope this helps,

Bob

[Bob Blea]

And I should have also mentioned:

Whatever product you find, TRY IT ON SCRAP FIRST! Make sure it doesn't mess up your paints on a scrap piece of leather before you try it on your project. You will also want to verify that it is thick enough to resist the antique before you apply that.

Bob

[Katariina]

Thank you Bob! You gave me the some good advice, since I'm getting confused with all the product names and not knowing what they're suppose to do! . Confusement galore! Anyway , now I think I understand, you have to choose your resist depending on what medium your using!

When using acrylic paint you use for example acrylic mat medium.

When using ether based dyes, you use lacquer resist.

So do I need oil underneath either one of them? See it all makes it more difficult when brand names don't say anything to me, like you said, I can't walk to a local store and get a jar!!!!

Sorry, I know I'm going to get this soon, I just need to go through trial and error! But, thank you for being patient !

Ps. Scraps I've got, I just need the patience!

[Bob Blea]

You are correct, choose the resist based on what you've already applied to the leather. I will say that I prefer lacquer based resists just because I have more experience with them and they seem to work better for me. But plenty of people on this forum use acrylic based products with success.

I would oil before I painted. The Acrylic will probably block the oil from penetrating since it seals the leather pretty well. I wouldn't say you absolutely need to oil an item. I know a well respected maker that has stopped applying oil to his projects unless it will see a lot of exposure to the elements. He wants to maintain the natural light color of the leather as much as possible so he's stopped using Neatsfoot oil on his works, and so far he hasn't heard bad feedback from any of his customers about it. I feel like you should use oil anytime you are dying leather because the solvents in the dyes tend to dry out the leather and make it more brittle.

[Katariina]

Thank you very much Bob! Will continue with testing and reading in on the stuff on the forums! I'm happy at this point to have found an other new thing to experiment with !

Thanks to everyone and a happy weekend!

And that's how it turned out after the gel, I didn't put any resist on this piece.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Katariina