White paint and black antique... how is it done?

[Northlift]

Hello everyone! 

I've searched through the forums for an answer to my issue, but couldn't find anything so here goes! If it has been answered elsewhere, my apologies for starting a new thread. 

I'm new here and am constantly trying to improve my skills and tooling/painting on my weightlifting belts. My most recent endeavor is trying to figure out how to make my white paint remain white after antiquing. I tool, dye, paint (angelus acrylic), then coat with 1 or 2 coats of angelus acrylic finisher. I use black antique mostly because it goes with anything, the more natural tones don't fit in with my work. 

Basically, as you can guess, the black antique doesn't come off clean enough, and leaves a nasty tone on the white. I use Eco flo gel antique. 

See attached, an idol of mine's great work - and how white his paint comes out after finishing! 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much! 

[celtool]

I have the same problem.  I hope you get some advice.  

[tearghost]

I have had the same issue also.

[billybopp]

eco-flo antique gel is notorious for penetrating through most finishes used as a resist.   

[NCArcher]

Repaint it after you antique

[Northlift]

On 8/10/2017 at 7:26 AM, billybopp said:

eco-flo antique gel is notorious for penetrating through most finishes used as a resist.   

Would you recommend a different antique? I'm considering angelus. 

[billybopp]

I haven't tried Angelus, but do use Fiebings.  

Bill

[tomsmith85717]

Dumb thought, why dont you ask your idol how they did it who knows they might actually answer.

[Northlift]

On ‎8‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 1:32 AM, tomsmith85717 said:

Dumb thought, why dont you ask your idol how they did it who knows they might actually answer.

Haha, I've tried before. He rarely answers to me. Maybe trade secrets he doesn't want to give away. Repainting it after it is finished and antiqued sounds like it wouldn't hold on the finish.... 

[cjartist]

I would repaint the white.  If you notice the white accents on the red ribbon don't have discoloration.  You can see the antiquing on the yellow and the red, but not the white.

[NVLeatherWorx]

On 8/8/2017 at 4:33 PM, Northlift said:

Hello everyone! 

I've searched through the forums for an answer to my issue, but couldn't find anything so here goes! If it has been answered elsewhere, my apologies for starting a new thread. 

I'm new here and am constantly trying to improve my skills and tooling/painting on my weightlifting belts. My most recent endeavor is trying to figure out how to make my white paint remain white after antiquing. I tool, dye, paint (angelus acrylic), then coat with 1 or 2 coats of angelus acrylic finisher. I use black antique mostly because it goes with anything, the more natural tones don't fit in with my work. 

Basically, as you can guess, the black antique doesn't come off clean enough, and leaves a nasty tone on the white. I use Eco flo gel antique. 

See attached, an idol of mine's great work - and how white his paint comes out after finishing! 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much! 

What are you using as your resist?  This makes all the difference, especially with the Eco-Flo junk.  When you tried to remove the excess from the resisted areas did you use a damp paper towel? 

[Boriqua]

Even in the pic you posted the white is slightly affected. The leather has grain and is going to pick up "some" antique but I have had good-great results using supersheen as my resist. I have tried all sorts of methods and concoctions but what you need to do is kind of slick up the grain. So multiple lighter coats building up the white then I may spray my entire project with resolene and then go into the lighter colors I dont want brutalized and hand paint on a coat or two of supersheen. Be sure to let it DRY DRY. I leave my project alone a day or two so the acrylic fully cures hard.

When you remove the antique, I use the fiebings acrylic stuff, be sure to have a few sponges and rags. You can use the corners of the very lightly damp sponges to keep removing carefully from the places you want white. I even have some Q tips and a small bowl of water to help with removing antique from the surface.

I dont use supersheen as a final sealer but it does work great at preserving lighter colors.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Boriqua

[Northlift]

On 8/15/2017 at 4:27 PM, NVLeatherWorx said:

What are you using as your resist?  This makes all the difference, especially with the Eco-Flo junk.  When you tried to remove the excess from the resisted areas did you use a damp paper towel? 

Sounds like people dont like eco-flo haha. I use either supersheen or angelus acrylic finisher, my most recent attempt I did 3 layers, to no avail. I have definitely noticed a damp paper towel helps more than dry. 

[Northlift]

6 hours ago, Boriqua said:

Even in the pic you posted the white is slightly affected. The leather has grain and is going to pick up "some" antique but I have had good-great results using supersheen as my resist. I have tried all sorts of methods and concoctions but what you need to do is kind of slick up the grain. So multiple lighter coats building up the white then I may spray my entire project with resolene and then go into the lighter colors I dont want brutalized and hand paint on a coat or two of supersheen. Be sure to let it DRY DRY. I leave my project alone a day or two so the acrylic fully cures hard.

When you remove the antique, I use the fiebings acrylic stuff, be sure to have a few sponges and rags. You can use the corners of the very lightly damp sponges to keep removing carefully from the places you want white. I even have some Q tips and a small bowl of water to help with removing antique from the surface.

I dont use supersheen as a final sealer but it does work great at preserving lighter colors.

That is incredible... Absolutely nuts, and the white is so clean! Do you paint on top of the supersheen? Do you use the resolene just as a dye holder, not as a resist? I'm guessing you use the neutral stuff? In that piece, did u use black antique, dark, or a mix of both? 

Thanks so much! 

[Boriqua]

On that piece I used a medium brown Antique. The resolene I use is always cut with water so it is a fair resist but not great. I put it first because, although I dyed the background brown, I wanted to pick up the grain and well .... make that part look more antique. I dont know .. I just didnt want it all to look flat and wanted to pick up the leatheriness of the leather.

I thought it would also help to make a texture contrast between all the flat brown background and the smooth painted parts and make the painted parts pop a little more.

I allowed the resolene to dry and then with a small paint brush covered all the parts I wanted to stay clean with a couple of coats of supersheen. No I did not paint on top of the supersheen. I was just sure to clean off the painted areas well with the sponges and rags but the supersheen was a really good resist and made it easier.

You can see in the attached pic how the flat brown that was treated with the resolene picked up the antique but the colored parts are pretty clean

[Northlift]

11 hours ago, Boriqua said:

On that piece I used a medium brown Antique. The resolene I use is always cut with water so it is a fair resist but not great. I put it first because, although I dyed the background brown, I wanted to pick up the grain and well .... make that part look more antique. I dont know .. I just didnt want it all to look flat and wanted to pick up the leatheriness of the leather.

I thought it would also help to make a texture contrast between all the flat brown background and the smooth painted parts and make the painted parts pop a little more.

I allowed the resolene to dry and then with a small paint brush covered all the parts I wanted to stay clean with a couple of coats of supersheen. No I did not paint on top of the supersheen. I was just sure to clean off the painted areas well with the sponges and rags but the supersheen was a really good resist and made it easier.

You can see in the attached pic how the flat brown that was treated with the resolene picked up the antique but the colored parts are pretty clean

So you dyed, resolene, tool, paint, coat with supersheen, (extra on white and light colours), then antiqued the entire piece? Or did it section by section? How long do you leave the antique before removing? 

 

Thanks so much for helping me out! 

[Boriqua]

Tooled, dyed/paint, cut resolene, dry, super sheen, dry x2, antique, clean, dry, light resolene final

[Northlift]

On 8/18/2017 at 8:16 PM, Boriqua said:

Tooled, dyed/paint, cut resolene, dry, super sheen, dry x2, antique, clean, dry, light resolene final

What an order, thanks so much for your help! 

[retiredff]

I learned this here so I'll pass it on. I would put 2" wide painters tape over the white or anywhere you want to protect, then cut out the areas and remove the unwanted tape, then antique, remove the tape.

I use this for some 3-D stamps and it works great. Once the tape is on I use a stylus and go around the stamp or letter, then use a X-acto knife to cut out the figure. The outside tape can be removed to allow the antiquing or remove the center and airbrush what you want while protecting other parts.

 

[SmashySkins]

I've messed around with liquid latex that painters use with some good effect. I haven't used it enough to really know how good it could be, but it seems to peel right off of leather. My bottle has thickened after a couple of years making it harder to brush on. So use it up! You can buy it at art supply stores.

 

https://www.deserres.ca/en/w-n-art-masking-fluid-75ml