When things go wrong, Studio insights

Any Artist will tell you, there are a lot of projects that go wrong that you won't get to see.

The things that didn't work, you could call them failures, I prefer to see them as learning opportunities.

It's may be an issue with materials; viscosity, colour density, or an unexpected outcome. 

Some projects are 'play-time', a bit of messing about that can result in a muddy mess, which really don't matter too much.

Other times, it has to be acknowledged, it can be hugely demoralising and frustrating when things go wrong.

The forerunners to my recently released Gold Affirmations Collection is the perfect case in point. It really was a learning curve.

Gold Leaf

Imitation Gold Leaf, that I use, is tricky stuff as I've talked about before here, but there's more as it's not real gold.  Real Gold leaf is hugely expense, behaves very differently and is out of my budget.

Imitation Gold Leaf

Imitation Gold Leaf is actually a made of a combination of copper, zinc and brass. It looks gold but in can oxidise and tarnish. 

Tarnishing

Imitation gold leaf will tarnish over time, maybe in up to a number of years, if left unsealed. However, if it is part of an acrylic art work, we will want to varnish the finished piece anyway.  This is where it all went wrong in my experience.

I finished a lovely Affirmation Heart, applied varnish.... then wept. Look at that tarnishing.

time for lots more research.....

I tried varnish before painting.

Nope.

Lots more trial and error....

Conclusion

Gold Leaf (imitation) doesn't like the cold moist air of my garden studio in the winter, so when I applied the varnish it tarnished before my eyes.

I started again.

Keeping the gilded canvases in the consistent warmer temperature of my house made all the difference. 

Painting and then varnishing, still in the warm, meant all the gilding was sealed and protected before tarnishing could occur.

It certainly was a learning curve getting to success, but coming with a huge sense of delight, satisfaction and a reminder that when things go wrong, try again.

Onwards, to complete the Gold Affirmation Collection with added joy, hope you enjoy it too, take a look at it here.

Sue xx