[Cut_Fingers]

Hey Gang,

I've been able to do alot of carving over the past few days, since I've had a bad case of gout & was immoble.

I am close finishing one of my pieces in Basswood & would like to try an get a marble'd look, like a statue. Any suggestions? I will probably try the suggestions on small piece of uncarved basswood first.


Thanks

I usually start with a gloss black undercoat first; then using plastic food wrap, I wrinkle it up into a loose ball; dip it lightly into gold paint (remove excess) and dab and slightly drag to create the proper appearance.
Once that is completely dry, I do the same with black paint to even out the finished look.

I suggest you try it on scrap first to get the feel for the technique. Don't apply the gold over wet black paint or it will look muddy instead of crisp like it should.

Good luck, Rick

[Cut_Fingers]

Hey Rick,

Thanks for the info, but based on your response, I don't believe I ask the question appropriately.

What I'm actually looking for is the bleached-out or dirty white roman statue look. I don't know how to describe the finish correctly.

However, your previous sounds great. Think I'll print it and put it in my files.

Once again, Thanks for your help. By the way, do you have a definate date on your catalog?

Jim

[AlArchie]

Jim, I don't know if this will work on 'staue' carvings, but I have used it on some extremely realistic carved rocks for carved fish displays.

First apply a good solid coat of sealer and fiish sand that smooth., next apply a solid base color for your marble. I used an off white tinged with a bit of light green. After that is thoroughly dry, make a wash (very thin) of the darker color you want for the marbeling effect and apply that to the carving with a soft brush, letting the wash flow in free patterns. You can sort of direct the marbeling with a soft brush in circular or random patterns. Most important is to let the wash color flow freely to assume it's own pattern. Then let it dry and finish with a satin or semi-gloss lacquer.

I've had folks swear the rocks were real.. I mean they get adamant about it. Again, try it on some practice material to see if it will work for you. The good thing is, that if it doesn't work, you can always repaint it!

Al

'What I'm actually looking for is the bleached-out or dirty white roman statue look.'

you may be looking for wood bleach... a two part product that makes the wood almost white. I've never used it myself but I'm sure there are many here that can help or serch the archives.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

A friend of mine is a very good cabinet maker, he just finished some birch cabinets and the natural color did not match the home...so he 'pickled' the wood..which is a white transparent coating.....I think it was lacquer but don't quote me...it really looked good, probably not what you are after however? :

[Cut_Fingers]

Thanks everybody for your ideas. I'll test it next week & let ya know how it turned out.