Do you want to make Ursula jealous of your magic skills? You have to see how I created this rusty and crusty under the sea finish, using patina paint!!
Get This Amazing Under The Sea Aged Look Using Patina Paint
I have been super obsessed with crusty and textured finishes lately. What better way to pair some crusty textured than with patina paint? I have use this technique slightly differently before, but this time I wanted a way more dramatic look. I can’t take full credit for the technique name, a girl who was watching me do it live said “that looks like it has been under the sea for a while”. Yes, that is perfect and that is an amazingly accurate description, therefore we will roll with it!!
I am going to give you a supply list below. As the same with all of my posts these are affiliate links. These links cost you no money to order through, they just help support my small business and allow me to keep bringing you cool paint techniques.
The goodies, what do you need?
Iron Patina Paint by Dixie Belle
Bronze Patina Paint by Dixie Belle
Coffee Bean Paint by Dixie Belle (you can use any color you want if you want to try different colors)
Green Patina Spray
Blue Patina Spray
Sea Spray by Dixie Belle
4 CHEAP chip brushes
Mixing Cup
Stir Stick
If you choose to add the green patina powder you need:
Trianon Patina Artisan Powder (IF you want to add a little green patina)
Best Dang Wax in Clear (if you are using the artisan powder)
Artist Brushes (if you are using the artisan powder)
Remember, before I said I have sort of done this on a smaller scale? You can see what I did below. This technique that I am about to show you is MUCH more crusty, rusty, and sea like!
Let’s Get Started!!
You will want to lay down a base coat of paint first and foremost. In this case I used Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean. You can try other colors if you like, but I wanted to make sure it was dark and dingy. You can use just a cheap chip brush to paint your base coat. Normally I would say to use a higher quality brush, but the whole point of this technique is texture and imperfection. As a result this is going to have a mind of it’s own. Do you hear me? If you are a control freak, just let loose this one time!! Trust me it will be worth it!
Mixing Patina Paint and Sea Spray
Am I crazy? Possibly. If you haven’t realized by now I like to experiment. I like to mix and match and push boundaries. After deciding that the sea spray and patina paint surely had to be a match made in heaven, I was out to prove it!! Something to note: the mixture using the patina paint will dry out faster than if using the regular paints, so make sure you understand that before you mix it. If you have kids or grandkids to grab from school or an appointment, wait.
So on with it. One scoop of sea spray and then add the iron patina paint a little at a time, you want a nice pancake like batter consistency for this. Also make sure you are shaking the iron paint AND stirring it, these patina paints are metal reactive. What is metal reactive? Metal reactive paints have actual tiny particles of metal, that is why you are able to get a true super awesome patina with these types of paints! That is also why you need to make sure they are properly mixed!
Once you have made your Sea Spray and iron patina paint mixture, you are going to apply it. Using a cheap chip brush dab the mixture in a stippling like motion wherever you want to see texture and rust! You won’t be reusing this brush so don’t be afraid to really dab that mixture to create cool peaks and texture!
How Do I Get This Patina Paint To Work?
Glad you asked!! When you are using patina paint the first coat of the paint needs to fully dry. After I applied the iron patina and sea spray mixture, I allowed it to completley dry. The next step is to go back over the areas you want to rust with the second coat of iron paint. Once you have put on your second coat you will want to spray those areas with the green patina spray while the paint is still wet.
Before I moved to the next step I allowed the excess spray to drip off and soak into the paint for about 15-20 minutes.
Let’s Get Some Bronze Patina On This Bad Boy
The next part is using the bronze patina paint with blue patina spray. I love the blue patina look and I had a great vision in my head for this. I stirred and shook the paint jar to make sure it is fully mixed. Then I used a separate chip brush just for the bronze paint and added it randomly in places.
Again just like the iron paint, I did two coats of the bronze patina paint. The first coat dried and then I went back over the same areas with a second coat of bronze. While the second coat was still wet, I sprayed it with the blue patina spray. All three of Dixie Belle’s Patina Paints are interchangeable with the green and blue activator spray. I like using the blue because it gives me more of an aqua blue look.
What If You Want Some Green Patina Also??
There is a product that I really like to use called artisan powder. For this particular piece I wanted to add a little green patina. You can certainly skip this part if you like. I didn’t. You will want the Trianon Patina Artisan Powder and Clear Best Dang Wax for this part. I allowed the previous steps to fully dry and waited a few hours. Patina paint can take some time to show its colors so be patient. Once it has shown what it will look like you can gauge where you will want to put the green patina powder.
I also used artist brushes for this part as well. You will first want to add the clear wax in the areas you will put the artisan powder. Let the wax tack up for about 5-10 minutes, then go back over those areas with a separate artist brush dipped in the powder. Finally, let that sit for about 5 minutes and then take a separate chip brush and brush away the excess.
Thank you so much for hanging out with me!! I hope you try this out because it really has become one of my favorites!!! Let me know in the comments what you think about this finish. Will you try it?
