Tuesday 16 November 2010

My Walnut Effect Tutorial

Having been asked  many times to explain my process for the walnut effect I use so here it is,

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I start by base coating my piece with two acrylic colours, Americana Honey Brown and Champagne Gold.
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Apply them liberally, mixing but not blending as you cover the surface.
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Once the basecoat is dry add water to some Americana Burnt umber until it is the consistency of milk. Apply one coat over the base coat working quickly.

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Next we add the magic ingredient, Isoclene which is a Isopropanol based cleaning fluid. Pour a little into a small container, I normally pour into my pallet and have it ready before applying the watered down coat.
Dip the handle end of a brush into the Isoclene and place down onto the wet Burnt Umber. The paint should start to disperse.
Working quickly cover the surface of the piece, overlapping dots of different sizes.

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When happy with the effect and the paint is nearly dry lay a piece of kitchen roll onto the surface and lightly pat with your fingers and remove.

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The kitchen roll will remove a little of the paint adding to the overall effect shown below by the arrows.
SAMSUNG
This technique can be used with variety of different colour combinations.
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Andy.

9 comments:

  1. Fab technique, the finished effect is brilliant !

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  2. Cheers Sid, it's so easy to do aswell.

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  3. fabulous. I've been having a wonderful time travelling your blog. can't imagine why I haven't come across it before. it's revitalising my missing mojo. lol

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  4. Absolutely love this tutorial - thanks for sharing!

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  5. ich habe gerade ihren Blog entdeckt, Sie sind genial!!!! Danke für die interessante Tutorials!!!!

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  6. Wow this looks awesome. Thanks Andy, I will definitely be trying this.

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  7. So the Isoclene is actually applied to the project with the handle end of the brush?

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  8. And one more question—I searched Isoclene on Amazon in the U.S. and came up with nothing. Will regular isopropyl alcohol work and what strength (ok, so it was two more questions). Thanks!

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  9. It’s so effective and fabulous technique love it...xx

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Your comments are always read and very much appreciated.