How to quickly give a professional finish?
(part 1 of 4)

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We constantly do certain finished pieces for our customers here at Arkahdia Arts
and don't charge them an exorbidant fee because the methods we use are not
really labor or relatively money intensive. So we can charge less and
give it as a value add service. Note we sometimes use this technique to do
the bulk of our work on a project and then go in and do detail work.

The big secret?

SPRAY CAN'S AND MASKING TAPE and cheap $.35 brushes...

Here are 4 simple techniques and finishes one can do with them.
1) Antique Gold, Silver, Copper
2) Two, three, tone
3) Highlight & shadow for stone, woodgrains, grasses, and mosses
4) Weather affect

Please note I recommend that you do this outdoors and down wind from you!
If you are going to do this inside and/or going to do alot of pieces over and over
then please make sure to open the windows place a $15 fan pointing out to ventilate
the room.

In addition you can purchase a simple respirator mask with reuseable cartridges for about $20 from a company like Uline. I would recommend the "Reuseable Respirator 3M 6000" with Organic Vapor Cartridges. Don't bother buying the throw aways they don't ever seem to fit correct and they don't block vapors.

For someone with lung problems like me, I can personally say that either down wind or a mask and fan works for me!

Alright time for the fun stuff! How do I go about doing this?
This is going to be so easy it's going to blow your mind!

Part 1) Antiqued Gold and Silver

We used this on 150 Breakable Buddha Statues for a Broadway production of Carousel starring Patrick Stewart at the American Airlines Theater.

Step 1) Spray your item with high gloss black (DO NOT FLAT BLACK you need the reflectivity) from about 6 inches away, (if you use krylon it will dry in 15-20 minutes in 60 degree weather) if your item has alot of crevices I would suggest turning it upside down for this coat so you do not miss undersides. Step 2) If upside down flip your item right side up Spray your item with a second coat of high gloss black you want to make sure you have full coverage, but be careful not to over spray otherwise you'll get drips. (let dry again) Note if you get drips just sand it off and respray Step 3) This is where the magic begins! Get out your metal colored paint spray can (we used bright gold on the buddhas above). Now from 12 inches give a light dusting spray moving from one side to the other. That is it!!!!! If you desire you can put a gloss sealer on, but it's not necessary. Special Note! If you mess up and put to much on just spot light spray some black let dry and then spot light dust again.

YES IT'S THAT SIMPLE!!!!!!

If you would like to get one a buddha or one of the thosands of other pieces for your decor please stop by and check out ArkahdiaArts.com

If you like this home decorating tip drop me a line at Rich@ArkahdiaArts.com