Applications & Techniques: Metallic Textures with Amy Shawley, Artist There are many ways to create textures from acrylic gels and paints. One exciting direction is using iridescent color alone or paired with gels to create a variety of metal effects. Be adventurous with your application tools and techniques and you can achieve a wide range of finishes. This project will walk you through the steps of creating a metallic leaf effect. This technique can be used as a background for a painting, as an element in a mixed media project, or as an embellishment to a sculpture piece, and beyond. Metallic Leaf Project This project uses a Heavy Body Iridescent paint to create a metallic "skin" to simulate the technique of metal leaf. The skin can then be collaged onto a prepared support, and you can paint on top of it as well. By applying acrylic paint to a surface that it will not stick to, such as a sheet protector or wax paper, you can create a thin, flexible skin that can be collaged into artwork. For this example, apply Heavy Body Iridescent Bronze (Fine) to a sheet protector with a brush, using even, criss-cross strokes. While the paint is still wet, draw into the paint with a rubber color shaper or other semi-flexible tool. Removing areas of the "skin" will make the bronze leaf more intricate. The viscosity of Heavy Body paint allows these marks to hold a crisp line. While the skin is drying, you can begin the next step: painting the background. For this example, the palette was Fluid Manganese Blue Hue, Sap Green Hue and Van Dyke Brown Hue, along with touches of Glass Bead Gel and Clear Granular Gel placed in selective areas. When the metallic "skin" is placed over those areas, the raised Glass Bead and Clear Granular Gel will create relief areas. The skin will be very delicate when dry, so remove it from the sheet protector carefully. One way to do this is to use a flexible metal palette knife and slide it between the skin and sheet protector to help lift an edge in order to get a good grip with your fingers to peel off the rest. Once released, the skin (which will resemble metal leaf in its finish and fragility) can be adhered to the painted support using Matte Medium. As you attach it, gently rub the surface to ensure even adhesion. As you apply firm pressure over the areas that have the Glass Bead and Clear Granular Gels, a fun pebbly texture under the skin will be revealed. The last step is to create a painting on top of the metallic leaf. This example follows a petal theme, and uses both transparent and opaque Fluid Acrylic colors to build the image. Opaque colors will block out the iridescent surface underneath; transparent pigments will allow the metallic to shimmer through. For the final touches, apply Fluid Van Dyke Brown Hue along the petal and branch lines to make the image "pop" more, and give the metallic leaf an antiqued look.

Example of a completed project   Heavy Body paint applied to a sheet protector, creating a metallic "skin."   Detail of the "skin."   Detail of a completed project.