Video

Vintage Mirror with Rose

Today I prepared video with small square mirror decorated with rice paper and stencil. In this tutorial you can have a look how to blend paint with rice paper background.
First I use sand paper to matt the surface of my mirror so paint can stick to it more easily. My base is white and this time I will not be using any paint or primer as surface is sanded really well.
Most of the time I tear rice paper with fingers for better blending. This way edges are fluffy and tend to blend better, saving us time with less coats of varnish later on. Rice paper is very easy to use and doesn’t get wrinkles like paper napkins.
I can start gluing by applying glue on the frame first and then another layer on the top starting in the middle of my image smoothing paper towards edges.
When glue is dry I mix cream, brown, green and white paint to blend background. I also add little beat of water when needed. I do my mixing along the way adding more of each colour, then I use larger sponge to tap over the paint to blend it adding water if needed. Remember to take only tiny beat of paint on your sponge and work your way towards images, not the other way around.
This is time consuming but once you learn how to do it your work will look like hand painted.
When everything is dry I use stencil to add more detail to my work. I spray stencil with temporary glue and wait few seconds for it to dry and becomes sticky. Then I position my stencil on the frame and I apply thin layer of paint over it using sponge. Temporary glue prevents stencil from moving at the time of painting or applying paste as well as leaking under it.
Once paint is dry I mix dark green and black paint with water to get thin mixture and I use fan brush to splash dots around the mirror to blend everything even better.
When I’m happy with the finish I can start varnishing. I apply several layers of gloss water based varnish and then I use fine sand paper to smooth my surface, with another varnishing to follow.
I applied about 40 layers of varnish with several sanding’s in between layers. This took me about one week to finish so plan your work ahead and do it properly. I usually apply several layers of water based varnish then I leave my work overnight for proper drying, then I use fine sand paper the next day to smooth surface of my mirror with another varnishing to follow.
At the very end I attach hooks and string for better hanging.
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03.06.2021

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