5 Color on Metal Tutorials
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Sometimes it’s fun to keep things “pure” when making metal pieces — not adding a patina of any kind and perhaps polishing a piece to a high shine or matte finish. But I find that color often calls my name. The various ways of adding color to metal add depth, humor, texture, and richness to the final product. Below are 5 color on metal tutorials using different media as the color agent.
- Coloring Metals with Alcohol Ink — Rena Klingenberg Jewelry Making Journal (please note that this technique should only be done in a work area with adequate ventilation)
Rena’s website has a lot of cool information. On a side note, alcohol inks are also used quite a bit with polymer clay. - Keum Boo
Keum Boo is an ancient Korean technique of applying micro thin pieces of gold foil to fine silver or depletion gilded silver. The tutorial is only 8 minutes, but it covers everything in an organized, efficient manner. I have done keum boo on several pieces, and as the video author says (I was unable to determine her name), it is an addictive process.Tip: I used a Japanese screw punch to create tiny round circles of gold sheet; trying to cut circles this tiny using scissors would probably make you want to stab yourself with the scissors instead. It is not a neat process as you have to be very careful with the fragile foil, and you may have to ever so gently “poke out” the circles from the punch, as they do have a tendency to get stuck.If you want to read a bite size history of keum boo along with results of experiments the author undertook, please see Charles Lewton-Brain’s page about it at The Ganokskin Project. I also recommend Celie Fago’s booklet on the technique, Keum-Boo on Silver.
- Coloring on Metal — Francesca Watson, Art Jewelry Elements blog
I really like using colored pencil on metal. This tutorial is very decent, but truth be told, I like the tutorial in the Penland Book of Jewelrybest. I used black gesso for my projects, but you can use any color you’d like. You may want to check out the work of Deb Karash and Debra Weld.
- Enamel on Silver: The forge and fuse technique Part 1 and Part 2 — Lillian Jones
This is a good tutorial. She uses a Beehive kiln to attach the wire to her piece to create the cells that will receive the enamel. I learned a way to do a nice sweat solder that takes a lot of preparation but a lot of reward when you see that beautiful flash of silver as the solder pieces melt neatly into one another. The kiln is a nice way to do it though.
- Liver of Sulfur 101:What is it, How to Use it to Create Patina on Silver and Copper Jewelry — Lexi Erickson, Jewelry Making Daily
This a a well known technique traditionally used to add a blackened/antiqued look to silver. I discovered liquid liver of sulfur after working with the “lump” form for quite some time. I found that I could paint on a layer of the LOS, place piece in water, and repeat until I got the color I wanted — I was able to get some wonderful blues and pinks this way.
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best. I used black gesso for my projects, but you can use any color you’d like. You may want to check out the work of
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