Thread: Patina painting suggestions

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I created this welcome sign, I painted the letters and boarder with a ruby bronze acrylic paint simulating a bronze plaque. I would like to add some patina to it. Ive never painted faux patina before any suggestions or techinques?

Get some green paint and dab on here and there. search google for the right color hue.

A sea sponge (you can find them in the craft/painting section of places like Hobby Lobby, Michaels) would also be good. Verdigris on copper and brass tends to be a green shade:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Verdigris.JPG

Mix up the color, dab the sponge in and get a piece of cardboard or something similar to dab off the excess paint, then lightly press the sponge to the surface and change the direction of the sponge a few times to get some interesting overlap and to keep it from looking to uniform. You can also water the paint down and apply it so it pools in the low points, drain off the excess and use the sponge to spread it out and blend (so you don't see the pour lines if you end up with them). When I say "watered down" I don't mean water with a little bit of paint, you want it fluid, but not almost all water. Once you get the paint on there, you can also use a spray bottle to mist it to cause the paint to run down in a more organic way - and blot with the sponge to blend any areas that aren't working as well.

http://www.ironwolftraders.com/catalog/43_1_b_7_1.JPG
See how the really bright green is in all the nooks and crannies? That's also a cool effect to go for and you can do that by doing the watered down part and then using the sponge to blot at the high points (use a rag also - both to wipe the sponge off with and to remove paint from the high points - you want the sponge so as to not get obvious rag wipe marks)

For texture painting like adding rust or patina or weathering... look at the real thing. Google up pics of actual bronze statues, actual iron bars, actual rust, all the real stuff. Print em out full color, and throw them in a folder or binder, as reference. Keep it near by, as you're painting your props. Remember that copying the real deal is the best way to get realistic results. After that, it's all about the artistic skills and personal preference.