måndag 21 april 2014

A frame for a Duchess - with a tutorial

I found a small portrait in a rather plain frame at the local fleamarket. The portrait was
printed on a satin fabric. On the back it said that the lady in the picture was a Beatrice d'Este. 
Beatrice was the duchess of Milan born in 1475. She became famous for her patronage 
of artists during the Italian Renaissance. I thought the frame was to plain and modest for a 
duchess so I decided to make her a new one....


I mounted the small frame inside a bigger one 22x28 cm.


A lot of embellishments..


...and a lot of DecoArt acrylic paint


I doubt that she ever saw a zipper or a wrist watch in her lifetime...


Cogs and gears for a "steampunk" touch...


Crowned with a star...


A small boot to honor her Italian heritage..




A lot of texture on the background...



"Step by Step"


I used Decoart Traditions Carbon Black, Aquamarine, Blue Green Light,
English Red Oxide and Warm White. 
Americana Gloss Enamel Rich Espresso and Texture Fierro Iron Black.
Two picture frames, lace and ribbons and lots and lots of small trinkets, decorations 
and junk (I prefer to call it treasures LOL)


First of all I needed texture, I found a really cool ribbon in my stash....
and glued it to a peice of chipboard. 


I glued the smaller frame to the chipboard....


I glued another ribbon to the larger frame and attached the chipboard inside


At this point it's a really good idea to give the frame a first coat of paint...


The outside rim of the frame was to smooth for my liking so I dabbed on some
Texture Fierro Iron Black.....


Then I started to glue down my decorations....buttons, upholstery nails, paper 
flowers metal charms, glass beads...


....zippers, plaster decorations, parts from a wrist watch, plastic cogs from a printer,
hair pins, small light bulbs, pieces from old earrings......


Now I got all my "junk" glued down, I do love my hot glue gun for this type of
projects. 


One more coat of Traditions Carbon Black and then we are ready for some
serious dry brushing!


First some dry brushing with Traditions English Red Oxide.........


Then I added some Blue Green Light and Aquamarine for some extra patina.
A tiny bit of Warm White for highlights.


Finally I dry brushed the whole thing with Americana Gloss Enamel 
Rich Espresso. It's not as opaque as the Decoart Traditions line so it allows
the layers of green and red to show thru and gives a brilliant, antique finish.




32 kommentarer:

  1. Alltså.. jag är stum av beundran... :D Du gör de mest fantastiska alster. Att du inte fick bli DT åt... du vet vem.. är deras förlust.. jag hade gjort dig till DT direkt om jag hade haft företag *ler*

    SvaraRadera
  2. This is stunning! thank you for sharing!

    SvaraRadera
  3. Fantastic work!!!!!!!!!!! Well done!!!

    SvaraRadera
  4. Every time I visit your blog, Anglica,

    I find myself staring at your creations in total awe! It is always so stunning what you create and how you make all of your projects look as if they were ancient relics and artefacts! You are so brilliant in what you do!

    Hugs,
    Claudia x

    SvaraRadera
  5. Wow. This a serious piece of art. Love the frame. Jean.x

    SvaraRadera
  6. Såå fantastiskt fint! Du är superbegåvad!

    SvaraRadera
  7. Woooooooooow wundervoll, fantastisch ,ich bewundere Deine Werke sehr,sie stecken voller toller Ideen,sie sind so schön.Ich mag Deine Kreationen,ich bin immer sehr begeistert davon und komme aus dem schwärmen gar nicht mehr raus.

    GLG Petra

    SvaraRadera
  8. wow, great idea and inspiration, stunning!!! Hugs, Kerstin

    SvaraRadera
  9. Woooow heeelt fantastiskt supersnyggt

    SvaraRadera
  10. I am amazed by your artistic sight…I just don't have that! The frame is absolutely gorgeous and to "watch" your process I was amazed

    SvaraRadera
  11. Vilken vacker tavla.
    Kram Ulla

    SvaraRadera
  12. Helt makalöst! Jag blir alltid lika "WOW!" när jag hälsar på hos dej!

    SvaraRadera
  13. O gosh Angelica...again I lost my words...it looks amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing the process, because I have to try it after seeing this masterpiece! Hugs

    SvaraRadera
  14. Helt underbar! Vilket jobb! Jag beundrar verkligen dina alster, de är helt outstanding. Jag hoppas vi ses på Gävlemässan på lördag.

    SvaraRadera
  15. FANTASTISK fin, så kul og så dekorativ, utrolig mange fine detaljer

    SvaraRadera
  16. Å, gud så stilig denne er ;)

    Kos deg en nydelig vårdag

    SvaraRadera
  17. Absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for the tutorial, going to have a go myself.

    SvaraRadera
  18. OMG! Your work is amazing. Thank you for giving step by step instructions and exact colors that you used, so many just say, ‘green’. Maybe I’m extra dense but there are so many different blends of each color. Anyway, thank you for sharing your beautiful project! MaryJo

    SvaraRadera