Decoart Winter Wonderland Challenge - Jack Frosts Ice Wand Tutorial

I certainly hope you all had a great Xmas. all had plenty of time to unwind? well now you are all relaxed it's time to see what the Decoart Media Team has been up to, we have been very busy you know ;-)

It's time for us to go live over at the Decoart Media DT with our Winter Wonderland Challenge.

Here is the blurb for whats what x.

Are you ready for another DecoArt Media challenge? This challenge will be a winter theme full of blue and purple hues and maybe even some snow! Our Mixed Media Design Team has been busy creating some great inspiration pieces that we will be featuring daily, so get ready for some fantastic project ideas starting December 28th. We can’t wait to see where all your creative ideas take you! 

The challenge will open for entries on December 28th and close on January 29th. The winner of this challenge will be chosen by the DecoArt Media Design Team on February 1st and announced here and on Facebook February 2nd. The winner will receive a DecoArt Media prize package valued over $120 so you will certainly want to submit a piece or two! Don't forget to share with your friends so everyone can join in the fun!

And of course, this challenge is open to everyone no matter where you are from, Decoart have a better delivery system than dear ol Santa ;-)

So on to my project, and after much thought about what I could do for a winter wonderland theme I decided to create Jack Frosts Ice Wand.

Here is a list of what was used:

From the Decoart Media Line: White Gesso                               Tinting Base

                                                  Texture Sand                              Modeling Paste

                                                  Prussian Blue Hue                      Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide

                                                  Raw Umber                                 Quinacridone Gold

                                                  Gold                                            Carbon Black

                                                  Quinacridone Burnt Orange       Satin Varnish

                                                  Matte Varnish                             Antiquing Cream Black

Other Decoart Products:           Triple Thick Spray Varnish        One Step Crackle

Other Materials:                        Plastic Straw                               Shower head Handle

                                                  Glass Tv/Radio Valve                 Hot Glue Gun

                                                  Leather Shoe Lace                       Graphite Pencil

I will start with the step by step pics and process and then finish with a collection of close up pics xx.

Once I figured out how my wand was going to fit together the pieces that needed to be glued into place like the straw and handle were hot glued together. The straw I used was a thick sturdy drinking straw not one of the thin plastic straws like you get from Mc d's.One of them may have melted or not stood up to the weight of the modeling pastes etc. 

The Valve was left off to make painting easier and  fortunately it clipped/wedged straight onto the end rather conveniently.

Once the glue had set everything was given a couple of coats of white Gesso, This gives everything the same nice even base to work from and removes obstacles like chrome pipe and Plastic that would be a nightmare to try and paint straight over or add different product to.

Both the point of the wand and Glass Valve were given an uneven coat of modeling paste applied with a pallet knife.

The Pipe work was given a coat of texture Sand. I find to get the most amount of texture once the texture sand has been applied, just stipple the surface with a stiff bristled brush and leave to dry.

When I am ready to add colour to a project I like to give everything a base coat of tinting base. It just leaves a nice crisp white finish so any light or translucent colours will not look dirty.

Some One Step Crackle was added to the handle. This product self levels so doesn't need to be over worked with a brush, just make sure you get a good coverage. How thick it is applied generally determins the size of cracks you are left with, I wanted fairly large cracks so just poured a little on to the handle, pushed it around with a brush and left it to dry. The handle was done in two goes, top and bottom so as to allow it to dry properly.

Don't heat dry the crackle glaze no matter how tempted you are, it will halt the crackle process and just leave a nice thick glaze over the surface. x

Back to the handle for the rust effect.

Blend over the Texture Sand with some Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide and some raw Umber.

I like to apply both colours at the same time as this allows me to get subtle changes in tone which will help with the overall rust effect.

A couple of coats of Quinacridone Gold over the top leaves a nice wet rusty look. If the Quin Gold is applied thin you may need to add another coat or two, just keep going till you get the result that works for you.

Also when it dries you will notice the Quinacridone Gold has a gloss finish, This is to do with the type of pigment used and as the Decoart Media Fluids have no Bulking agents etc you will find subtle differences in the finish of the different pigments.

Don't panic, this is perfectly natural and one of the reasons why the varnishes in the Media line are so good.

I like to finish my rust off with a coat of Matte Varnish, this removes any of the gloss finish in the paint pigment and leaves a nice flat rusty looking surface.

To finish the rust effect off grab a graphite pencil and bring out the high points by rubbing the pencil over the top, It leaves a dull/worn metal type look.

Once the One Step Crackle is dry apply some black antiquing cream all over and leave to dry.

The antiquing cream range has been designed to remain forever water reactive, Just dampen a clean lint free cloth and start to wipe away the excess antiquing cream, work on small areas at a time and once the cream has been loosened just wipe away with a clean bit of the cloth.

The tip of the wand was painted just with Prussian Blue Hue and some tinting base.

I started at the base with straight Prussian Blue and faded the colour out towards the tip by adding some tinting base to the colour.

adding more tinting base to lighten the Prussian Blue even more I started to dry brush the wand point to bring out all the texture and detail.

To finish the tip was given a coat of Satin Varnish.

A wash was added, this helped even the tones up and make the colour shift on the shaft look more subtle.

I like to work with a spritzing bottle close by when playing with washes. If for some reason I apply my was and its not wattered down enough I can give it a quick spray to dilute the paint and I can start over if needed.

Just play around with the ratios of water to paint on your projects, Just start with a thin wash and build up the intensity in colour till you are happy.

The same process was followed for the base/Power Source of the wand.

The tarnished metal was painted gold and then given some washes of Carbon Black and Quinacridonr Orange.

I have used the Decoart triple Thick spray on the Power source part of the wand, I wanted the look of a glowing stone. You can really see the difference in finishes, the rust has had the matte Varnish applied and the power source is a high gloss almost lacquered finish.

Thank you so much for stopping by and joining me and my fellow Decoart Dt members as we kick start our winter Wonderland challenge.

Keep heading back to the Decoart media DT to see new projects and tutorials from our fab DT throughout the month of Jan and of course we would love to see you enter the challenge and take part.

There are some great Decoart Goodies up for grabs so stay tuned xxx

And Of course, a great big happy new Year from me xx.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge are having a Winter Wonderland challenge over the xmas break. I would like to enter the wand x.