Oh this finish... creating this finish on this piece was my introduction to Pearl Effects and metallic paints and it's got me hooked. I'd love to take all the credit for the idea, but I had a good friend (who's always pushing me to try new things) send me a sample board of something similar and asked me to give it a try. At first I wasn't too sure about paint, making a piece actually look like metal, nor did I see how I could make it work. But then I did some research into real hammered copper and the amazingly beautiful looks you can achieve with it and I got inspired. Most of those real copper pieces I'd found had hammered nails through the copper, so I searched for a piece to mimic that same look. Luck have it, I found this Bombay Chest which had both the drawers AND the sides with those nail heads I was looking for. I decided to add the mirror as a great complimentary piece hanging above, perfect for any entryway or bedroom.
For this finish I started with a base coat of Lamp Black, covering the entire area for both pieces with 2 solid coats to ensure proper coverage. Next I gave them a coat of High Performance Top Coat in Flat, this to seal the paint in areas that would stay black, and also to have that barrier between the base coat and the Pearl Effects coming next. To create the Hammered Copper look I painted a generous layer of Copper Pearl, Pearl Effects and stippled down through the Copper Pearl to show small indents of Lamp Black peeking through. This gave me the hammered copper look, but it wasn't the aged finish just yet. Next I gave the Copper Pearl areas another coat of High Performance Top Coat, again as my barrier for the next step. Next I sponge brushed on a layer of Pitch Black Glaze Effects mixed with Extender. The extender allowed for additional drying time so I could in-turn wipe off the amount I wanted and leave the black in all the right areas to show that aging. For the chest, the nails heads specifically made this part of the process work perfectly. They truly showed what an aged copper piece would look like in and around those crevices after years and years of life. The mirror had some incredible carvings throughout that the Glaze Effects stayed in and gave a great antiqued look. Lastly the top of the chest was given a second and third coat of High Performance Top Coat to ensure durability, as it will be higher traffic area.
To my amazement, this paint took on an incredibly realistic Hammered & Aged Copper look that now opened up my palette of creativity for this finish and many more to come with these amazing metallic paints.
