Looking for a way to give your painted pieces an interesting designer touch? Crackle paint finishes are extremely popular these days, and for good reason. They add a touch of old-fashioned charm and warmth to wood pieces and blend in nicely with most decorating schemes.
Walk into any hardware or home improvement store and you’ll find lots of different crackle finishing products on the shelf, any number of which might work just fine for your project. Some of them can be pretty complicated and tricky to use, but creating a painted crackle finish doesn’t have to be. Here’s a fast, fun way to make crackle with inexpensive, easy to find items.
You’ll need some acrylic paint, like the ones you’ll find in craft stores, and Titebond Liquid Hide Glue. Start with a smooth, well sanded wood surface to allow the paint and glue to flow out, and always practice on a piece of scrap wood first to get a feel for how this technique will work on your project.
First consider your color choices. When the top coat of paint crackles it reveals the color of the substrate beneath it. To make the most of this effect the top coat of paint and the substrate should contrast well – that is, one should be dark in value and one should be light in value. You can also crackle over raw wood if that’s what you want to show through.
For a painted substrate, start by painting a smooth, even coat of color. Both latex and oil based paints work as the substrate. When the paint is dry, apply one coat of hide glue with a brush or sponge applicator. It is important to try to apply the coat of glue in one pass without going back and reworking it or smoothing it out. Wait several hours, about four or five, until the glue feels dry to the touch, and then apply the top coat of paint, once again trying to get the paint on in one pass without reworking it. Within seconds you should see the paint start to crackle.
When it is dry, protect it with a coat of clear finish. You can use waterbased or oil based varnish or polyurethane, or clear shellac. Of the three, waterbased clear coats will retain the color of your paints the best.
. . . Jane McKittrick, Guest Writer
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