Outside of journal cover (shell only)
Inside of faux leather journal cover (shell only)
I've been a little slow in posting this one. I got the basic shell finished and went to the local art store to see what they recommended for a sealant/finish. The guy there recommended Kryla Soluble Matt Varnish for Acrylics. I applied it over the weekend and left it outside to dry in the sun. It went on clear, but when I checked on it a little while later, there were all these white bits in the valleys of the crevices. On the outside, they weren't so bad, so I decided to try to fill them in/cover them up with a brown Sharpie. On the inside--the whitening reaction was much worse ... sort of like a moldy cheese rind. Here's a closeup of the inside cover :
If I had been trying for this look, I'd feel better about it. On the inside, it has a gritty feel. The outside is nice and smooth--it is actually the feel I was looking for. Too bad about the white specks.
I took it back to the Art store tonight after work, to see if he had ever seen such a reaction before ... He had not, and didn't really have anything else he could recommend as a sealant. He thought it looked like there was some kind of chemical reaction between the Kryla Varnish and the Liquitex acrylic paint (and whatever else I had on the paper) I had on the paper. I guess the lesson here is always test a sealant/finish on a smaller piece ...
Any suggestions?
I was thinking there might be something that would dissolve the varnish and melt that white crust. But it's sufficiently sealed. Anything I put on top probably won't penetrate to the lower layers now ... I could maybe paint over it ...
I guess I can still peel off the inner lining paper and replace with with a new piece of crumbled brown paper ... That might be the best option.
Then I can go on and finish it, stitch in the signatures and add a clasp of some sort. Or just start over ...
3 comments:
You could try shoe polish rubbed well into the nooks and crannies, if that doesn't work I would give up on it, cut a piece off, stick it in your sketchbook with a note of what you did and what went wrong, always a handy reference at a later date
What a pity about the reaction to the sealant Michelle. I can only agree with sue that it's probably the sun and drying too quickly that caused it. I want everything to dry in minutes and often speed things up with the hairdryer and I do get things like that happening too I'm afraid.
Mags
Were you maybe a bit too liberal with the varnish? I find that with acrylic wax if I put too much on it seems to collect in the folds and dries out a whitish colour.
You might have better success with Goldens Polymer Medium or even watered down PVA and bear in mind that a couple of thin coats are better than just one thick one.
Carols suggestion is a good one or if you wanted a bit of glitz how about rubbing treasure gold or similar on?
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