Enamelling Copper Pendants

The last I talked, the subject was etching copper pendants. Today, I want to talk about painting with enamel. ::smiles:: 

Lay out the metal you want to paint using enamel; in my case, I wanted to paint the pendants I’d etched earlier in the day. Clean the surface with rubbing alcohol as best possible to remove debris.

Set out alcohol ink (purchasable at Michael’s),  and micro brushes (available at Fire Mountain or Lee Valley). Optionally, you can lay down a base coat of white acrylic to brighten up the paint, but I had trouble with it and wasn’t satisfied with my results. Not as much as painting against the copper directly.

Play with colour, and if you don’t like it, remove it with rubbing alcohol and try again. I had to do this several times as I wasn’t satisfied with the sun pendant, seen below half erased, nor with the peacock stamped pendant, seen in transition below also.

Once you have everything painted the way you like, gently polish the top of the raised metal with fine sandpaper, being careful not to scuff the surface of the paint. (We used Vintaj metal relief blocks, which are -from my experience- no different from nail buffers.)

Afterwards, it will look something like this:

All that is left is to lacquer the surface (Krylon was the recommended brand), and add your choice of chain. ::smiles::