Antique with Oil Glaze - How to make the perfect oil glaze.        

Antiquing with Oil Glaze

Creating oil based antique glazes

About Glazing: Glaze refers to a substance that is thinned to create a transparent or translucent film of color. Diluting any paint substance, tinted varnish or tinted water essentially can produce a glaze. Oil-based glazes use mineral spirits as a solvent to dilute the tinted glaze medium to the proper consistency. Oil-based glazes should be applied over an oil-based undercoat of the color of your choice. Eggshell sheen is preferable, but never use a flat (matte) finish.

What is 'Glaze Coat' or 'Glazing Liquid'? - For decorative finishes and faux finishes, glazes are typically created using color suspended in a medium known as glaze coat or glazing liquid (not to be confused with ‘glazing’, a putty used for securing glass in window frames). Glaze coat can be found in both alkyd (oil-based) form and acrylic latex (water-based) form. Glaze coat is best tinted with universal tinters (also known as universal colorant) to maintain clarity of color, but can also be tinted using artists paint in tubes, either artists oil paint for alkyd glaze coat or Artist’s acrylic for latex glaze coat. Japan Pigment also makes an excellent tinter for use with alkyd glaze coat.

Why use a glaze? - Glazes are transparent or semi-transparent washes of color that are applied over a base surface to create a feeling of depth, age, fluidity and much more. Most surfaces start with an established base color, then the transparent color glaze is applied to enhance and create a sense of depth to the original base color, and hence the entire glazed surface. Glazing can be done on objects, furniture, frames, gilt surfaces, walls, ceilings, plaster and stucco, to name a few. Just about anything in the interior or exterior architectural world can be glazed.


painted lacquer furniture
How to glaze wall surfaces:

Choosing the base color

Determine the overall color you want. Select an appropriate base color. Color suggestions are available at the artSparx color palette.



Related Features