Golden dragon

I am loving using ATC-sized paper, card and even MDF to experiment on. It’s not that it’s easier than making a card — other than not having to think in terms of creating something you would give someone for an occasion — it’s just this condensed format that forces you to really focus on what it is you want to achieve.

And what I wanted to achieve this time was a simple test of the new gold acrylic paint I’d picked up from Culture Hustle.

I worked directly on an ATC-sized piece of MDF, starting with a coat of black gesso, followed by the matt black acrylic.

The dragon came from a pack of handmade paper I have had for so long that I have no idea where it came from. Each sheet has a black dragon printed on it, so I filled in the gaps on one with the gold paint and then used a dot of yellow for the eye and some red for the tongue.

Once it was dry, I tore it down to size and glued it to the ATC using PVA.

I painted the edges gold and created a rough border, filling in the empty space with gold dots. I finished it off with a clippings sticker coloured with Gelato and outlined in black.

I’m not normally a huge fan of gold — too often it just looks garish and cheap (especially jewellery) — but my first impressions of this gold are definitely positive. It’s not brash, it’s gold that doesn’t shout about how gold it is, and it has a lovely shine when the light’s at the right angle. Now I just need to come up with a project that needs some gilding.

Supplies:

• • Prep & Stick:
    black gesso
    PVA glue
  • Colour:
    Stuart Semple – black 2.0
    Stuart Semple – gold
    Stuart Semple acrylic potions – happy (yellow), raygun (red)
    Gelatos – gold champagne
    black pencil
  • Paper & Fabric:
    Nepalese handmade paper
    MDF ATC
  • Embellishments:
    Tim Holtz clippings stickers