Mixing Patina (?)

by Donna
(White Bear Lake, MN)

I recently came upon an artist who, using copper foil, achieved a very rugged, old looking, dull siver with a hint of black (imagine the color of a very old, beat up nikel). I asked how this was achieved andd he said he mixed patina. He gave me no other information and everything I have read says NOT to do this. Can patinas be mixed? Can you use one layer of one patina and follow with another? Have you ever seen this patina and know how it can be achieved?

Thanks for the help-

Answer

This is not something I have done to get the effect you are describing, but I imagine you could put on black patina and wipe it off quickly. Tha would give you the dull silver look. Then apply more black patina in the areas you want to be black and leave it on longer than the first application. You could dab it off with a paper towel when you have the right shade of black, or you could carefully wipe it off to blend it into the dull silver.

If I were you, I'd play with that technique and see what you come up with. It sounds interesting.

As for mixing patina, I have done that many times to get a specific effect. I've used copper first, then wiped black over it, and I've done the reverse...copper over black. I don't know why you shouldn't mix them unless you're talking about actually mixing two patinas together in a container. That I'm not sure about. Anyway, experiment. You might come up with something amazing.