Antique Glaze

I worked on a picture project a while back...got some frames and painted a few...then got some family pictures up around our house. I have recently been working on learning to put an antique glaze on some things around our house. I decided to touch up the frames I painted earlier...and here is how it turned out.

First you have to start with the right kind of tools. I got this bottle of Valspar Antiquing Glaze and a "dragging" brush from Lowe's. The brush has rough edges which makes a difference with your technique.


I poured a very small amount of glaze on a paper plate...probably the size of a quarter. I lightly dip my DRY paint brush in the glaze and blot my brush on the plate to get off any excess...then I blot the brush on the sheet I had my frames on (it's a really old sheet I use to do all my crafts on..and has paint all over it). Then I use long strokes and brush over whatever object I'm glazing.

Note: You are going to feel like you don't even have any paint on your brush once you blot it...but that's the point...you will slowly start to see the glaze appear on your project as you continue this process.

One thing I learned with this project...less is more. It's better to have barely any glaze on your brush and have to go back for more. If you start out too heavy it makes things look cheap. When I first started learning this technique I had to repaint a few things and start over with glazing because I put it on too thick.




This is what the frames looked like before the glaze.


And after...it's very subtle but makes it look a little more aged and not so bold.


Here is what the green one looks like...


And here they are from a distance. It's hard to see...which is why I took close up pics. The whole goal is to keep it subtle and light. You are just bringing a little definition to your project.


As I mentioned before...I did this antique glaze to multiple things in my house...more posts to come when I finish those projects.