Experimenting with Metal

Today I continued to experiment with my metals. Here is a step by step guide to what I did.

Here are two of the pictures from my moodboard which I took patterns from in order to turn into stencils. I manipulated the original images in Photoshop and then once I printed them out, I edited them with a marker pen, so make some of the lines thicker and to fill-in some of the more ornate or complicated areas of pattern that I didn't think would translate well.

I then cut-out the negative space, and stuck then stencils onto the metal samples which I made earlier in the week. One stencil to each different type of metal. Once I had cut and stuck the stencils, I then went over the top of the sticker with a few layers of masking fluid to try and ensure that the ammonia solution wouldn't seep through the paper backing. I also used the masking fluid to label each metal on the back of the samples.

My last step was quite difficult. Although some process instructions I found on the internet, just suggested that I coated the metal in the solution. I found a video where they sprayed the metal with distilled water and then suspended it in an airtight container above the ammonia solution for 4 hours, and it worked a treat. Wanting to be as safe as possible with the potentially hazardous ammonia, this seemed like the best option, so I set about making a 'chariot' for my metals; a way in which to suspend them above the solution, whilst still letting the ammonia fumes reach both sides of the metal. The simplest solution I could come up with was making a card bracket with some netting stapled to it, which I would then duct-tape to the Tupperware box that I had bought specially for the purpose. I'm not sure if it will hold up, but it's worth a try.

It is probably worth saying at this point, that I am going to be using very hazardous substances, and will be conducting these experiments outdoors, away from any other people or children, whilst wearing eye goggles, a fumes mask, and with a large supply of rubber gloves.