Liquid Metals

When I was first given samples of these Roberson’s Liquid Metal to test, I did wonder if they were what they said they were – metal in liquid form. I spoke with the person who actually made them, to get more of an insight into their properties and possibilities. They are not a metal, they are inert powders that have a metal look.

 When testing new products I always try to approach it with an open mind and also try not to compare the product to others that are similar.
It’s just as well I take this approach because there is little on the market that this product can be compared to!

I had four ‘colours’ for testing, Royal Gold; Classic Gold; Pewter and Blackened Bronze. You can, for the most part, tell the colour from the bottle, but the nice thing with these Liquid Metals is they have an actual sample painted onto the outside label – excellent, because you can really see and feel the finished result.
 There is no need to shake the bottle of these Acrylic based Liquid Metals, you can just dive in! The consistency is that of cream, not thin cream or thick cream, it’s just creamy and therefore clings well to the brush. All the Liquid Metals are water miscible, so washing brushes and clean up is easy, also another interesting point is that the product does wash out of the brush, so you have no residual particles left in the brush.

My main testing was on black and white paper; smooth card of about 120 gm; also leather, glass, plastic and mount board. They went on all surfaces with ease, but as you would expect the more absorbent the paper/surface the more product you need but the finish is then thicker.

They shine and show up exceptionally well on a black background, it really sets them off.
 
These two examples were just quickly written with a Rigger brush to give me an initial reaction and test the feel of the consistency of these Liquid Metals. I liked the way the Liquid Metals could be used to give raised letters and decorations.
 
It was easy to make raised dots of various sizes and give an embossed look to the side of a letter for instance. Letters/flower petals were given a ‘cushioned’ look and feel without too much trouble.

 I found it simple to pop down a letter with a well loaded brush, then leaving it to dry before inking around it. The Liquid Metals could be used very successfully to give an ‘illuminated’ look to lettering and decorative finishes to almost any work.

Having laid down an area of the Liquid Metal, I then took a ‘needle point’ Joseph Gillott 303 dip pen nib filled with Permanent Pigmented ink and wrote a few letters on the surface. The ink went onto the surface smoothly and didn’t bead up nor did the nib scratch the surface, the effect was interesting and the finish good.

For calligraphers who are after a metallic look to the background of their work this would work well.   

I cut out a rough ‘dragonfly’ stencil just to see if the LM’s could be used for stencilling. I under painted the wings of the Dragonfly with Classical Transparent ink before stencilling on some Royal Gold Liquid Metal. I outlined the wings with Permanent Pigmented Ink - Grey Paynes. The thorax and head were painted with the Royal Gold and the eyes were coloured with the Blackened Bronze. I hoped that by using other colour the shine of the LM would show up for the camera. This picture shows the work angled towards the light to show up the Liquid Metal that had been added. 
 
I tested the Liquid Metals by damping them with water and by really ‘wetting’ them, they stayed where they had been put and there was no bleeding, rubbing off or spoiling of the painted area. They adhered to all the surfaces I applied them to and all were washed and wetted, they stayed on the surface in all cases.

I’m sure they will find many uses and be put to many different applications for painters, illustrators, framers, decorators, calligraphers and others I’ve not mentioned, they open up a multitude of possibilities.

•These Liquid Metals can be used on many surfaces, canvas, wood, metal, leather, plastic, plaster wet or dry, paper, cardboard, velum, parchment, terra cotta, picture frames and glass.
•They are permanent when dry and can therefore be used outside.
•The surface finish is whatever you wish it to be, by that I mean you can retain the brush strokes or have it as smooth as silk, it goes on easy and has good covering power.
•You will obviously obtain different effects depending on the surface and the application.
•They do not tarnish; therefore they do not need to be varnished to retain their colour and shine.
•They can be used to treat/colour picture frames, canvas edges and to decorate ready made articles.

On a glass or plastic surface you could get them off by scraping with a sharp knife, other than that they we very stable.

Jacqui Blackman © 2008 for J and T's Art and Calligraphy