The Finished Cat Clock

 

I've finished the clock.  After finishing the painting I added some details that hopefully make it look vintage.

 

First, I added a truly vintage glass cabinet knob to the top.  The knob is pressed glass - a fairy simple faceted design - with an aged brass base.

 

But the most fun was adding the crackle finish whose details you can see in the picture below.  This is a Delta product and comes in two parts, both of which dry clear.  After adding a coat of the Step 1 finish and letting it dry about 20 minutes, you add a coat of the Step 2 finish and let it dry thoroughly, ideally overnight.  As the step 2 coat dries over the step 1 coat it forms tiny cracks.  I sealed it with a coat of satin varnish.  You can then apply an antiquing coat to bring out the cracks. 

 

For the antiquing, I used a 1:1 mixture of Burnt Umber Americana acrylic paint and Americana glazing medium.  Virtually as soon as I brushed this mixture on I wiped it back off with a small piece of an old t-shirt which left the brown glaze in the cracks.  I worked in small areas to be sure that the antiquing glaze couldn't dry before I wiped it off.

 

There were a few scary moments during this process when the coating, which was supposed to be clear, clouded up.  Fortunately, it cleared up again as it dried!

 

The one thing that the finish did that I'm not sure I'm happy with was to dull the bold brushwork.  I considered painting over it to brighten it up but decided against it because (a) I wasn't sure I could do a good enough job of painting directly over the original strokes and (b) I thought it might look strange with that part not antiqued.  Anyway, there it is!