Malachite

Malachite

A technique that imitates the beautiful appearance of its gemstone namesake, it can be painted onto furniture to give a truly unique look.

In this lesson you will need:

• A piece of furniture
• Sandpaper, if needed
• Shellac, if needed
• Lint-free cloths
• Warm soapy sponge
• Paint
• Mixing plate, mat or tray
• Flat brush
• Wax or lacquer
• Wax or lacquer brush
• Piece of firm card
• Gloss lacquer

Colours used

• Provence
• Florence
• Amsterdam Green
• Napoleonic Blue

1. As always, you will need to prep your surface beforehand, sanding if necessary and definitely giving it a good clean with a warm, soapy sponge.

1. Begin by mixing your base coat of paint - I like to achieve the signature Malachite coppery green by mixing Provence and Florence. Once you're happy with the colour, apply it evenly to your piece of furniture.

1. Let this first coat dry, and then seal it with varnish.

1. Next, take a piece of your firm card. Fold it, and then tear along the fold rather than cut, so you now have two pieces with a slightly soft edge. Prepare a few of these pieces of card, creating various widths and sizes.

1. Decant the colours you're using for the top coat onto your mixing mat; I've used Florence, Amsterdam Green and Napoleonic Blue to achieve the traditional Malachite look. Use a brush to mix a little of each to create a new colour - this takes experimenting, so take your time.

1. Apply the top coat to a small section of your piece. Working quickly - as the paint will dry quite fast - use a piece of card to create waves, stripes and movement in the wet paint, revealing parts of the base colour beneath as you go. If you like, you can go over nice lines to make them stronger and more prominent, and use corners of the card to create additional detail.

1. If you're unhappy with a section, simply apply another layer of the top coat and start again. You can use the tip of a paintbrush to stipple any areas where the paint has become too thick and created ridges.

1. Work across the piece of furniture in small sections, repeating the process using different sizes of card depending on the look you want to create.

1. To finish off the piece, I'd recommend using a gloss lacquer, because this technique looks best when it's really shiny.

This technique can also be used with other colours, and you can even use it to imitate other gemstone surfaces such as Agate.

Tips:

• Work with the piece of furniture you have - découpage can be used to accentuate design details such as panels.
• When working out your composition, think about positioning things your pieces to tell stories as well as to create visual balance.