Shading Grout for a Sunset Sky

Tropics Time

Pendulum Clock

10" x 4.25"

This is a project I completed a few months ago on which I did a grout shading on the sky area using four grout colors.

At the bottom I started with 'Camel' which is kind of rusty orange. Moving up I transitioned to 'Summer Wheat' which is a dusty gold. Next up I used a bit of natural grey and at the top is 'Pearl Grey' which is a blue-grey color.

Before adding these four colors, I grouted the lower 'water' portion in Mallard Green as well as a skinny strip in the center of each of those sky palm fronds. Once the green had cured for a bit- a few hours is enough- I used masking tape to protect it from the sky colors. 

When laying in the sky colors, I started from the bottom and added grout in rows. Where two colors meet, I did a little bit of smooshing to further blend the colors.

When cleaning off the excess grout, it is very important to wipe in the same direction as you used to lay in the grout color, in this case from side to side.  A change of direction during this step will muddy up your color gradient.

To see more posts about grout, click 'grout' in the label cloud => or this link http://blog.mosaicsmith.com/search/label/grout

This clock has sold, but see my other available clocks in my Etsy MosaicSmith shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/MosaicSmith?search_query=clock

All available mosaic art: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MosaicSmith?search_query=mosaic+art

 

I make sterling silver jewelry too!!  http://MosaicSmith.com

More Shading Grout in a Mosaic

Revisiting the topic of shading grout in a mosaic. In a previous post I shaded using two grout colors.

For this project, I shaded between four grout colors. The fade from deep black/green to pale green was chosen to enhance the glass shading.

First step was to play with mixes to find the effect I wanted. I used a plastic spoon, leveled off with a wooden stir stick as a measuring device. Stirred well, the dry mix color will be approximately the same as the finished, cured, color.

(Each recipe was written on the cup so it can be duplicated in the future, assuming those grout colors can be obtained. I used the colors black, mallard green, tea green and straw [no, not pear like it says on the cup, oops :] - for those that might have those colors on hand.)



Working from light to dark, I laid in each color. Since my substrate was glass, I marked it off into sections on the reverse using a sharpie marker. You might be able to see that in the first picture- green marks.

Picture on the right shows the grouted project before much 'smooshing' has happened.






In the left picture, you can see the results of careful cleaning. **Note: NO WATER, and no sponge, is used for this cleaning method.

First I removed excess grout. I started from the light end and moved across the piece from side to side just within that color. Then cleaned my tool (my finger!) and moved down a bit and repeated until I removed a lot of the excess from the entire piece.

Still with the grout very wet and soft, I started again at the light end removing a bit more grout but this time made a zig zag line across from side to side. I continued on down toward the dark end in this zigzag manner and this helped to blend each grout section.

At this point, much of the excess grout has been wiped off and I waited a bit for a haze to develop. I then used a soft cloth to remove the haze, again starting from the light end and working across from side to side. I used a clean section of cloth for each pass.

And here is the finished project, a wall clock.






SOLD

I create original design silver jewelry too!! 
https://www.mosaicsmith.com/collections/all   or
https://mosaicsmith.etsy.com

Anatomy of a Glass Mosaic Light Switch Cover

Click photos to enlarge.

Well, my way of putting switch plates together..

Choose a sturdy, commercially made, base to attach your mosaic to.  I now use metal bases. I have used wood in the past, but had problems with warping during grouting, especially for the larger sizes (yup, wood and water don't don't play nice together). And I feel the plastic covers have a bit too much flex, at least the ones my sources carry.

Attach your design with your favorite glue- Weldbond, silicone...

Grout! Such a simple, yet critical step.

• Color choice is key. If you are going to add a resin coat, like I do for all mine, you need to base your selection on the wet grout color. Photo at left shows the cured grout color. Looks kind of blah and washed out this way but, when covered in resin, it will revert back to the beautiful contrasts of the wet grout color.
• If you use glass for your design, use fine grit sandpaper on all exposed edges before grouting.
• Use wood toothpick, or similar tool, to gently recess the screw hole and to shape the switch or outlet openings. It's got to fit in its new home!
• Properly cure the grout before adding resin.

To protect fingers from sharp edges, and to protect grout from finger oils, all my switch plates receive a top coat of a two part resin epoxy. Quite a messy step, and a bit time consuming, but well worth it.

• Read the directions for the resin carefully before you begin and follow them exactly.
• Choose all disposable materials for mixing and stirring and be sure you cover your work surface!!
• Also, be sure to elevate your project so the excess resin has a place to run off onto. I use a cardboard cylinder or large plastic cups.

Final step- for a complete pulled together look, custom color your screws.

I create original design silver jewelry too!! 
https://www.mosaicsmith.com/collections/all   or
https://mosaicsmith.etsy.com

Thoughts on how to choose a grout color, or colors

What color(s) to grout a mosaic is a common dilemma. And a personal decision each artist needs to make based on their vision for the finished piece. This post is just some of my thoughts and by no means comprehensive.

I have a general rule that often helps me make the choice: blend the background, fracture the focal.


But, I break this rule regularly. Usually on realistic pieces when I feel that all the careful shading I have done on a focal will be lost if I choose a grout color that breaks it all apart.

That was the case with this little mosaic I did recently:

"My Shadow" (Print available)

I even briefly considered skipping the grout on the kitty herself but rejected that since I could see the substrate through the spaces. Additionally, my glue was weldbond which I don't feel would be lasting in Florida humidity if not protected by grout. As an aside- I am looking into smalti as this material is not traditionally grouted.

So, for kitty herself I actually used three colors of grout. Tea green for the irises, black for the nose and right eye pupil, and a natural grey for the fur areas. The natural grey is in between in tone to the light and dark fur tones and provided subtle contrast so she is still clearly mosaic but the pieces blend.

For the background of kitty, first decision was glass color and flow. I chose the pink as a compliment to her eyes and to emphasis that this sweet kitty is a she. The squares are a contrast to the irregular pieces used in the fur. Because of the blending of kitty with her grout, I felt I needed a grout color in the background that did not completely blend but that provided a very subtle contrast as well. Warm grey was my choice here.


To help with my decisions, there are a couple things I do.

First, I keep a box full of little cups and their wood stirrers that I have used previously to mix up grout. I label both the cups and sticks and use them to do a squint test.
Second, I will sometimes sprinkle a small amount of dry grout in an area to test the effect. The color of the dry powdered grout is about the same as cured grout in a finished project. You just have to remember to use safety precautions as you do not want to in-hail any of the grout powder!

There are a couple of online resources that can help to visualize different grout effects too:

Mosaic Mercantile, http://www.mosaicmercantile.com , has the grouterizer.
Choose the mix of color tiles similar to your mosaic, 16 choices, then choose from ten grout colors to see their effects.

http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk has a Grout Colour Simulator.
This one has seven different mosaic choices including a variety of different mosaic types. Then choose from 20 different grout colors including black to white shading in four different directions, fun!

~~~~~~~

"My Shadow" is in my private collection but a print is available on my page at Fine Art America:

 http://fineartamerica.com/artists/19+linda+smith

I create original design silver jewelry too!! 
https://www.mosaicsmith.com/collections/all   or
https://mosaicsmith.etsy.com

Shading Grout in a Mosaic

A couple weeks ago I finished a project that was quite a while in the making. (Click "bird" in the label cloud <== to see other WIP posts on this mosaic.)

A portrait of a fearless Egret who visited breakfast diners while we were on vacation two years ago- titled "Curious Neighbor".

He is pretty big, 13.5" x 27", at least for me since I often work with small pieces. So many decisions went into the making of this piece but for this post I'm focusing on my grout decisions- and some how to. (To share the info and so I remember myself :)

Sometimes grout can be used to add contrast to a section to bring the eye to that area but for this piece I decided to use the grout to further blend the colors. It also then added to the soft, calm, natural feeling I was going for.

(Though I did include one area of high grout contrast in the mosaiced pot. The egret is directly from my own photograph but the background is a compilation from other photos. The pot was included as a bit of 'man-made', along with the deck, in an otherwise very natural setting. So I added grout contrast here to contrast with the soft grout of the natural areas.)

For the rest of the mosaic I chose grout colors to blend the areas. And for the egret himself I used white, warm grey and a blend of half white and half warm grey. Blending the grout kept the softness of the shading on the bird feathers.

For the sand area I also used a graduated series of grouts from canvas through a light mocha- and I photographed the steps! :


First, have plenty of masking tape on hand!

The bird has already been grouted and the tape keeps the bird's grout nice and clean. The geranium plant leaves were grouted in mallard green so they need to be covered as well. I use small bits of tape and very carefully cover just the existing grout so I don't end up with gaps in the joint with the new color.

Click on any picture to see a large version.



Small plastic cups and Popsicle sticks are wonderful for mixing small batches of grout. The left cup is straight 'canvas' color and the right cup is 1/4 canvas 3/4 mocha. The center four cups are graduated amounts of the two colors. Add water slowly when mixing so too much water is not added.






Kind of like playing in the mud!
I started with the canvas color and put that on the lightest sand area then worked my way down. Where I changed color I 'smooshed' the two colors around a bit to further blend as I worked it into the grout spaces. Around the flowers I used a slightly deeper color for more contrast. I actually did not use the darkest blend after all.








In this last picture, much cleanup later, the grout is not fully dried and the variations show a bit more.

 ~~~~~~~

"Curious Neighbor" is in my personal collection. 
A print is available on my page at Fine Art America:
http://fineartamerica.com/artists/19+linda+smith

I create original design silver jewelry too!! 
https://www.mosaicsmith.com/collections/all   or
https://mosaicsmith.etsy.com