#205 In the foundry: "Hunter's Pheasant Gamepiece" patina . . .

The goal during patination was to present a highly decorative sculpture.
A pheasant is an extremely colorful bird, yet I did not want to take elements such as the green head, red cheek patch, white neck ring,
blue green rump feathers, etc. and apply these individual pigments to
the bronze.  I wanted to retain the bronze quality . . . not make the sculpture look like porcelain or ceramic.

The patina was achieved by applying liver of sulfur and scrubbing back with Scotch Brite which leaves darks in the negatives.  Next, after
heating the bronze, cupric nitrate and ferric nitrate were applied by
"side-brushing" and "stippling" the chemicals.

My hunter's still-life composition (also known as a gamepiece)
was designed to be a wall-hanging. For more information about
this time-honored motif refer to Blogs #134, 135 and 136,
January 14, 15 & 16, 2012.