How to Create Patina for a Bronze Sculpture

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Gary Mitnik. I'm a sculptor in Sedona, Arizona, and I'm here on behalf of Expert Village. The last thing we do is the patina which is the colorization of the surface of things. That can be done with chemicals, heat done with a torch, various chemicals. What kind of temperature do you need? Well, that doesn't need to be too hot. That you just need to heat the piece. To a, compared to to the wax burnout and the casting it's very low temperature. It's done with a torch and the surface of the piece is just heated up and chemicals added to the surface. They can either be sprayed on or brushed on, depending on the patina that you're trying to effect. The last, the very last process is sealing that, sealing the patina. The patina is actually an oxidation of the surface of the piece. So you get to the point where you get the patina you want and you don't want it to oxidize any more so you seal it. It's either sealed with wax or sealed with an acrylic. Then of course it's mounted on its base. The very, very, very last thing is mount it on its base. Then hopefully it will ship to its new customer who is really, really happy to get it. So that's the story of bronze casting."