Artful Briefcase

This unique, hand-painted briefcase up-cycle has been simmering in my mind for quite a while. Today's sunshine lured me out of the studio armed with an old briefcase,  masking tape, extra fine grit sandpaper, a clean rag and some rubbing alcohol. First I taped off the area I planned to decorate.

Once the section of the case was taped off, I took a fine grit sanding paper to the taped off area. I didn't have a really fine grit sandpaper, but I used the finest I had to rough up the surface of the briefcase. The point here was to rough up the surface and give it more tooth to hold the paint.

Once I had sufficiently roughed it up, I carefully wiped it with a clean cloth soaked with Rubbing Alcohol to remove any remaining finish I might have missed while I was sanding.

Next pre-painting the area. Mix equal parts of water and paint. I used a mixture of Primary Cyan and water with a couple of drops of Carbon Black.

Apply the watered down paint to the taped off area. Do not let each coat dry completely before adding the next coat.

These layers of paint (I used 3) will appear streaky and should be moved and creased as they dry in order to keep the paint from cracking.

After the third coat, I added the first coat of undiluted paint, using Golden Quinacridone Red fluid acrylic.

After this coat was completely dry, I added a second coat and allowed this to dry completely as well.

Then came the final designs. A few silver and black lines and a peaceful face were added.  This briefcase will be available in my Etsy Store if you're interested.