Finishing Concrete Statuary provides a finished cosmetic look to concrete. It doesn’t prolong the life of the statue or really protect it, it just provides a creative cosmetic appeal to the item. Over a number of years your statue may require a fresh paint job. Finishing Concrete Statuary usually brings out all the detail in an item and really brings it to life! There are several ways to finish Concrete Statuary, I am going to explain the two most popular. The Cement Barn offers several finishes for our Concrete Products as you will find a Color Chart with all Available Finishes. However; if you would like to start a project to finish your own piece of Concrete Statuary here are a few steps that you should take to ensure a long lasting finish. This can also make some fun family time with the kids!
We recommend using an Acrylic Enamel Paint. Oil Base or Water Base will work. Water Base Paint is a much easier clean up process as you can wash your tools off using water. With an Oil Base Paint you will need Paint Thinner to clean your tools.
Before doing anything to the statue you need to make sure that the statue is totally dry! This is extremely important, if the item is wet from being in the weather you should place it indoors until completely dry. First, you need file down the seam off the statue using a file, any type of masonry file will work great. Next, you need to clean the statue of any debris that may be on the statue. An air compressor with an air hose works great, but you can use any type of brush to clean the item. Once you have the item dry and cleaned off its time to begin Finishing your Concrete Statue.
How to Apply the Antique Finish
The Antique Finish is one of the most popular finishes. Its a lot less time consuming than detailing and seems to bring the detail out more in some cases. When applying the Antique Finish you will need two separate paint colors. Just for the purpose of explaining the process lets use our Black/White Antique Finish. Which is a Black Base with a White Top Coat Antiqued. First you would apply 2 coats of the black base to the Concrete Statue allowing it to totally dry between coats. After you have applied the black base its time to Antique the item. You will need a good paint brush. Get a little of the White Paint on the tip of the brush and then brush it off onto a piece of cardboard or some other material. You want to dry brush the item and just simply highlight the item. You don’t want a lot of the white paint on the brush, so make sure before brushing the statue that you wipe most of it off onto the cardboard or whichever material you chose to use. If you mess the item up you can always repaint it black and start from scratch! It may take a few times to get the hang of the technique used to apply the Antique Finish but once you do you will be painting every statue you own!
How to Apply the Detailed Finish
The Detailed Finish is a much more tedious and time consuming project but on some items it looks much better. When applying the Detailed Finish you want the entire piece if Concrete Statuary to be painted solid, not antiqued. Each different piece on the item should be life like. This requires a steady hand and patience! First, prep the Statue like explained above using the same steps. The same rule for the type of paint as explained above also. Next, paint the Statue a solid base color of your choice. Then, start detailing the statue to your preference! It takes a steady hand, so if you mess up, just repaint the item and start from scratch!
