Modern Masters Metallic Paints

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I truly have a love affair with Modern Masters’ metallic paints. What do I love about them? I love that there are 56 different shades of colors. That is absolutely amazing, as some paint companies don’t even have that many paint colors available. I choose colors based on my design, mood, inspiration, and other factors and having so many colors at my disposal makes designing a furniture piece much easier.

My style of painting is best described as eclectic. I don’t adhere to any one style or categorization, as I love to experiment with various techniques, products, furniture pieces, and looks. To me, versatility is creativity.

Working with Modern Masters has been a tremendous opportunity, as it’s a company that specializes in products for artistic finishes. Their metallic paints vary in sheen from satin to matte. The transparencies also differ from sheer to opaque, with opaque being the least transparent. This variety offers convenience for various projects, giving you the ability to choose the best finish for your project. No need to thin out the paint or add extra coats. Simply take your pick and paint away.

I’ve completed several pieces using Modern Masters’ metallic paints and it’s allowed my work to a find a new level of creativity. Their champagne metallic paint is my new favorite neutral. I used it along with bronze for my Parisian set (curio cabinet and serpentine dresser seen below). I used Sapphire to accentuate the beautiful flame mahogany veneer on my empire chest. My bombe chest features Black Cherry and Black Pearl.

For my jewelry armoires, I used sage and warm silver on my autumn themed one, teal and snowflake on my rococo bird jewelry armoire, and rose and pink pearl for my moonlit blossoms jewelry armoire. Each are distinctive in their own way, in part due to the metallic colors I chose. My most recent piece is a very large jewelry cabinet, in which I took a more whimsical approach, choosing Gold Rush, Lilac, and Rose Gold.

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Modern Masters has primers you can use as a base for the metallic paints. These primers come in beige and gray. Beige is better suited for warmer tones such as gold, greens, and reds. Gray is better for cooler tones such as silver, blues, and black. The more translucent the paint, the more the base color will show and affect the tone of the color. The opaque paints will be less affected but there is still a difference in the tone.

For my bombe chest, I painted the bottom half with a base of black chalk paint and the top with a red chalk paint. As you can see, there is an ombre (gradual blending) with the black cherry from dark to light. I used three coats of black cherry. I used black pearl for the top and a bit on the sides for depth. The black pearl is semi-opaque, so the black cherry still appears underneath.

I love blending with metallic paints to create depth and dimension. For a smoother finish with no brushstrokes, paint in one direction and sand with fine grit sandpaper in-between coats. You can use any type of paint for the base. It’s best to seal the metallic paints with Modern Masters Master Clear, which is a UV protective, water-based polyurethane specially formulated for the metallic paints.

My adventure with their metallic collection continues and I look forward to finding new ways to use the colors on my furniture pieces. I love the extra glam that metallics bring and how the color appears differently in the light from various angles. Their products are available in Michaels, so you can visit your nearest store or you can order the paints on Amazon as well.