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Q&As since 1989


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Need to transfer rust stains to canvas

Okay, another weird artist's question. I'd like to create some rust stains on raw (unprimed) cotton canvas for an art project. I've staked my canvas out on the ground outside and placed various already-rusting metal objects and sprinkled around some Ironite and am watering it a couple of times a day. I live in a dry, hot climate, so the canvas is drying out completely between waterings.

Is there anything else I can do to promote accumulations of rust stains on the canvas? Is there something else I can add to the mix, or other metals that will leave stains faster? Any metals that will produce different colors of rust? Should I fold some of the metal & Ironite inside the canvas, or does the open air promote rusting faster? The Ironite sure seems to stain our sidewalk easily enough when we fertilize the yard, so I thought it would work good for this project.

Mark Cotton
Mark Cotton - Hobbs, New Mexico, USA
2006

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2006

Are you sure it's not another artist's "weird question" rather than another "weird artist's" question, Mark? :-)

If you can get some ferric chloride [on eBay or Amazon], and neutralize it with baking soda [on eBay or Amazon] , I think you would have basically a solution of powdered rust.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

To increase rust, add Sal Ammoniac to your water.

Paul Barnhart
- lake in the Hills, Illinois USA
January 11, 2011