20 DIY Patina Paint Faux Metal Painting Techniques (Bronze, Copper, and Rust)

Easy steps for the perfect DIY Patina Paint finish. With 20 beautiful faux metal painting techniques for bronze, brass, copper and rust looks.

Easy Way To Patina Paint Faux Metal Finishes

Lately, I’ve been loving pics of Faux Metal Patina Paint Finishes mixed with layers of other paints or just blends of beautiful colors.

So, I had to try using these metal look paints myself. And, after lots of experimenting, I can tell you exactly how to patina paint faux metal finishes with 20 easy to do looks.

I love experimenting with chalk paint ideas and DIY home decor projects. You can see tons of examples of that in this post on 25+ Beginner Furniture Painting Tutorials.

The Dixie Belle Paint Company gave me the paints in this project to experiment with. Today, I’ll be using Iron, Copper, and Bronze Metal Paints to get the beautiful looks in this post.

I thought about getting some scrap wood out and testing some finishes. Then I spotted some leftover canvases from my recent Boy’s Bedroom Makeover.

Serendipity! I could turn my tests into art and reuse the canvases that were just taking up space in a closet.

But, you can use this metal look paint on wood, furniture, metal, canvases, drywall, ceramics, glass, and probably some other places I haven’t even thought of.

How Do You Paint Faux Metal Patina?

This Faux Metal Patina Paint project uses chalk paints with actual metal dust that you can then spray with the oxidizing patina spray to make real oxidized copper, bronze, and iron (or rust) patina looks.

This is so much easier and more fun than trying to layer a bunch of paint colors to get a realistic patina paint finish. And, I have to say, this is a lot more fun too. 🙂

I spent a couple days experimenting with different looks. And I was totally shocked that Copper didn’t end up being my favorite.

I’m kind of loving the rust looks I was getting with the Iron Paint and Green Patina. But all 3 are beautiful. And there are so many ways to use these paints for different looks, I barely scratched the surface guys.

Video Showing More Rust Paint Looks

You can see all of the beautiful home décor and mirror updates with the Easy DIY Rust Paint Effect in the video below with steps for the rust look in another post.

How to Paint a Beautiful Faux Rust Look - Using Modern Masters Metal Effects Rust Paint Kit

Hopefully, these 20 examples show you how to patina paint and help you pick the metal and patina finish you love.

These are just a starting point for your DIY Faux Patina Paint Metal Finishes. The possibilities are endless.

Maybe you want to mix a couple metal paints on the same piece. Or paint lines of the patina spray in veins across the paint.

Have fun and be sure to check out my YouTube Channel for more easy DIY home décor tutorials.

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I was provided free product for this post. But as always, my opinion and review of the product are my true reaction and opinion about this product. I would never recommend something that I wouldn’t pay for. Read the full disclaimer here.

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Getting Started with Faux Metal Paints

A peek at the Chalk Paint and Metal Finishes I used. You start a faux finish with a base coat of a Dixie Belle Chalk paint, in any shade you’d like.

Then apply 1 coat of the metal paint and let that dry. Then you apply a second coat of the metal paint and spray on the patina while that 2nd coat is still wet.

If you’ll be painting actual metal, you should use the metal primer that is available with these metal paints. That metal primer protects the real metal from the oxidizing spray.

This next photo was taken after applying 1 coat of the metal to the Vintage Duck Egg paint. The Copper and Bronze Paints only require 2 coats for full coverage.

The Iron required 4 or 5 to get full coverage over the blue. BUT you could start with a dark shade of Dixie Belle Chalk Paint as the base. Then 2 coats of Iron would be perfect!

Now that I’ve covered how you get started, let’s move onto How to Patina Paint Metal Finishes! Dixie Belle does recommend using the sprays on a wet layer of the metal paint.

That will provide the strongest reaction. And it can take 2-6 hours for the Patina to fully develop.

But, you will see it start almost immediately. Of the 3, Iron seems to take a bit longer. But the results are gorgeous!  🙂

How to Patina Paint An Oxidized Iron Rust Paint Finish

Both of these are Iron Metal Paint with the Green Patina Spray. I applied a thick coat of Iron, then sprayed the top with enough green patina to make it pool up in that area that has that great rust explosion look.

Just make sure it isn’t so wet that it won’t dry. I probably sprayed 8 times on the lowest setting. The bottom has a thick coat of Iron Paint with just a few light sprays of Dixie Belle Green Patina.

Both of these are Iron Paint, Green Patina, and Dixie Belle Vintage Duck Egg.

I started with a wet layer of Iron, then sprayed Green Patina on that and lightly spread it across the surface with a foam brush.

Once that reacted and dried, I used a cheap Chip Brush to dry brush fine lines of the Iron Paint and Vintage Duck Egg over the rust patina.

Chip Brushes are great for dry brushing since the bristles tend to be a little uneven.

Just barely dab the end in paint and lightly blot on a paper towel before brushing it on your DIY Faux Patina Paint look.

Patina Paint Oxidized Copper & Bronze Metal Paint Finishes

I created this look by applying a coat of the metal paint, then spraying a few times with the patina.

Lightly spread the patina over the wet paint with a foam brush, then sprayed a few more times over that.

This gives an overall patina look with the drops on top. The top is Bronze Paint with Blue Patina. The bottom is Copper Paint with Blue Patina.

I decided to prop these canvases against a box and let the spray drip down the canvas as it dried.

The top is a layer of wet Bronze sprayed with enough Green Patina to make it run in a few places. The bottom is a wet layer of Copper sprayed with enough Blue Patina to make it run a little.

A Few More Variations with Bronze and Copper Paints

The top here is a wet layer of Bronze with an even, light layer of Green Patina Sprayed across the top.

The bottom is a wet layer of Copper with an even, light layer of Green Patina Sprayed across the top.

For the top, I used a wet layer of Bronze, then gently spread 4 light sprays of Blue Patina Paint across the canvas with a foam brush.

For the bottom, I used a wet layer of Copper, then gently spread 4 light sprays of Green Patina Paint across the canvas with a foam brush.

More Great Copper & Bronze Patina Paint Finishes

My first 4 tests with Copper Paint. The top left is Green Patina lightly sprayed across wet Copper Paint. Top Right is Green Patina sprayed over dry Copper paint then spread around in swirls, with a foam brush.

The bottom 2 use Blue Patina, but the swirled on dry is on the left and the sprayed on wet is on the right.

Please note: Dixie Belle recommends spraying the Patina on the metal paint while it is still wet.

I just wanted to see what would happen on dry paint. It still reacts on dry, but not as much as on wet. Especially with the Iron, which seems to react even less than the Bronze and Copper when dry.

My first 4 tests with Bronze Paint. The top left is Green Patina lightly sprayed across wet Bronze Paint. Top Right is Green Patina sprayed over dry Bronze paint then spread around in swirls, with a foam brush.

The bottom 2 use Blue Patina, but the swirled on dry is on the left and the sprayed on wet is on the right.

That’s it, that’s How to Patina Paint Faux Metal Finishes! There must be hundreds more ways to play around with these paints and patinas.

Have fun playing around with the finish and patina you love most and GOOD LUCK!

RECOMMENDED: 6 Cheap & Easy Wood Plaque & Wood Crafts For Kids

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FREE PRINTABLE FURNITURE PAINTING GUIDE

Grab the 19 page free printable version of my Beginner’s Guide to Painting Furniture that includes everything from this post, plus answers to 12 Common Questions about Painting Furniture.

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More DIY Painting Projects For You

Don’t forget to check out the Easy DIY Rust Paint Effect tutorial.

And, I love this DIY Gray Distressed Chalk Paint tutorial.

Or this beautiful DIY Acrylic Paint Pouring Wall Art tutorial.

Here’s how I used that beautiful copper paint with blue on a table.

Need to strip an old finish off your project first? Check out my Easy DIY Paint Stripping Steps.

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Feeling inspired? Now that you know How to Patina Paint Faux Metal Finishes, get to it!

Have fun and let me know if you have questions. Don’t forget to sign up for the Abbotts At Home email newsletter to get DIY, Remodeling, and Crafty ideas in your inbox.