Old World Cherub

I have a thing about Angels.   Can't get enough of them.   I found this beautiful, ceramic cherub at my favorite thrift store last week.   He has the most amazing details, but is so very GOLD.   I wanted him to look more like an Old World concrete statue.   I found a wonderful tutorial on Villabarnes to show how to get the look, so I happily grabbed my gesso and paintbrush and got started.  

Here he is in all his Goldness.  He's about 18" high.  Following the instructions on Villabarnes blog, I painted him a dark gray with some acrylic paint.

And waited until he was completely dry.  I left some of the goldl unpainted to add a little more interest.  

I mixed a very small amount of water to the gesso and started brushing one small area at a times.  With a soft cloth I wiped away the excess gesso.   I started to apply a second coat, but didn't like how it was looking.....a little too white.  I was going for a real stone look here.

When it was dry, I sprayed on a matte sealer to protect.

And now my angel lives in my living room watching over all of us.