patina - the dark before the dawn

I like to put a patina on all my jewelry - I like how it accents the details. The above photo shows a "liver of sulfur" patina. The sulfur comes in chunks that will melt in hot water - then you dip your metal piece into the sulfur bath to get your color. The patina deepens with additional dipping. On the dragonfly earrings I added some ammonia to the liver of sulfur to get more blue colors in the patina - something I just recently discovered. At this stage in fabrication the jewelry is looking it's worst - it is the dark before the dawn.