Figure 7
Figure 7: All you need to turn white plaster into realistic stonework – a sea sponge (available from home improvement center paint departments), assorted small brushes, and inexpensive craft store acrylic paints (along with some Vallejo colors for final weathering). Figure 8: Masking an abutment casting with painters tape. Figure 9: A chunk torn from the sea sponge makes a jagged applicator. Text continued from page 44. After masking, I tore a corner from the sea sponge making sure to tear the “rough” surface (figure 9). The goal is to create a fairly jagged surface to the sea sponge. I spread some white, Putnam Gray, and cream-colored (I used Polly Scale Aged Concrete, since I had it on hand) paint onto a piece of wax paper. After getting the sea sponge damp (it doesn’t absorb water like a typical kitchen sponge) I dabbed it in the white paint, then the cream and
Figure 8 dabbed it on a paper towel to wipe off the excess paint. Then I dabbed it on the plaster casting, overlapping the application until the concrete was painted. The result (figure 10) was a light gray concrete color with a slightly yellow cast. I found one way to avoid a “rubber stamped” look is to rotate the casting slightly after each dab of paint.
Coloring Granite Blocks Once the concrete paint dried completely, I masked off the concrete sections with blue painter’s tape. Rather than using pre-mixed grays for the basic granite color I somewhat randomly mixed white and black to make my own. I squeezed some white and black paint onto a piece of waxed paper (it makes a cheap, disposable palette). keeping them separate at this point. Because I wanted a lighter
gray I used about three times more white than black. Then I repeated the process I’d used with the concrete. Start by picking up some white and black paint with the sea sponge and blotting off the excess (figure 10). Instead of “stamping” the paint, roll the sponge as you apply it. Don’t forget to rotate the casting after each dab to avoid a repetitive appearance. You’ll be amazed at how quickly this goes, and how the colored stone shows subtle variations in color (figure 11). The finishing touch is to add some light washes of various brown, gray, and tan paint. I used Vallejo Acrylics (figure 12). This brand of paint can be highly thinned (approximately one drop of paint to 25 drops of water creates a wash that will leave just a subtle coloration). I used a small amount of green to give the faintest hint of moss
Figure 9 Page 46 • Issue 11-10 • Oct 2011
• Getting Real column, page 4
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