# Um...Drybrushing Anyone?



## skeletonowl (Aug 8, 2006)

Hey I've been wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction with drybrushing. I have acrylic paint 

I want to upate the looks on my boneyard BBQ wood and possibly some gray streaks on the pole

also some blucky dry brushing?
Any tips appreciated!


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## 1031fan (Feb 6, 2007)

i would advise against drybrushing a blucky - i would use washes or woodstains instead - it will give you more of a natural look that i think you are going for

but as for drybrushing in general...its one of the most versatile yet simplest paint applications there is - pick a basecoat....either light or dark whichever you want - then pick a color oppostite to what your basecoat was as far as light/dark goes - dark basecoat=light drybrush.... light basecoat=dark drybrush

either work well - i know over at terror syndicate, steve likes to use a black basecoat and white/cream for the drybrush color

i prefer a dark brown/black with a light grey drybrush - but then i usually put a dark wash over top so that its not so stark

as for the actual technique of applying...just paint your basecoat on first normally - cover everything...

then either wash out that brush and make sure its COMPLETELY dry or i prefer to just get another one - usually something like a 2 inch house painting brush unless its a really small wood trim or somethin - and even up to a 4 if its a large area - take the new "dry" brush and just get a little paint on the end of it - have a scrap piece of wood beside you to wipe the brush on - getting most of the paint off - when the brush is no longer wet from the paint and there isn't much paint going on to your scrap piece - its time to start on the basecoat you layed down

this is the only somewhat difficult part - you have to sweep the brush accross the basecoat with enough pressure to allow some of the paint to come off, but not too hard that it makes a large mark of paint - whatever this pressure is for you, you have to continue using that pressure on the rest of your piece - when you see that theres not much paint coming off, you can dip it back in, making sure to get the excess off on the sreap piece - most of the time i just refill my brush using the scrap piece tapping it on

drybrushing is great and will work for your application, but sometimes its not the best choice - you cant really drybruch a wall or something - usually in strips no more than a foot is about the max i would go - anything larger and it will look fake - this is because we are human and cant keep the "grain" going all in the same direction for much more than a few brush widths

another good aplication of drybrushing is for shading - say you have a panel painted to look like large rocks that are grey - well use black as your dry brush color and use the technique like hatching and crosshatching - for anyone who doesn't know what that is, its when many short lines are places together to form a value - the closer together, the darker the value - its a pen and ink technique - - so using that same idea - the darker you want an area to be, the more you dry brush over top of that area - only instead of always going in one direction, use a crosshatch technique and go over the same area at different angles so that it looks natural and not man made

hope this helped a bit - have any questions feel free to ask - ill try to help as much as i can

riley


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Check out http://www.hauntproject.com/projdetail.asp?category=Painting. There you will find 3 distinct techniques for dry brushing; krough's ground breakers, Dead Spider's technique for wood grain, and my technique for weathered stone. Hope these help


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## Fangs (Jun 6, 2006)

I did some ceramics years ago, but am by no means an expert on the subject.. LOL

I did pretty much like what 1031fan said. Painted a base coat. Let it dry. And then dipped a dry brush into the color I wanted and gently wiped the brush on a piece of paper till it was dry and no more came out. And yep, the harder you press, the more paint you will have on your piece! Learned that one the hard way. :googly:

Also, if you have something that has a lot of raised spots, or crevices that helps make certain things pop too.

Anyhow, It all depends on your preference and the way you want your piece to look. Practice on something first, that way you get the feel for it and will be able to tell if you have too much paint in your brush, and how heavy you want the paint to be. It's really easy and fun once you try it skeletonowl!!!! Plus, acrylics are pretty cheap, at least they are around here! LOL 
Sorry they are blurry, but here's a shot of a ceramic castle I did years ago and link to a picture of the moon behind it:










http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j54/DarkFangBatLady/drybrushing/DSC00958.jpg

Good luck skeletonowl and keep us posted on how your doing!  :>


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## Fright Zone (Sep 28, 2006)

^^ I was going to say I saw johnnyspage.com the other day and even though it isn't technically dry "brushing" because you used a sponge to make it look like stone it looks pretty darn good and gives DIYers something to aim for or go by.


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## Death Master (Jul 1, 2007)

I used dry brushing on my prop Pumpkin Creep,he is suposed to look like vines and roots.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Here's one of my Scarecrow leg. It's great for textured surfaces.


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## skeletonowl (Aug 8, 2006)

great pictures and thanks to everyone for the help. I'm considering this technique even more.


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## DeathTouch (Sep 6, 2005)

Dry brushing is easy. Just get you one of those fancy dry brushes, dip it in paint, and then wipe off most of the paint off and start painting your project. Easy!


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

I think you were asking about bones...Here are some pictures of dry brushing gray over dark brown on blucky arms:


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## Lagrousome (Apr 12, 2007)

Johnny

What type of paint/stain did you use on the bluckys? How did you prep the plastic to take a paint/stain? I looked around on your web site, but didn't see this prop yet.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Err... sorry johnny!


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## Ghostess (Aug 21, 2005)

I did the same thing, no prep, just painted and drybrushed.

Andy painting with the automotive sprayer:









and the Bluckies in the off season, playing in the kids' area of the yard:


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Ahh, I was edited LOL.

As a repost, I have succesfully painted Blucky's using a dark brown house latex, followed by dry-brushing gray and white latex. No prep work needed. Here are some pictures from my twitching arms:


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## DeathTouch (Sep 6, 2005)

Ghostess said:


> I did the same thing, no prep, just painted and drybrushed.
> 
> Andy painting with the automotive sprayer:
> 
> and the Bluckies in the off season, playing in the kids' area of the yard:


It reminds me of a Terminator Convention


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## Ghostess (Aug 21, 2005)

So sorry Johnny! That'll teach me to pay attention and drink more coffee before hitting buttons...


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Ghostess said:


> So sorry Johnny! That'll teach me to pay attention and drink more coffee before hitting buttons...


No problem Ghostess, appreciate you doing the moderator thing.


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