12-09-2014, 02:18 PM
My masonry and/or brick technique is as such:
THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP is to start with a color print of your brick color printed with the bricks as near to scale as you can get it. This reference IN SCALE will help you keep everything proportionate.
Then gather a few shades of your brick or cinder color (in your case, a few shades of grey or blacks and whites mixed) and paint on a "camouflage" pattern. The degree of colors changes depending on the look you want. In THIS case I would be fairly subtle, using a few grays that are close to the base color, and IN THIS CASE I would keep the "spots" fairly large so it will take on a sort of uniform look when done. (With old "brick" walls I might have the "spots" fairly small, but that is for a different look than you are going for.)
When step one is dry I would add mortar - a wash of a light color is usually best, but again, it depends on the look I want. Let set for a few minutes and wipe off the "top" of the bricks leaving most of the mortar in the cracks - a lot like what you have already done.
When that step has dried I come back with a light wash of the base color - gray in this case, because this helps set the mortar lines behind and under the bricks.
Sometimes I repeat this step if the mortar is still too bright, but often one wash is enough.
When that step is dry I get the variety of colors used in the camouflage step out and a '000' fine brush and paint individual bricks here and there - this creates the illusion that ALL the bricks are individuals without having to paint each one. In your case I would again use very subtle variations of gray, but with "traditional" brick work I might use extremes from a true red to black, to a yellow-ochre to create the look. be sure to group bricks in 2's, 3's and 4's with very few stand alone single bricks or you will end up with a salt and pepper look that is rarely the desired effect.
Weathering - such as washes of "black" under windows is the final step and I will use whatever I think will create the effect I want to achieve. Chalks, pencil, and oil paints all work well in their own way.
This is not as hard or "artistically talented" as it seems, so give it a shot, I think you will like the results.
* The gray is for the sign, for the brick red wall I would be using the red/orange and mix in a little black, white or RED-red to create variations.
~Donovan
THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP is to start with a color print of your brick color printed with the bricks as near to scale as you can get it. This reference IN SCALE will help you keep everything proportionate.
Then gather a few shades of your brick or cinder color (in your case, a few shades of grey or blacks and whites mixed) and paint on a "camouflage" pattern. The degree of colors changes depending on the look you want. In THIS case I would be fairly subtle, using a few grays that are close to the base color, and IN THIS CASE I would keep the "spots" fairly large so it will take on a sort of uniform look when done. (With old "brick" walls I might have the "spots" fairly small, but that is for a different look than you are going for.)
When step one is dry I would add mortar - a wash of a light color is usually best, but again, it depends on the look I want. Let set for a few minutes and wipe off the "top" of the bricks leaving most of the mortar in the cracks - a lot like what you have already done.
When that step has dried I come back with a light wash of the base color - gray in this case, because this helps set the mortar lines behind and under the bricks.
Sometimes I repeat this step if the mortar is still too bright, but often one wash is enough.
When that step is dry I get the variety of colors used in the camouflage step out and a '000' fine brush and paint individual bricks here and there - this creates the illusion that ALL the bricks are individuals without having to paint each one. In your case I would again use very subtle variations of gray, but with "traditional" brick work I might use extremes from a true red to black, to a yellow-ochre to create the look. be sure to group bricks in 2's, 3's and 4's with very few stand alone single bricks or you will end up with a salt and pepper look that is rarely the desired effect.
Weathering - such as washes of "black" under windows is the final step and I will use whatever I think will create the effect I want to achieve. Chalks, pencil, and oil paints all work well in their own way.
This is not as hard or "artistically talented" as it seems, so give it a shot, I think you will like the results.
* The gray is for the sign, for the brick red wall I would be using the red/orange and mix in a little black, white or RED-red to create variations.
~Donovan