How to: Textured off-white wall. An experiment
If you've been following my blog for years, you know that I've paid a lot of attention to creating backgrounds for my doll pictures. I did a few colors but the last thing I wanted was a more realistic look. In general I'm very happy with the results I'm getting, but sometimes I find my file is empty. The doll blogger I love, Bonequea , always has these beautiful pictures of dolls that often don't have a lot of furniture but don't look empty. I'm starting to think it might be a decorative wall that makes the scene look bigger. So I decided to give it a try.
I read Bonekia a while ago He blogged that he used bold colors to create textures, but didn't go into detail. Based on the "paint thick" statement, I decided to experiment a little and create my own textured wall. Keep in mind that this project is a test so I don't really know how it will go when I start. It has the potential to go south but can be repainted upstairs.
I started this project in April but left it to work on other projects and I've almost forgotten about it now. I almost remember doing it, but it's not so new that I started and finished in the same week.
You'll need the same materials for this project as you did for the wall: cardboard, acrylic paint, and a brush. I recommend buying an acrylic medium depending on the paint you are using.
I'm already doing this project behind a wall. Since it's already cropped and set up I'll skip this part, but if you need more information you can read my first article on mixing and matching .
I don't have too much heavy acrylic except for a few primary colors including white. I don't think white alone creates visual texture, so I need a base color. My plan is to create a muted base color for white and then format that with pure white.
In the plastic cup, I mixed white acrylic paint with gray to get a plaster-like color. I started adding blue gray but it was too subtle so I added dark gray. I also added a teaspoon of acrylic medium as dense acrylic sometimes won't stick to this surface and can have some sheen.
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| Add Environment |
I checked the color on the wall to see if I liked the color. I've done this a few times until I'm happy with the color. My advice is to let it dry a bit as the color can change a lot from wet to dry.
I add gray and experiment until I'm happy with what I have. I watched the whole process with the naked eye, so I can't tell you the details. Then I started drawing.
This makes me not sure if I'm making the right choice Will it be too dark? Too easy? I want the difference to be subtle, but not so subtle that it's not noticeable on camera.
For comparison, I photographed a dove gray wall (see sign post for this) and a new wall with a white base.
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| Dove Gray (left) and New Wall (right) |
A few months later, it's time to finish the fabric with white paint. White seems to create some contrast, so let's try it.
After brushing off some of the paint I started making sloppy strokes in the corners just to check. I think this technique is called "dry brushing" so the brush should have very little paint on it. I recommend using brushes with thick or hard bristles instead of soft bristles. It works fine for me.
I was happy with the test so I proceeded. The step I took to achieve this effect was like trying to draw a wide "X", some random strokes here and there.
Eventually I got to the point where I was happy with what I had.
Once the paint is completely dry, it's time to test how it looks on camera. I was a little impatient so I grabbed a Vitiligo doll and quickly snapped some photos. It looks a bit blurry without the furniture, but at least I know the texture will show up on camera.
Let's try to take a picture of the furniture to see how it looks.
In this photo, Rosie is sitting on a pink IKEA sofa. It's nice to see but the texture doesn't stand out too much since I'm using portrait mode for my phone. For this first photo of Victoria, the sofa itself was upholstered in yellow fabric to make a difference.
I didn't really like the pictures I took on the first day, so I tried again a few days later when I was feeling more inspired. Instead of creating a living room scene, I tried to create a bedroom. I covered the box with a white cloth and pretended it was a bed. Beautiful Chloe here.
I took these photos a few days after I finished sewing this pillow, so I featured it in almost every photo I took that day. I really like this image of layers, but it made me realize that I need to sew more pillows to make the scene look more complete. A headboard also helps.
Choose the effect of the wall yourself, but since it's gray and neutral, it looks a bit faded. I think it has to do with the fact that almost all of my furniture and accessories are very neutral as I designed them to work with colored walls. Perhaps colorful things can be used on this wall, or something that can be compared to gray. But the same technique worked, so I can always try to create a similar wall in a different color.
When I was planning this project I was also thinking of using a sponge to create a texture so this is another test to do later this year. At the moment I have other projects that I want to finish before I can build another wall.
I hope you enjoyed this article. I don't know if I can post much in July because I'm very busy this month. As some of you know, when the plague struck we could hardly make any headway, so much was delayed. But now that everything is back to normal, we're slowly starting to get back to where we left off. We'll be getting new furniture next week, so we'll probably be busy assembling the furniture and removing things. Instead of eating at the plastic folding table, I can't wait to finally get my hands on an original dining table that's about to break. We also need to get rid of my old car which is more than 18 years old. I'm a little sorry because it was my first car, but it's not worth it.
I wish you a nice summer and stay safe and healthy.
Tinker Monsters
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