Faux Brick Painting

I am always amazed at the input I get from my students. What a breath of fresh air to see a non-professional artist use the faux brick video and come up with original ideas.  Here is another testimonial from a fan… I think I am a fan of his as well.

Debra ‘THATPainter Lady’

I suppose first thanks are to Google for leading me to your site. 

My first ‘faux’ wall was no longer in the correct color scheme after a decade of settling into the house and changes made or in progress in our kitchen. 

I did a lot of ‘technique’ painting around the house from rag to sponge but the old block style wall was my first. 

I don’t recall any instructions and used paint on hand with lots of masking tape for grout line layout. 

So…when time came under pressure from spouse to get rid of that blue wall I needed some help.  Your web site was great and the $25 price for some e-books and the video (in my case the real selling point!) hit the spot. 

My wife was out of town and late Friday evening I found and purchased your kit.  Saturday I prepped the wall with a cover coat to doodle on (LOVE the waterclor pencil tip) and got my supplies (including your neat pallette plate holder). 

By Sunday I had about what you see done.  Still in progress due to some office work which got in the way but will send you some final shots of the overall project.  I must say that I rarely go for a small test project and the nearly 300 brick pieces are taking a lot of patience! 

I am slightly suspicious of your advice on the uniformity of shadow highlighting for all the bricks.  You can see our window is on the right side.  While not a true trained artist (sorry, an engineer), my gut feel is that a point source of light would actually hit the bricks at different angles and actually have a gradient shadow.  So some bricks would have white highlighting on the top and right side if more in the center of the wall.  Those on top would be more on the right side and the bottom.  And in the truest sense, those right at the base of the wall closest to the window but directly below it might not have any (or very dim) because of the shadow the wall would create.  I will probably use your advice but would be interested in your opinion.  Still one more brick course to complete with grouting!

Your product was and is the perfect kickstart for this project.  I have run to the computer several times for ‘refresher’ training.  Your presentation and delivery is nice and even, very calming.  Also like your e-book but honestly the video turned out to be the star.  

  Until I finish, thanks a million!!  Bryan

 Bryan… What an amazing job you are doing!  Love the faux brick arch in the middle of the wall.  What a great architechtural element to add to the room.  Such talent.

I agree with you 100% about the highlighting and shadowing.  It is an art to create the correct shadowing on each brick.  This is truly an advanced idea to have each row of bricks highlighted and shadowed slightly different.  It is beyond the scope of teaching to beginner students. If basic highlight and shadow techniques can be accomplished by the beginner student… they will feel empowered to go on to more advanced techniques.

You have looked at the technique and expanded it in your mind to see the tiny flaw that shadowing a brick the same at any height, would be incorrect if looked at with a sharp eye.  I think you should take your shadows and highlights to the next level, you seem to be comfortable with the idea.  Good Luck!

Debra   THAT Painter Lady

Who would have guess that faux brick painting would be used on jumps for horses? I should have since it is often used in set design. This faux brick and faux block/rock walls are painted on rough cedar plywood.  Even the faux limestone cap is wonderful.

Here is the story and the critique:Â

Hi Debra
The actual reason I sent for your brick tutorial (you’ll think I’m nuts) was to paint a brick wall jump for horses.
I got dumped pretty badly three weeks ago (bucked off), and wanted something to do while I’m not getting around very well, so I built a very small (17″High and Deep, 8′Long) wall out of plywood, and have painted a brick wall on one side, and a stone wall on the other–that way, it’s two completely different jumps for the horse–the top is just gray, as though it’s a limestone cap.
I used what I learned from your brick tutorial to improvise the stone side, and I think it turned out well, but my guess is that you would have a lot of ideas on how to make them better.
I made this initial wall small for the young horses, but also so that I could practice first on a smaller piece.I now want to make a 2′6″ or 3′ wall with 7′ or 8′ tall pillars to the sides.
So, I figured if I was going to do the larger scale, I want it to be as good and as consistent as possible.
I’ll take a couple pictures of both sides of the little wall, to show you what I’ve done so far; and if you can give me any suggestions to use on the next larger project, that would be great.
One thing I’ve considered is doing a couple of viaduct-like arches on the wall itself–but we’ll see.Thanks for your initial very good brick tutorial–it was a great help.
Mari

p.s. I already noticed one thing I could have done on the stones, which is to have highlighted more in the center section of each stone, where they might have been sticking out more–they just have a flat-ish look to me–(but pretty colors– ,I think). And I wish I’d used less red in the bricks, and want to have more “interest” in the next brick wall–like plaster, or the arched sections, or something–they just look a little too (perfect isn’t the right word) straight, or even or not enough white smeared on them, and too much white in the highlighting–I was using the rough side of cedar plywood, so it was a little tougher to wash the shading and highlighting in, but still……..I’m not unhappy with my first attempt. So, I’m waiting for your advice…… Thanks, Mari

Mari… I don’t think you are silly. I am amazed with the I am always amazed with the ideas that customers of the Faux Brick Video come up with.Â

-Â I used to ride english ( many years ago) and often found my self on the ground when the horse didn’t go over the jump, but I did. -

You did some amazing faux brick and faux block wall painting.

My critque of the faux brick wall: Not enough highlight and shadow. Because the brick is outside and gets a ton of direct light… you will have to go overboard with the shadows and highlights. This would be the same with set design for plays. The brick is viewed from a distance so the darks and lights must be more viewable from across the field.

If you wanted to add more distressed looking bricks, broken edges and plaster patches… that would add more interest in your wall. These would be great additions to larger walls, as plain brick walls of any size will get boring.

Critique of the faux block wall: Fantastic Shapes and Colors! Great job creating what looks like a stacked rock wall. The black area around the rocks is all the same color. Black. It needs to have some variations with a little lighter black. Black/Grey. And…you’re right, you don’t have enough white highlights. Same problem as the faux brick. You are working on this project up close and they probably look great from 3- 5 feet away, but you need to look at this wall from 20 feet away to see that the white doesn’t show up as well.

A trick I use is to look at my projects in a mirror. Like you are looking at the back of your head to check your hair, but looking at the mural instead. It gives a different perspective and puts more distance between you and your painting. It’s amazing what errors you will find when looking at art through a mirror.

Technorati Tags: Faux Brick, wall, jump for horses, horse jump, english riding, wall jump, block wall, faux rock

I am always glad to share testimonials from customers… good or bad. This letter came to me as a pleasant surprise. The Faux Brick Instructions are not just for beginners… you can see that even professional painters often need a helping hand.

Debra,

The video & ebook were awesome! Thank you!

When a client asked if I could paint afaux brick wall for a local television station I said “sure”.

I had less than two days to produce two samples - and I never painted a faux brick in my life!

I found your site and what a lifesaver! Your step-by-step instructions make it so easy!

I am so impressed, and thankful that you are sharing your technique - it was definately money well spent… plus… I never had to leave my house! (I love painting in my pj’s)

I’m sending pictures, so that you can see what YOU taught me!

THANKS A BUNCH!
Val Kruwel

vkdesign http://vkdesign.blogspot.com/

Â

Technorati Tags: faux brick, faux painting, faux brick photos, faux brick class, faux brick video, testimonial