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
