Need help with technique on next step in coloring my rocks (Scenic question)....

Hi all. Okay, need your help. How can do I get the rocks (Pink Foam) to not look all the same color? What is the technique used to highlight some of the rocks so they look unique and not all the same? Do I need to create a couple of shades of paint to apply? Your comments are appreciated.

Hi,

Try this. once you get the system down it is very simple.

To upload pictures you must create a host such as PHOTOBUCKET www.photobucket.com It is free. After you create your account you merely click on the upload button and then select the picture you want to upload from your computer.

Now you are ready to post that picture to your thread.

There are two ways to insert the picture. The way I like to do it is to click on the direct link box under the picture on photobucket. This automatically copies the link. Then you go to the thread and there is a bar across the top. One of the icons is green and looks like film. Click on this and a window will open with a box to paste the URL that you got from photobucket.

When you click on insert the picture will show up on the thread wherever your cursor is.

I try to have the cursor placed so that I have space above and below the inserted picture.

The second way is to click on image under your picture on photobucket and paste it in your post.

The first way you see the picture before you post and the second after you post.

It’s your choice.

It sounds like a big deal but it is actually simple once you get the hang of it.

Hope this helps and looking forward to the pictures

Bob

Thank you Bob, for the tip! Photos are added.

It looks you used the same technique I USED to use; paint the rocks gray to start with and they end up looking too dark. If you use washes; thinned down acrylic latex paints. I use raw and burnt umber, siennas, and light and black. Brush on washes of the other colors, depending on the colors you want to end up with. Different areas of the country have different colors. Now brush on, or spray the thinned wash of black made with acrylic latex and rubbing alcohol. It’s better to be lighter to begin with. If you need more, add more. But, once it’s too dark, you can’t lighten it up, without repainting the rocks. The black wash gives the rocks more depth, as it settles into the nooks and crannies.

To highlight the rocks, I use the drybrushing technique. I use the lid from a gallon ice cream bucket as a palette. Put some antique white acrylic latex paint (the bottles of it in the crafts section at Walmart are perfect) in the lid. Dip the paint brush into it, then wipe it off until there’s very little paint left in it. Now, using downward strokes, apply it to the rock face. You want to use downward strokes, because you want to give the impression of sunlight hitting the rocks.

Hi Marlon,

This has really helped. It appears that my rocks are too dark, and I’ll need to repaint and then use washes with the pigments you’ve outlined. Thank you!

Go to Woodland Scenics website and checkout there short video tips on rock coloring. Their process and coloring efforts may not be for you, but it is interesting how easy they make it look. Many ways to skin a cat in this game.

Richard

Hi Richard,

Yes, thank you. I have learned that we typically want to “wash” our plaster and rocks, rather than paint them. I just completed a basalt rock wall out of pink foam, looks authentic, but wished I had washed the colors on, instead on painting. I know everything can be re-done, or torn out…but the wall is pretty neat. A little too dark, however, there are areas of Eastern Washington that have darker basalt, so I might just leave it?

Looks good to me, not that I’m familiar with the location.

You can always try rubbing on some lighter artists pastels if it concerns you - a bit of pale grey can do wonders, although it’s easy to overdo things. You can brush much of the pastel dust away if it doesn’t work out as well as you would have hoped. I apply the pastel with my fingertip after rubbing it along the length of the chalk, but you can always scrape the pastel with a sharp blade and dip your finger in that, or you can brush it on which is a slower way to go.

Mike

When painting most things we model, starting with something void of colour (black or as dark as possible) and work your way lighter in colour is the proper way to proceed for a best result. You have dark rocks that look good so far. I would just work away from where you are with lighter colours. If you don’t like it, more paint is a container away.

One advantage of many coats of paint is it is harder to chip if hit.[(-D]

Brent[C):-)]

Don’t worry about the “too” dark a color. You actually want this as a base. Washes help, however, don’t just rely on washes alone. Drybrushing after the initial wash to a “get close” color is a great way to control the final result. The highlighting on Marlon’s rocks look great from lighter color drybrush work. Don’t just assume that you need to work in those base colors (gray, black, tans), many outcroppings, cuts actually can have greens, red, rust pending the geology of the area modeled

Even though these are rubber rock and Hydrocal mix the same applies

I would say there’s no need to start over, yet. That’s not a bad looking base. Personally, I start with a lighter gray with a hint of red in it, to model the rocks around here. It would help to have a photo of the rocks in the area you’re modelling, just to help you know when the look is right.

Having some experience mixing paint will help here. What I would do is start with your base color, and add some white until you get a significantly lighter shade of gray. Use a modified dry-brushing technique: as described above, but leave a fair amount of paint on your brush, and go SIDEWAYS, not vertically, because you are simulating the strata of minerals and layers in the rock, not sunlight. Slop it on generously – paint should come off the brush where the bristles strike, but not flow off the brush as in normal painting. This will take some experimentation to hit on the right technique. If you have one, you can also do this with an air brush, laying down a light mist with side to side strokes. Repeat this process with 3-5 progressively lighter shades. Finish with a vertical dry-brushing of white as described above.

Finally, cover with a thin wash of black (mine is diluted 10:1). This will settle into the cracks and highlight them.

Above all, experiment and have fun. Expect to learn as you go rather than getting it right the first time (fear of improper execution is one of the biggest obstacles to progress). As a last resort, you can always repaint and start over.

CTVALLEY,

Thank you. This is very helpful!

Actually, if you use the drybrushing technique, it will lighten your rocks considerably.