How to Make Your Own Rake or Comb Brushes

Rake or comb brushes are very handy when painting textured effects. These brushes have been cut with gaps between the bristles so that they produce grass like effects. They are really convenient when you want to paint rows of lines quickly and easily.

I find them useful for painting the fur in pet portraits.

However the rake brushes I have do have one problem. The spaces between the bristles are all the same size. This makes them excellent for parallel line areas, but not so good for grassy areas where you want some variety in the brush strokes.

I do have one rake brush that has irregular spaces but the majority of the rake brushes seem to have uniform spacing.






So I decided to experiment

I trimmed some old brushes to see how that would work. Don't use new brushes, but if you have some old brushes that are past their best this could be a good project.

As you can see from the photo I cut the bristles to give uneven spaces.


How to make your own

It is probably easier to do this with flat brushes rather than round brushes, although I tried both. Trim the brush across the width of the brush head. You are trying for a thin line of bristles across the width of the brush; this will avoid the final brush being overloaded with paint.

Then cut into the brush head to give the spaces between the bristles. This is a bit like when a hairdresser is making choppy layers in a hair style.

Test your newly trimmed brush to check that you are happy with the effect. If you aren't pleased with it then dry the brush on a piece of paper towel and re-cut it. Repeat this stage until you have a successful rake brush.


When to use them

If you're only painting a small area of texture it'll be easier to just paint it in using a small brush. However when you want to texture a large area it'll be quicker to use this type of brush and you can add several lines with just one brush stroke.

Having made your own brush you will have a more random look to the texture too.

How to Paint a Textured Background

Painting in backgrounds in landscapes is fairly straightforward. However when painting still life or animal portraits the background area is often a cause for concern.

Painting in backgrounds is a common problem. This post is about a way to use cheesecloth to give a lightly textured background.

The following background techniques would usually be painted before the main part of the picture.


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How to Paint a Textured Background using Cheesecloth


I like the background of a picture to have some texture or subtle colour. This has two benefits.

Firstly, by breaking up a flat background the painting is more interesting.

Secondly, if you smudge the main area of the painting it is a lot easier to repair the background area. When the background is a flat colour, all the background would need to be over-painted. With a textured background you can (often!) touch up some areas without needing to repaint all the background.


Using Cheesecloth is Easy

For an interesting background texture you can use cheesecloth or muslin. This technique can also be effective with voile and lace fabrics too. Try to experiment with whatever loosely woven fabrics you have.


Use the Fabric like a Stencil

Start by spraying your painting surface with water and then place on your fabric.

Next, brush or use a sponge to apply a thinned paint over the fabric. Try not to use too watery paint or it will run underneath it and you won’t get a texture. If this happens just dry everything off with some paper towel and try again.

Let the paint dry for about 10 to 15 minutes (depending on conditions) and then remove the fabric before the paint is completely dry. The impression of the fabric will be left in the painted background.


Alternately use the Fabric for an Impression

Another way to use the fabric is to paint the background and then press the fabric into the painted surface for a different look.

In this case the fabric will soak up some of the paint giving thicker and thinner areas that will provide some texture.


When I Paint in the Background

When I paint pet portraits I have found the easiest thing is to lightly draw in the pet portrait shape and then paint in the background area. When using a stretched canvas I paint around the sides at this stage too.

This way I can leave the majority of the portrait area unpainted. A really textured background would need a thickly painted portrait to cover it otherwise.

Then towards the end of the picture I tidy up any background areas that need it and finally paint some of the fur over the background paint. This blends both areas a little and adds to the texture of the pet fur.

This would work equally well with flowers or other subjects that are the main focus of your picture.


Abstract Themes

These painting techniques will work well for abstract pictures too. However in abstract pictures these techniques could be used at any stage.

They would be handy to use after the whole picture has been painted to add some extra interest. Then you can just define a few of the areas to bring them forward.

That is, paint most of the picture, apply the texture, and then emphasis a few of the areas once the texture has dried.

These highlighted areas would be a good place to use some acrylic mediums to give either a gloss finish or perhaps metallic highlights.


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I hope you find this helpful.
There is no right way to paint, just different ideas for achieving the look you want. :-)

Another Plastic Wrap Painting Technique Especially for Collages

I have been trying another plastic wrap technique, but without too much success this time. However maybe you will have more luck than me!

I read about another use for plastic wrap. This one is done by applying acrylic paint thickly to crumpled plastic wrap and letting the paint dry.

The paint can then be peeled off in a layer. You can cut it up for use in collages and mixed media paintings. It can be ‘glued’ on using acrylic gel or medium as an adhesive.

(I thought using thin rectangles for fence posts in the foreground of a picture would work well.)

Depending on your picture you may wish to use a blend of colours.

Or

Another ideal could be to add some beads or other small items to the wet paint. Remember that you will probably want to use the rear of the paint as the good side so push the beads right down so you will be able to see them once you remove the plastic wrap.

You can use old paints or colours you do not particularly like to try out this idea.

My Attempt

My attempt was not too successful. I applied some of my old paints to the crumpled plastic wrap hoping for some wood-like texture. Once the surface of the paint was dry I tried to peel it off the plastic wrap.

It came off OK but it was only the surface of the paint that was dry. As the centre was still soft I left finger prints in the sections that were pulled off.

So I decided to leave it to dry fully. But then the plastic wrap was really stuck onto the paint and the crumpled areas were embedded into the dried paint. So no success this time either.

I think the trick is to judge the ‘dryness’ of the paint so that you can remove it from the wrap while it is firm enough not to dent from the pressure of your fingers but before it sets too much.
This may required a bit of trial and error to get it to work successfully. :-)

Maybe you will have more luck than I did with this technique. I think it would be really useful if you can get it to work!

How to Use Plastic Wrap for Texture with Acrylic Paint

Using Plastic Wrap for Texture

This idea is to seal your painting surface, apply a second coat of a different colour or tone, then place some crumpled plastic wrap on top to make a texture in the second coat of paint.


The Method

So the first thing to do is apply an undercoat colour to your painting surface. Make sure that the painting surface is sealed; apply a second coat if you need to.




Next mix a second colour with some gel retarder.

The gel retarder will slow the drying time a little, which is handy for this technique.
Try 1 part colour to 1 part retarder.

Apply thinly to the painting surface and do not let it dry. Then you scrunch up some plastic wrap (we often call it cling film in the UK). Unfold loosely so that it keeps its wrinkles.

Lightly press into the glaze and pat gently, and remove before the paint dries.

There are two important points for this stage.

1. If you do not like the effect you can brush over it and try it again until you achieve an effect you like, at least until the paint dries!
2. Do not press the film too firmly or you will leave finger impressions in the texture, if this happens you can refer to point one above. :-)

This technique will give a random background texture. It can sometimes look a bit like leather.

In my example I used Prussian blue and some white for the base coat, this was painted onto a canvas panel. I used a darker version of this colour for the second coat with the texture. This gave quite a delicate textured look.

However, as it was difficult to see the effect in the photo I let the second coat dry and painted a third coat using mostly white. I think you can see the texture more clearly in the photo for this one.

It's also a good example of how you can build up the texture using several coats if you want.

This is a handy way to paint in a background for a silhouette style painting, or for a graphic with a strong outline.