grunge painting

I wanted this urn to go into the room I'm redoing.  It was a Hobby Lobby 80% off find.  It's a little dark so I wanted to brighten it up. 

Here's what you need:

Acrylic paints your base color and 2-3 others that will blend in (white, cream, forest, mushroom and acorn)

Paint brushes You are going to doing a lot of pouncing with these so don't use expensive brushes.  The brushes that look ready to throw away are better.

Paint pallet or paper plate

Water

Spray sealer
Forget fancy paint pallets I always use foam disposable plates to put my paint on.  If you slip it into a plastic bag you can use the paint the next day.
I rinse the plate off and use it over and over, it's better for the earth that way and I'm very, very cheap.

Paint your base coat (the color you want to see the most of)  pouncing in the crevasses, don't worry about getting it all covered, just most of it.

While the base coat is still wet pounce on the other colors thinning them with a little water to the consistency of ink.  Your project will look awful now, that's OK, let it dry.

Pounce on your base coat color and another color close in shade if wanted (white and cream) Use a wet brush and both colors at the same time.  Add color until you're happy.  let dry.

 You could put dibs and dabs of paint in 10-12 layers, that's OK just so you like it. The added colors will not show very much just hints here and there.

If you want an antique look mix about a teaspoon of burnt umber acrylic and 3-4 tsp of water.  Slap it on concentrating on the nooks and crannies.  Wipe off as you go.  Let dry.  Spray with clear sealer.

Don't make yourself crazy with this, you can't mess it up just keep adding more paint until you are satisfied with the look.

The last picture is still adding additional layers of cream and white.  You'll see the finished project in the room redo pics.  I also did this to some candlesticks that are in the room.



A huge thanks to all my friends and relatives who have responded to this blog endeavor.  Any suggestions on how to make it better or subjects to cover would be very appreciated.