Dry Brushing with Autentico

Today on the Blog I thought I would talk to you a little about Dry Brushing. You may think that painting is painting but there are actually lots of other techniques that you can use to give your pieces an extra finishing touch.

The clue to dry brushing is in the name, you have as little paint on the brush as possible. It works especially well on items where there is carved detailing and can stop an item from appearing flat as the paint will catch on the raised edges of the piece highlighting them and enhancing the 3D effect.

First paint your piece in the colour of your choice. Make sure you cover the colour underneath, sometimes this is tricky to do if the carving is quite deep. Turn the piece round and look at it from different angles to make sure you havent missed any of it. When you are happy with the depth of colour allow the paint to dry thoroughly.

Pick a lighter colour that will show up against the base colour. Using a dry brush with long flexible bristles dip the very tips of the bristles in a little paint then dab most of it off again on a piece of kitchen towel. Very gently brush across the carved areas barely touching them - the trick is to almost tickle the edges of the carving so that the paint is transferred only onto the very top most edges. It is easy to have too much paint and be a little heavy handed and the technique may take a little practice to perfect. You are aiming for an effect similar to the photos below.