How to: Textured off-white wall. An experiment

If you've been following my blog for these past two years, you'll know that I've been quite focused in making backgrounds for my doll photos. I've made some colorful ones, but the last few I've made I've been going for a more realistic look. Overall, I'm quite happy with the results I'm getting, but sometimes I feel like my backgrounds look empty. One doll blogger that I love, Bonequea, always has these beautiful doll photos that often don't have much furniture, but don't feel empty. I started to think it could be the textured wall, that made the scene look fuller. So, I decided to give it a try.

A while back, I read on Bonequea's blog that she used thick paint to create the texture, but she didn't give much detail about it. So, taking the "thick paint" statement as a reference, I decided to experiment a bit and create my own textured wall. Keep in mind that this project is an experiment, so I don't really know how things are going to turn out when I start. There's a chance it will go south, but hey, it can be repainted on top.

I started this project back in April, but left it aside to work on other projects and almost forgot about it until now. I more or less remember how I did it, but it's not as fresh as it would have been had I started and finished it the same week.

For this project you will need the same supplies you would use to make the wall: some binding cardboard, acrylic paint and some brushes. I also would recommend, depending on the paint you use, getting some acrylic medium. 

I'm doing this project on the back of a wall I have already. Since it's already cut and primed, I'm going to skip this part, but you can check my first mix and match post if you need further information. 

I don't have many acrylic paints that have a thick consistency, except for some basic colors, including white. I don't think that white by itself it's going to create any visible texture, so I'll need a base color. My plan is to create a subtle off-white base color and then give the texture using the pure white. 

On a plastic cup, I mixed some white acrylic paint with some gray to create a plaster looking color. I started adding some Dove Gray, but it was too subtle, so I added a darker gray. I also added a teaspoon of the acrylic medium, because thick acrylic paint sometimes doesn't run well on this surface and can have some shine to it. 

Add medium

I tested the paint onto the wall, to see if I liked the color. I did several times through the process, until I was happy with the color. My advice is that you let it dry for a bit, since colors can change a lot from wet to dry. 

I kept adding gray and testing until I was happy with what I got. I eyeballed the whole process, so I can't really give much detail. Then I started painting my board.

Doing this, I'm very unsure I'm making the right choices. Will it be too dark? Too light? I want it to have a subtle difference, but not so subtle that it won't show up on camera. 

For comparison, I took a photo with my Dove Grey wall (see it on the painted artwork post) and the new wall with the off-white base. 

Dove Gray (left) and the new wall (right)

Fast forward a few months, it is time to start making the texture with the white paint. It seems like the white will provide some contrast, so let's give this a try. 

Picking just a little bit of paint with a brush, I started to gave messy brush strokes on a corner, just to test it. I believe this technique is called "dry brush", so your brush needs to have very little paint on it. I also would recommend using a brush with stiff or rough bristles rather than a soft one. It worked better for me. 

I was happy with the test, so I kept going. The movement that I do to get this effect is similar to trying to draw a wide "X", with some random strokes here and there.

Finally, I got to a point when I was happy with what I had.

Once the paint has completely dried down, it's time to test how it looks on camera. I was a bit impatient, so I took just my vitiligo doll and took a few quick photos. It looks quite dull  without any furniture, but at least I know that the texture will appear on camera.

Let's try a few photos with some furniture, to see how it looks. 

The previous photo looks too cold, so I brought my coral console to bring some color and warmth to the scene. 

In this photo, Rosie is sitting in the pink IKEA couch. It looks nice, but the texture doesn't stand out so much because I use the portrait mode of my phone. For that very first photo of Victoria, I covered this very same couch with yellow fabric, to change things up. 

I wasn't very happy with the photos I took the first day, so a few days later, when I was feeling more inpsired, I gave it another try. Instead of creating a living room scene, I tried to create a bedroom one. I covered a box with some white fabric and pretended it was a bed. Chloe is looking very cute here.

I took these photos just a few days after I finished sewing that pillow, so I featured it in almost all the photos I took that day. I really like this photo of Lea, but it made me realize I need to sew more pillows to make the scene look fuller. Having a bed headboard could have also helped. 

I do like the effect of the wall itself, but because it's gray and neutral, it looks a bit dull. I think it also has to do with the fact that almost all of my furniture and accessories are pretty neutral, since I created them to work with colorful walls. Probably this wall could use some colorful items or just something that would contrast with the gray. But the technique itself worked, so I can always try to create a similar wall with other colors. 

When I was planning out this project, I also considered using a sponge to create the texture, so that's another experiment I can run later this year. As for now, I have other projects I'd like to finish first before I make another wall. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post. I don't know if I'll be able to post much during July because I have a lot to take care of this month. As some of you know, we just moved home when the pandemic hit, so a lot of things were put on hold. But now that things are going back to normal, we're slowly picking things where we left them. We will receive some new furniture next week, so, we'll probably be busy assembling furniture and putting stuff in place. I can't wait to finally have a proper dining room table, instead of eating on a plastic folding table that is about to disintegrate. We also need to get rid of my old car, which is over 18 years old. It makes me a bit sad because it was my first car, but it's just not worth keeping it. 

I hope you guys are having an amazing summer while staying safe and healthy.

Monster Crafts

Check out part 2:

How to: Textured "limewash effect" cream wall

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How to: doll-size painted artwork

How to: Mix 'n' Match backgrounds (part 2)