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How to Paint a Realistic Castle Texture
1. Paint a base coat
Plan for about one gallon of paint for eight refrigerator boxes.
If you use a paint sponge instead of a roller or paint brush it takes less time and you will use less paint.
You will also need one quart of white paint and one quart of black to use for the highlights and shadows. You will have plenty of black and white left over for other projects.
2. Draw out the brick pattern.
I used a fat Sharpie I purchased at the hardware store. I used a measuring stick to mark out the bricks, but don't make them too perfect or it won't look right either.
3. Round the brick corners.
Just put a little mark at each corner to make the bricks look rounded.
4. Draw the arched windows and doors
I first traced the outline of my window (or door) and then drew in the bricks around the outline. I did this before marking out the other horizontal brick rows.
5. Texture the bricks
To make the texture on the bricks, I used a "dry brush" technique that I learned while painting theatrical sets. Basically, get a little paint on your brush and then paint it out on another surface, so that you brush is "dry".
5a. Paint the brick shadow
Use the dry brush technique to paint a black line along the bottom of each row of bricks (just above the horizontal lines), and then on the left hand side of each brick (right side of the vertical lines). I also added a shadow to the arch bricks.
Using a curved brush stroke, round out each brick by making a curved transition from the horizontal shadow line to the vertical shadow line.
Put a little texture in the middle of the brick by just dabbing a few spots. Add a little heavier shadow around the window ledge.
5b. Paint the brick highlight
Use the dry brush technique to paint a white line along the top of each row of bricks (just below the horizontal lines), and then on the right hand side of each brick (left side of the vertical lines). Add the curving corner as well.
