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1: Flow on thinned washes of good-quality artists' acrylic
paints to rejuvenate faded plaster rock formations.
– Joe Fugate photo.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Rockwork
Q.
After several years, I returned to my railroad to find the
rock work looks really washed out. I had used Higgins India
Ink as the base wash, getting great looking rock, and some
thin acrylic color washes as variant coloring. The ink faded to
almost white. There is about 20' of face to fix. What will re-
darken it without losing the natural white/black grain? I tried
another ink wash on a small spot, but it wiped out the grain
and just turned dark. It's all plaster of paris rock.
– Berk
A.
I know people seem to like India ink but I never use the stuff.
I use good old black acrylic artists paint and thin it to a very
watery wash. Acrylic pigment seems more resistant to aging
than India ink.
A Google search on the fading tendency of inks versus acrylics
suggests tube acrylics purchased in an art supply store will retain
their color for decades, if not centuries. This is based on expert
commentary on a number of websites. Cheaper craft acrylics, I
suspect, would be more like ink in that they can fade noticeably
in just a few years.
To restore the look of the rock wall (1), I'd get some artist tube
acrylics and mix up some washes. Make sure the wash has no
paint sediment in it. Use gentle plant misting spray bottles to
mist on the washes. In addition to a black wash, consider wash-
ing the rocks with other colors, like brown, blue-gray, or yellow-
tan, depending on the scene you're modeling.
Then you could mist the various washes on your rock wall to
restore the vitality of the color. Several passes will probably
help a lot.
Questions, Answers & Tips - 1
MRH-Nov 2013
