FINISHING · INTERMEDIATE

Weathering & aging

If you learn one skill for building a nativity, make it this one. A well-built model with bad aging still looks like a model. A rough build with good aging looks real. The whole method is four steps, in this order, with very thin paint. Half of all failures come from trying to do it in one go.

The principle

A new surface is all one color. An old surface never is: it’s darker in the cracks, lighter on the raised parts, stained where water runs, green where it’s damp and worn where people walk.

Aging means recreating that unevenness, in the same order nature does: dark first, then light, then the little details last.

Three rules before you begin:

  • Always very thin. Your paint should be as runny as tea, not like paint. You build it up in ten light layers, not two thick coats.
  • Always matte. Under a nativity’s soft lighting, even a little shine looks fake.
  • Always test first. Try the whole sequence on a two-inch scrap of the same material. It takes ten minutes. You can’t undo a heavy-handed dry-brush on a finished wall.
New is uniform. Old never is.new: a single toneold: dark hollows, light edgesIn nature’s order: dark first, light next, accidents last.

Materials

Six colors are enough

  • Raw umber — the universal dark wash
  • Burnt umber — hollows, rust, wood
  • Yellow ocher — southern stone, soil
  • Payne’s gray — northern stone, slate
  • Titanium white — dry-brushing
  • Olive green — moss, damp, lichens

Four tools

  • A soft flat brush for washes
  • A short stiff brush you don’t mind ruining, for dry-brushing
  • A natural sponge
  • An old toothbrush for spattering

Plus: paper towels, a rag, two jars of water.

Six colors, four toolsRawumberBurntumberYellowocherPayne’sgrayTitaniumwhiteOlivegreen• soft flat brush• stiff throwaway brush• natural sponge• toothbrushAlways very diluted (the consistency of tea), always matte, always on a sample first.

The four passes

  1. The dark wash

    Thin raw umber 1 to 10 with water and brush it on everywhere, generously, working it into the cracks. Blot the extra off the flat areas with a paper towel so it stays in the cracks and comes off the raised parts. At this point the piece will look way too dark. That’s normal. It actually means it worked.

  2. The local color wash

    Now add the color of the material, very thin and uneven. Yellow ocher for sunny limestone, Payne’s gray for mountain stone, red ocher for brick. Don’t cover it evenly: two stones side by side are never exactly the same color. Let the dark wash show through in the cracks.

  3. Dry-brushing

    This is the most impressive step, and the one people get wrong. Load the brush with a light color (your base color mixed with lots of white), then wipe it on a rag until it barely leaves any paint. Brush it flat across the surface with quick back-and-forth strokes. It only catches the edges, and suddenly all the texture pops. If you see brush marks, you used too much paint.

  4. Accidents

    Three or four touches, no more: thin green at the bottom of walls and under ledges, a dark streak under a window sill, a toothbrush spatter, a lighter area where people walk. Each one needs a reason: water, shade or wear.

Let each step dry completely, and check your work under the nativity’s lighting, not your work lamp. Aging that looks right under a cool white light will look too harsh under a warm 2,200 K LED.

The four passes1Dark wash1 to 10, everywhere2Local coloruneven3Dry-brushingedges only4Accidents3 or 4 touchesAfter the first pass it’s clearly too dark: that’s the sign it worked.

Weathering wood

Wood in a nativity (beams, shutters, shingles, the mill wheel) is almost always weathered gray, never shiny brown.

  1. Score the grain

    Drag a utility blade or a pointed tool lightly along the grain to carve fine grooves.

  2. Umber wash

    Brush very thin brown along the grain. It settles into the grooves.

  3. Pale gray dry-brushing

    Always along the grain. That’s what makes wood look like it’s been outdoors for years.

  4. Accidents

    Add a knot with the pointed tool, a crack, a splintered end, a little moss at the bottom.

Weathering metal

Hinges, pintles, barrel hoops, the well chain, tools.

  • Rusted iron — a burnt umber base, then touches of rust orange dabbed on with a sponge, then a hint of black in the hollows. Finish with a very light metallic-gray dry-brushing on the edges.
  • Blackened iron — matte black, then a mid-gray dry-brushing. Old wrought iron doesn’t shine.
  • Patinated copper — red-brown, then a very diluted verdigris applied in the hollows only.
Weathered wood, rusted ironnew wood, browngrain scored, dark wash, gray dry-brushingRusted ironBlackened ironPatinated copperNativity wood is never varnished. Old wrought iron doesn’t shine.

Weathering white: plaster and render

White walls are a special case, because it’s tempting to leave them white. But real old plaster is never pure white: it’s cream, grayish and stained.

Here the order is reversed: start with off-white, then dirty it up with several very thin washes: brown in the corners, tan streaks under the windows, gray along the bottom ⅜ inch of the walls. And let some stone show through: scrape the plaster at the corners and under the windows, where it flakes off first.

The logic of aging

What makes aging look real instead of just decorative is that every mark has a cause. Before you add a stain, ask yourself why it would be there.

Cause Where Effect
Running water Under ledges, gutters, roof overhangs Dark vertical streaks
Rising damp The first ⅜ inch above the ground A darker, greenish band
Foot traffic Middle of paths, step noses, doorsteps Lighter, smoother
Lack of sun North side, inside corners, under vaults Green, darker
Sun Exposed surfaces, high edges Lighter, faded
Knocks Wall corners, step edges Chips, bare light stone
Every stain has a causestreaks under the silldamp band at the baseworn doorstep, lightergreen north sidechipped cornerfaded edgesBefore adding a stain, ask yourself why it would be there.

Rescuing failed weathering

Nothing’s ruined as long as you’re using matte acrylic.

  • Too light or chalky: go over it with a thin dark wash. The easiest fix.
  • Too dark: do another, heavier dry-brush. Don’t paint a light color over it, or you’ll lose all the texture.
  • Too even: spatter two colors with a toothbrush, then add a streak or two. You can always add more unevenness.
  • Too colorful: a very thin gray wash over everything tones all the colors down at once.
  • Shiny: a light mist of matte spray varnish, from 12 inches away, outdoors. It’s the only time you’ll need a spray can.