Much to my surprise, the bricking process was more 3D than I had expected. Instead of simply painting on a base coat over our grout color and using a tool for texturing, the brick material was actually a compound composed of white craft glue, joint compound, and paint for coloration. The cool thing about mixing it this way is you can make your bricks whatever color you want and don't have to rely on a company's inventory to make decisions for you.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2KxC8-T9KeLInUbj4Rga7IiNCi1YjuXrovY0KQl6kGtv-3on2Lhj9uy8poty_3a7INLWKI3VeRyKnV03kv_U2t-cASVuTQ6CoF8rCNVLoiwOwTa1P2cUCEbUm7iZGrsLCnxsbTfy3Uiv/s320/IMG_9251.JPG) |
Taped and Ready for Compound |
We began by painting on a base coat of grout grey on a 1'x4'and taping out our grout lines. Our instructor mentioned that most bricks measure about 3"x8", and if we were actually constructing a set we would try and line up the bricks uniformly as if they were laid into a wall. For our purposes though, it was recommended we stagger the vertical lines so it doesn't wind up looking like there's a straight line scoring down the center of the piece.
This technique should be used on a horizontal surface. If you try to do this with your wall standing up, the mixture will run and you'll wind up with melty bricks. A note on drying: Do NOT use a fan to dry this medium. If it dries too rapidly, the mixture will crack and can pull away from the board you're using. It's also a good idea to use a textured surface for your materials that will give the mixture a good tooth. Final tip - make sure the tape lines that don't reach the edge of the board are over the ones that do. That way when you pull up your tape you don't have to worry about digging to find your other lines.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAJCHqgUZFpGDzb-FAFpsM0vWbKvT-ycOv2d7gKBsZXWcelGGlSd1e2dqIGIX2nrnBIxpcVzXZFVuSr8d4K4a6zlDh2CnVQ12O3dXdfJxAhq2wa4bB7Dm0uHWBviCVo5xVrkzrdFytCBP/s640/IMG_9252.JPG) |
Brick Mixture Smoothed with Spreader. Mixture is roughly 1/16" thick. |
There's not much of a difference between these two photographs, but if you look closely you'll see that they have different textures. We applied the compound to the board in scoops then smoothed it over with an adhesive spreader to get an even coat (above) before texturing with a cement trowel (below). With a light touch, the smooth side of the trowel was dragged across the compound, which has the consistency of thick "goop", allowing it to keep its shape while creating flat peaks and wide, shallow valleys. We then left it to dry for about the time it took to clean our tools, then came back and peeled up our tape. The idea is to let it dry long enough that it holds its shape and doesn't fall when you pull the tape, but not so long that it cracks or refuses to pull.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUpleWxVrUkEZgQplOglVePYpTcHh3aGx6faahAgx7U7VI3cZUpgxX-TxsRBN-LPqauX0DRJ359vjTsAh4DKUVymP5rf-O3Ow0qG4CEFr2-CkAuSbRlP-o_764Iqk_JPD2AWiG1CuKeWYc/s640/IMG_9254.JPG) |
Brick Mixture Textured with Trowel |
With these steps complete, we put the project on standby while we started work on our final project - stretching the canvas and transferring our images.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGh-08KrbDJ_ujOVP36rEBQkN6ibtMt5fhh5F_EO1FAAHkPbO7LMLQvo9aFTvuMjZe4pFdTHzYkeKAiDPN934oVOjUymKxmHQ8A02pjfrgX5EH-gGjcx6TQIemV0toPWI6H2_VOaUn9T8f/s640/IMG_9255.JPG) |
Brick Mixture as it Dries |
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