Bricks and stones

Give walls and paths a worn, friendly texture.

Level: intermediate. About 20 minutes.

What you need

• Two or three warm brick colors
• A light warm grey for the mortar
• A darker brown or grey for edges and specks
• A fine tip for small details

Steps

1. Color the mortar first

   Fill the lines between the bricks with light grey. Doing this first means you never have to squeeze grey into tiny gaps later.

2. Vary the bricks a little

   Color most bricks in your main brick color and some in a lighter or darker one. Real walls are never one color.

3. Shade the bottom of each brick

   Run a darker line along the bottom edge of every brick. It looks as if each brick sticks out a little from the wall.

4. Add specks and little cracks

   Tap a few dots with the fine tip and draw one or two tiny cracks. A little texture goes a long way: do not cover every brick.

Practice

• Color the mortar grey first, then the bricks.
• Give each stone of the path its own shade.
• Try one brick per box: base, dark edge, specks.