This will be a MUCH shorter post! Victorian foundation walls can be brick, field stone, block, or concrete. Foundations do not provide as many choices, and each type has a couple of different methods of achieving that affect. I decided on a field stone foundation because the house was already solid brick!
Field stone can be achieved by using paper clay, patterns printed from the computer, real stone (very heavy) or cardboard egg cartons. If there are other methods, I am just not aware of them yet. I quickly settled on cardboard egg carton because of the texture and how some of the pieces on the curved part can be incorporated to give the impression of the round side of a stone.
Tear the carton into round, stone size pieces. You will want large and small pieces. I pre-painted the foundation a slate grey to simulate mortar. I didn't want to fill in the spaces with anything afterwards because I did not want to lose the depth of the stones. Then I began gluing them on by completely covering the stone with tacky glue and pressing into place. On corners, I glued the stone over the corner, which also gives the illusion of depth.
 |
| Cardboard egg carton pieces. |
If you look at a real field stone foundation, there is very little space between rocks. So I made sure to include little, distinctly separate, pieces in the gaps created by the larger stone.
 |
| A mix of circular, rectangular, trapezoidal, and triangular shapes. |
I tried to use the natural shape of the egg carton pieces to fit the stones right up to the straight edges of the floor and bottom of the foundation. I also found bending the cardboard to fit the corners was easier if the cardboard was a little damp. It was like putting together a jig saw puzzle. I searched through my pile until I found the shape and size I needed at the time.
 |
| Painted and sealed foundation wall. |
It was almost a year before I added color and sealed the foundation wall. I was afraid to paint the egg carton. I watched video after video. I learned about and practiced dry brushing. I am not someone who can paint pictures unless you count paint by number. So this was a very intimidating step for me. But I gave it a go, keeping in mind that stone has a multitude of colors. Stone also shows wear, mossing, and highlights. I used mostly brown acrylic paint, which I mixed separately for some stones with green, red, a little pink, or blue paints. Then I tinted the brown with black and dry brushed it where there would be dirt. And I very lightly touched to top of the larger stones with some white for highlights. Finally I sealed it all with a good coat of Modge Podge. I was very satisfied with the results!
Next Up: Making Your Own Windows
Comments
Post a Comment