Water stains & aging on wallpaper

SKILL LEVEL – moderate
TOXIC – yes, wear a respirator and gloves to keep the paint off of your fingers
INGEDIENTS – Acrylic paint sold in art stores (like Liquitex), Movie Paint http://www.moviepaint.com

Wall stains caused by aging and nicotine are easily created with a line of products called Movie Paint. These are great spray tints and are available online in a wide range of colors such as rust, nicotine, beige, dirt, etc. Most of these will wash off when applied to a slick surface such as, ceramics, metal, glass. Beige is my favorite since it very accurately creates the color of brittle old antique paper.

Sun & Grime Damage:
It’s easy to create wall stains that replicate sun/nicotine damage from an item that has been hanging a long time. Cut out a cardboard stencil that is roughly the same shape of the item. Hold the stencil an inch away from the wall, fabric, etc and spray with Beige and or Nicotine. It’s okay if the paint should bleed/blur a bit. Again, a light, easy touch is best.

Water Stains:
These are best done by hand. Paint large transparent blotches by watering down acrylic paint (not washable), or tempera paint (washable). Push a bit of darker color towards the edges. Generally speaking water stains create ugly rust colored ringlets. The colors raw umber and raw seinna are the best choices. Go ahead and layer them, and feel free to throw in a bit of raw ochre to make it even grosser!