<p>You could sand the surfaces of the shiny pumpkins with a fine grit sandpaper. That would give the surface the roughness it needs for paints to stick. To select the grit, pick one that is close or a bit rougher than the feel of the surface you are aiming for.</p>
<p>The advantage to sanding is that it will take away the slipperiness (lack of porosity) that is preventing the acrylics from adhering in the first place, something that may also prevent a glued on texture from staying stuck as well.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-21T16:10:58.093Z
2024-08-21T16:10:58.093Z
rebusB
<p>In the end I decided that I didn't want a gritty or grainy texture as it didn't feel organic, so I took an old pot of thick gesso and mixed the dry crusty material from around the rim with water until it made a chunky and uneven paste, I brushed it on to the models to make an uneven texture all over the pumpkins, and then I dabbed it on with an old brush to make the ridges.</p>
<p>I found that it gave them a much less regular appearance that took dry brushing well because it provided ridges and folds, like an &quot;ugly&quot; pumpkin that was past it's best.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-23T19:11:02.180Z
2024-08-23T19:11:02.180Z
Aaargh Zombies
<p>A few thoughts on this:</p>
<p>Acrylic fine structure paste might work much like the PVA glue with sand you proposed, but tends to have a more even structure than randomly collected sand. It also has a pasty consistency and doesn't run off the surface. Since acrylic stays flexible after drying, it shouldn't flake off the thin, flexible plastic of the pumpkins. But I'm not sure how pumpkin-like the structure will look when the paste is applied with a brush. You can also stipple it on with a foam brush.</p>
<p>An alternative could be baby powder (or corn starch) mixed with PVA glue or Mod Podge in roughly a 3:1 ratio. Add few drops of water until you get the consistency you need. This DIY structure paste can be brushed or stippled over the surface.</p>
<p>A more risky approach is to heat the surface of the pumpkin with a hair dryer or hot air gun and pressing a ball of crumpled up aluminium foil into it. I have no idea what type of plastic this is, but you might be able to press some structure in it. You might also melt a hole in the surface or achieve nothing at all, but at least it's cheap and easy to try.</p>
<p>You could try air brushing instead of dry brushing. That allows you to paint some textures on the completely smooth surface.</p>
<p>Looking at example photos of real pumpkins, it seems like most of them don't have much surface structure either. To me it seems like applying washes to create shadows will be more helpful than applying dry brushing to create highlights.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-20T05:20:00.097Z
2024-08-20T05:20:00.097Z
Elmy
<p>I am going to make a miniature diorama that contains a number of small plastic pumpkins that I already own (see picture below for an idea of what they look like).</p>
<p>The pumpkins are about an inch across and I would like to dry brush them so that they fit in with the rest of the diorama (which I will dry brush). Unfortunately they have a smooth glossy surface that doesn't dry brush well even after priming as there isn't any texture to bring bring out with the dry brushing.</p>
<p>I'd rather not use textured paints as I'm not a fan.</p>
<p>Other than the old fallback of sand mixed with PVA glue, what would be a good technique to add texture to the surface that would resemble pumpkin skin when dry brushed?</p>
<p>The pumpkins are made of thin soft plastic, so carving textures by hand is probably not going to be an option.</p>
<p>My overall theme is horror. My color scheme consists of dark base colors, deep shadows, and subdued moody highlights.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/A29oRtX8.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/A29oRtX8.png" alt="pumpkins" /></a></p>

<technique-selection>
creating a pumpkin skin texture for easy dry brushing?
Aaargh Zombies
# creating a pumpkin skin texture for easy dry brushing?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-18)

I am going to make a miniature diorama that contains a number of small plastic pumpkins that I already own (see picture below for an idea of what they look like).

The pumpkins are about an inch across and I would like to dry brush them so that they fit in with the rest of the diorama (which I will dry brush). Unfortunately they have a smooth glossy surface that doesn't dry brush well even after priming as there isn't any texture to bring bring out with the dry brushing.

I'd rather not use textured paints as I'm not a fan.

Other than the old fallback of sand mixed with PVA glue, what would be a good technique to add texture to the surface that would resemble pumpkin skin when dry brushed?

The pumpkins are made of thin soft plastic, so carving textures by hand is probably not going to be an option.

My overall theme is horror. My color scheme consists of dark base colors, deep shadows, and subdued moody highlights.

[![pumpkins](https://i.sstatic.net/A29oRtX8.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/A29oRtX8.png)

**Tags:** technique-selection


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-08-21. Score: 1

You could sand the surfaces of the shiny pumpkins with a fine grit sandpaper. That would give the surface the roughness it needs for paints to stick. To select the grit, pick one that is close or a bit rougher than the feel of the surface you are aiming for.

The advantage to sanding is that it will take away the slipperiness (lack of porosity) that is preventing the acrylics from adhering in the first place, something that may also prevent a glued on texture from staying stuck as well.


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### Answer by username_0 on 2024-08-23. Score: 1

In the end I decided that I didn't want a gritty or grainy texture as it didn't feel organic, so I took an old pot of thick gesso and mixed the dry crusty material from around the rim with water until it made a chunky and uneven paste, I brushed it on to the models to make an uneven texture all over the pumpkins, and then I dabbed it on with an old brush to make the ridges.

I found that it gave them a much less regular appearance that took dry brushing well because it provided ridges and folds, like an "ugly" pumpkin that was past it's best.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2024-08-20. Score: 0

A few thoughts on this:

Acrylic fine structure paste might work much like the PVA glue with sand you proposed, but tends to have a more even structure than randomly collected sand. It also has a pasty consistency and doesn't run off the surface. Since acrylic stays flexible after drying, it shouldn't flake off the thin, flexible plastic of the pumpkins. But I'm not sure how pumpkin-like the structure will look when the paste is applied with a brush. You can also stipple it on with a foam brush.

An alternative could be baby powder (or corn starch) mixed with PVA glue or Mod Podge in roughly a 3:1 ratio. Add few drops of water until you get the consistency you need. This DIY structure paste can be brushed or stippled over the surface.

A more risky approach is to heat the surface of the pumpkin with a hair dryer or hot air gun and pressing a ball of crumpled up aluminium foil into it. I have no idea what type of plastic this is, but you might be able to press some structure in it. You might also melt a hole in the surface or achieve nothing at all, but at least it's cheap and easy to try.

You could try air brushing instead of dry brushing. That allows you to paint some textures on the completely smooth surface.

Looking at example photos of real pumpkins, it seems like most of them don't have much surface structure either. To me it seems like applying washes to create shadows will be more helpful than applying dry brushing to create highlights.


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