I received an email from Kris who asked:

Great articles on The-Artistic-Garden … How can I make my terra cotta planter look older or antique with white paint? Do I brush it on and wipe it off? I’d like the details to have a little white left in the cracks.

My reply:

Hi Kris:
Thank you for the kind compliment and I think I can give you some good ideas:

–you can brush or daub on the paint (my choice would be to daub it). Refer to this page for more info: Decorative Daubing Paint Technique.  I’d also probably use a piece of an old sponge to do the daubing, instead of a brush. But either way, daubing would be my choice.

–yes, you could wipe off the “excess” paint after you apply it

–if it were me, for a much better looking faux terra cotta antique coloration, I would choose 3 neutral colors that are a few shades apart and start layering them on.  If white is what you want to be left in the cracks, then that would be your base coat. Leave more white in the cracks; wipe off more of it from your pot. Then apply the two other colors lightly and randomly to help achieve an antique appearance.

–wiping or blotting a little of the paint off as you go along may help you gain a depth to the antiquing.

Obviously, your creative abilities will have to come into play for this project, but the great thing is that you can always go back over your pot with a few daubs here and there of a lighter or darker color if you’re not thrilled with the end result.

You might want to practice the colors and application technique on a smooth piece of cardboard first, just to get the hang of it all.

Good luck with trying your hand with this fun faux paint project!