Diy Distressed Wood Look With Dry Brush Painting Technique Tutrial

Firstly, let’s avoid splinters from getting into our fingers. Sand all the edges. Only the edges because we don’t want the surface of our board to get too soft.

Once the edges are done, let’s enhance the whitening effects of dry brushing by opening the wood pores with the brass-bristle scrub brush before applying it.

Work the brush along the wood grain to avoid unsightly cross-grain scratches, and clean the dust off thoroughly before applying the wood stain.

Clean each piece well to remove dust.

Stain your wood pieces with the base color of your choice. In my case, I used walnut.

A section of the wood piece stained with walnut wood stain

I like to rub a piece of cloth so the wood sucks the stain up more easily.

The best way to do this is by staining by sections until I cover the entire piece. That way you avoid weird overlaps in the shades of the stain.

A create completely stained

Let it dry overnight.

Then dribble a mall amount of paint on the plastic or paper plate.

Stained piece of wood ready to start the dry brushing

Then very gently dab the tip of your dry paintbrush into the paint and dabbed it on a piece of dry paper or paper towel to remove excess paint.

You want to use just a small amount of paint to keep the tip of your paintbrush “almost dry” and not oversaturated with paint, so I suggest starting off with just a tiny bit of paint and adding more as you get comfortable with the technique.

The secret to dry brush painting is to apply the paint with the very tip of your brush. You will notice the painting going up on the bristles but that’s normal as you keep brushing.

Use short, quick brush strokes in both directions (along the wood grain and across them) to give it a textured and accent the wood lines.

The key to getting an ideal dry brush effect is by using light pressure to go over the contour of the wooden furniture

There’s no right or wrong way to dry brush; so get creative with your painting, you might discover looks you didn’t even know you could love!

I kept brush stroking in layers until I got the coverage I was looking for.

The thing about this technique is that you already get a distressed look without even sanding yet. At the same time, you are leaving your wood grand visible; which in my opinion is what makes the wood look weathered.

So, keep brush stroking until you get the finish you love.

Let it dry once finished at least 2 to 3 hours (overnight is best).

Finally, when your piece is completely dry, sand your pieces.

What I did was:

First, I sanded with steel wool harshly all over the piece. You definitely want to use gloves and safety glasses here.

Then I used sandpaper to distress edges and imperfections.

starting the distressed wood look with a sanding block sanding the edges

Once you are happy with the distressing grade, clean your pieces to remove dust.

Spray your clear matte varnish to protect and finish your masterpiece.

Let it dry and you are done!

Your distress look effect is ready to rock!