One temptation when designing a Faire structure of any kind is to use stone as a major architectural detail for booths, stages and other structures. True, stones are a basic building material of any period represented by a Renaissance Faire, but unless the building is permanent, stones are hard to transport. The obvious conclusion is to try depict them by painting them on something. This can give a theatrical effect that could work as part of a set piece in a play on one of the Faire stages, but for use on a booth it only succeeds in confirming that the structure is fake. When in doubt about the use of stones in a temporary booth, the answer is, don’t. One acceptation to this rule is the use of bricks; another frequently used building material of the period. Although hand painted bricks look as artificial as hand painted stone, there are convincing lightweight faux bricks available that work rather nicely. The challenge with these brick panels is avoiding overly bright or comically colored faux brinks, in favored of the more weathered and highly textured varieties. Even then, it doesn’t hurt to add even more aging to the surface with a wash of watered down brown paint and finishing it off with handfuls of rubbed in dirt. Some of the best brick panels I have seen come from many a winter between Faires stored out in the elements. Faux brinks might actually be the only part of your booth or building that will actually get better with age.
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