Let's see your hand painted "great stuff"!

I'm thinking about just hand painting a great stuff background for my a. Avic since she's such a dark T that using black silicone/substrate might just make her blend in, I'd like to see others hand painted work for inspiration!

I've been considering doing this myself so if anyone else has attempted it, pics would be VERY appreciated. At the very least, could someone tell me which paints are safe to use? I'm fairly artistic so I think I could manage the realism part on my own, but I'm afraid to use regular acrylics, and washable, non-toxic paints like watercolors won't hold up so I've been afraid to attempt anything.

why not just print a picture you like!!!?

Mindibun said:

I've been considering doing this myself so if anyone else has attempted it, pics would be VERY appreciated. At the very least, could someone tell me which paints are safe to use? I'm fairly artistic so I think I could manage the realism part on my own, but I'm afraid to use regular acrylics, and washable, non-toxic paints like watercolors won't hold up so I've been afraid to attempt anything.

Click to expand...

I have some test pieces in an Exo-terra filled with plants and given generous amounts of water. Only plants, no other life in there. I used acrylic paint on grout, over some Great Stuff. The grout is grey, and I painted green/tan accents to look like a moss covered rock. From my tests so far, nothing has faded or run off into the substrate. Doesn't smell like paint either.

I have some other test pieces of painted grout, and I find that with constant contact (picking the piece up a handful of times) has caused the outer surface to wear off. That concerns me a bit, since I would want any painted piece to last years in an enclosure, regarding of what was crawling on it.

May I suggest you find a sealant of sorts? I have a nice polyurethane, but it stains everything a slight yellow colour. I went with safe, nor clear. If I wanted to, I'm sure I can find a more expensive clear sealant, one that would show off a paint job, yet not detract from it.


*OP: if I can find any pictures of the abovely described patch of painted grout, I'll post it here

Couple of mine made from polystyreen.

http://persistentaura.deviantart.co...24520?q=gallery:PersistentAura/30740925&qo=45

http://persistentaura.deviantart.co...22458?q=gallery:PersistentAura/30740925&qo=46

http://persistentaura.deviantart.co...47882?q=gallery:PersistentAura/30740925&qo=41

Couldn't find any good pics from the creation of this patch of painted grout, so I took a few this morning.

This is the cheapest acrylic paint from Michaels, on grout, on Great Stuff foam. You can tell I didn't have to shape it much, the foam lends itself to looking natural enough for me.


That patch is in the back of an Exo-terra (24"H x 18"W x 18"L) that I put together about a year ago. Since then, I've had some serious overgrowth, mostly due to having a Pothos in there.


I covered most of the surfaces with either grout or substrate. The light grey parts are bare grout, left exposed for aesthetics, and the brown bits are siliconed substrate. As you can see, there is still some serious growth in here.


Currently, nothing but plants are living in here. For learning purposes, I buy cheap materials, and learn how to assemble things. When I want to house living creatures, I'll use Titebond III instead of silicone. And I'll more than likely get a sealant for any acrylic pieces, just to be sure.

I haven't had the time nor money to do any full backgrounds. There's a spare 5gal that I intend to convert into an arboreal terrarium. That will most likely have a full background.