# Help Painting Background



## Fosty (Jun 6, 2004)

I just made a background for my 38 gallon tank and still haven't finished painting it. I tried to do a gradient type design, but it turned out looking stupid. I was wondering if anyone had any experience painting a design like that on their tank or any tips. I know Amano uses them with light blue to white on many of his tanks, and I've seen other tanks with them around.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I usually just paint it black or tape some posterboard to the back of the tank. I would be very interested to see some pics of what you are working on and hear others thoughts as well.


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## Fosty (Jun 6, 2004)

Usually I just paint the tank black, but this tank is already set up and it is 4 inches from a wall in the back, so I can't paint it. I decided to have a system where I have decent looking backgrounds that are cheap and easily switched. hopefully I will have some pictures and a better description later, but they still need to be painted.


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

Or you could go to the local hardware store and pick up a roll of black contact paper. Works good.

JR


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## Fosty (Jun 6, 2004)

I found an example of the effect I'm trying to achive:

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2004.cgi?&Scale=258&op=showcase&category=0&vol=2&id=136

and another example:

http://www.vectrapoint.com/main/photo/aquascape/Images/ga6-JPEG.html


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## Plattykins (Apr 3, 2005)

The first one looks pretty interesting. It appears to be painted in different shades/tints of one color plus white, but in horizontal sections tht might be reminiscent of a desert sky... odd for a water world, but very interesting just the same. The background on the second is just gorgeously blended. Very easy on the eye, but I think it has more to do with lighting.


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## AnthonyN (Jun 15, 2005)

If you want a gradate effect, such as dark color at the bottom and fading to a lighter color at the top you will need to get hold of a stippling brush. You can get these at an art store or Home Depot. Apply two or more shades of paint in bands from dark to light. While the paint is still wet carefully blend the colors together with the stippling brush to get a gradual transition of the colors.


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## Fosty (Jun 6, 2004)

> If you want a gradate effect, such as dark color at the bottom and fading to a lighter color at the top you will need to get hold of a stippling brush. You can get these at an art store or Home Depot. Apply two or more shades of paint in bands from dark to light. While the paint is still wet carefully blend the colors together with the stippling brush to get a gradual transition of the colors.


That sounds like a great idea. I was set out to buy one of the stippling brushes until I found out that Home Depot wanted $20 for one. So I bought a few $1 cans of spray paint and I'm going to try to have a fading effect using them.


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## Nillo (Jun 11, 2005)

practice on some scrap cardboard if trying to get a gradient with spraypaint. It is going to take some practice. I think that most of those high grade gradients are made with an airbrush


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## trystianity (Jul 21, 2005)

Making a decent looking gradient with spraypaint will probably be difficult and frustrating.

Instead of getting a stippling brush it would probably be far cheaper to just use a sea sponge to do it. If you wanted you could use cheap cleaning sponges for it but natural sponge will give you better results. I would use acrylic paint, water it down a bit to get a really thin consistency to the paint or if you have the extra money get some glazing medium which will make it even easier and probably look better too. A good quality paper will go a long way in making a nicer finished product, take a trip to an art store and ask what they have.

So if you wanted to do a white-blue gradient from top to bottom, you would just paint about 1/4 of the paper at the bottom in thinned out blue, wet the sponge in water (squeeze as much of the water out as you can), then use the sponge to blend the paint while it's still wet from the bottom toward the top. It will look even cooler if you combine a few different colours and layer them.

To make it look even better, you could roll white paint over the whole thing, then while it's still wet follow the other directions above. It's way easier to blend paint into paint than fiddle with dry paper.

If you get really frustrated and decide to give up on it, you can buy rolls of paper in different colours that work well as aquarium backgrounds. Either go to an art supply store and get them to cut a piece for you or buy a roll online.

Here's a site that sells rolls of colored paper for pretty reasonable prices:

http://www.****blick.com/categories/rollpapers/


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

The first example you linked to actually is not a background. The purple color is the color of the wall behind the aquarium. The light area near the top is just the tank lighting reflecting off the wall and washing out the photo. The second one is probably the same thing. Amano often uses gatient backgrounds but I believe he frequently get the effect froma background placed a foot or more from the aquarium and illuminated from above with a spotlight of external flash.


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## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

http://www.ghostaquascape.republika.pl/img/48/48_007c.jpg

I believe Norbert mentioned awhile back that this is accomplished through lighting.


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