how do i achieve a bark texture/effect on props?

Question

paint effect has to be organic looking / plant/treelike

Answer 1

bark effects need to be texturally strong so that your lighting person can get good shadow/contrast. Try using pieces of cardboard cut into long strips that are fixed to the trunk of the "tree". You can shape these to create the illusion of height, ie: taper them. Cover these with some scrim or other soft textured material that will soften and form to the shapes of the cardboard and give realistic textural appearance. For colour, splash over some washes and then drag dry-brush effects onto the "bark" to create tonal contrast

Answer 2

Use tissue paper and don't smooth it. Crumple it before glueing -- spray glue might make it easier. Then paint it brown with dark shadows and light highlights.

Paint brown and make the appearance of texture by painting dark brown wiggly vertical lines and then much smaller white lines vertically on the light brown stripes for shadows and highlights.

Get a piece of real bark for a guide.

Answer 3

I had to make a tree stump many years ago when my daughters danced. I was pretty pleased with my effort!!!.......I covered board with strips of paper, not too glued down on some edges, and painted it a base colour of brown. Then, I accented the looser- edged pieces with strokes of black & varied shades of grey paint. Make them a bit "wobbly", as tree-bark edges are not perfectly straight. The rougher the strokes the better, it looks more realistic. ( I can make good honey pots, windmills, jungle vines & elephants too!!)