Zuzzy Mats (when painted)

When I first ordered my Zuzzy mats, I was told that they didn't really need to be painted. I disagree. 

Although they are very well textured and they do have the appropriate base color, they still look rather plain before they are painted. 

Here is what it looks like as is. 

I did a test paint on one of the free smaller mats that Zuzzy sent me. It was fairly small, so it didn't take me too long to do it. 

It got a black base coat to start. 

From there, I did a inconsistent dark brown layer. 

A did another quick pass with a slightly lighter brown. 

Next, I went in with a brush and added the brick details and the black cracks with a cheaper black wash. 

My last step was dry brushing  with a light brown and the a light brown mixed with a grey. 

It was a good quick test job. I wasn't completely sold on the black lines, but a friend convinced me that he liked them. I also used the cheap black wash on the bricks and it didn't really work well. When I completed the bigger mat, I changed to the GW wash for just the bricks. 

---

So, the next day, I started on the bigger mat. This time, I went and bought some cheaper acrylic paints. I used mostly Vallejo stuff with the test mat. 

I got to painting the larger mat and I think I underestimated how much work it would be to complete the bigger mat. 

I used my airbrush for the vast majority of this mat. The first layer was a black primer. 

The black primer didn't fully cover the mat, but I was using a lot more primer than I expected and I figured it would be okay like this. 

Next, I went over the mat with the cheaper brown acrylics I bought in the morning. My original test mat was a bit more grey than I intended. This time I wanted I give it a more earthy look. 

A lighter brown was used sporadically over the mat to give it some contrast. 

I then went in with a brush and did the details just as I did with the smaller mat. I painted black wash into all of the little cracks. This time, I actually painted the bricks with the airbrush. It didn't make much of a difference. 

A light black wash was the used and it was done. In total, it took me about 2 1/2 hours to complete. 

Overall, it was quite a great learning experience. I had never painted a mat before and I had certainly not painted anything of this size before. I am happy that I ended up going with a more brown look. 

I think this setting will work really well for Malifaux and the western style terrain I have.