The Ravages Of Time

I'm probably one of the very few artists (and I use that term in reference to myself very loosely) who loves seeing his work used and abused. Brian Stillman did an excellent job of weathering one of my Miskatonic expedition patches, and was kind enough to send this before and after comparison along with detailed instructions.

"Aging it was pretty simple and straight forward. First, I attacked it with a small file, roughing up all the edges and just fraying the heck out of it. Then I took an X-acto knife and made light, quick slicing motions all over it. This loosened up all the threads, which I then just picked at until I had the right amount of wear. Through it all, I used some patches from my father's old army jacket as references.

I also used the knife to cut away some of the plastic backing -- this allows the patch to curl and warp a bit more.

Finally, I soaked it overnight in chai tea. It's a bit lighter than straight black tea, which was closer to the look I wanted. Plus, it gave the patch a nice cinnamon-y smell, which covers the stench of pure evil that had otherwise permeated it. :) "