Step One
Materials you'll need:
Surface to paint (well, duh.)
At least 2 colors of paint
masking tape
brush
Graining tool (you can buy this at most paint stores)
The first thing you do is decide on your colors. Then paint a basecoat. In this case I used my lightest color for the basecoat and chose a interior latex housepaint with a satin finish. We wanted a little sheen, but using a gloss would have created lighting nightmares.
Step Two
I've obviously already done some of the grain here, but you can see that I use masking tape to give the boards a clean line.
I find it easier to paint every other board first, then go back and fill in the boards between.
I also mark the edge of the stage and stretch the tape between my reference points so I get a consistant board width.
Step Three
Totally paint over the basecoat with your grain color. You see how I've picked a darker color for the grain, if you reverse the colors you get a diferent effect. Try playing on a sample surface. The green is because this floor is literally in Hell, and that's what the director wanted.
IMPORTANT Only paint one board at a time with this step, the paint will need to be wet for the next step.
Step Four
Take the graining tool and drag it across the paint. It is a flexible piece of rubber with notches in it, where the rubber touches the surface the brown is scraped away leaving grains where the notches are. That's it. It is that easy. Pull the tape up and enjoy your floor.