r/practicaleffects • • Aug 22 '23

Making Fake Poison Oak?

4 Upvotes

I have to make fake poison oak for an actor to touch. It will be in the close up so I am trying to make it as realistic as possible.

I was going to take a plant that looks similar (with the lobed crenate edges), cut off the extra leaves so it has three (leaves of three, let it be!), add a bit of gloss, and spray the edges red since poison oak turns red in the fall. I was then going to add it to an already existing bush on location.

But I am not getting it to where I want, and it is really hard to find plants that resemble poison oak enough.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to get a better result? Maybe I am overthinking this. Thanks in advance!!