Different Painting Techniques

If you envision a textured or creatively painted wall for your living room but the budget for a professional decorator is a little short, don't despair.  There are thousands of colors of paints and thousands of painting techniques to make your humble castle fit for a king.

Rules:

• Never paint a latex based paint over an enamel based paint.  The latex will peel off the enamel.  If the wall is painted with enamel paint, you will have to primer before painting (recommended).


• Hue vs. Contrast.  Subtle color change can be very effective.  Playing with different hues of slight variance to the base coat can create beautiful yet slight effects.  Contrasting colors create a more dramatic effect.  Experimenting with color swatches on cardboard will give you ideas of what mixes will work with your room.


• Preparation.  Cover or mask areas that you are not intending to paint.  A sloppy finished product looks cheap and unprofessional.

Rag Technique

Items needed:

• (assuming room is  prepared with drop cloths, paint brushes and paint is available)


• Several rags


• Base paint


• One or more colors of contrast or hue paint


• Newspaper

Procedure:

1. Paint the wall with a base coat using a roller.


2. Dip the rag into a second color of paint, making sure you do not saturate the rag.


3. Wipe off excess onto a newspaper.


4. Randomly dab the rag onto the wall creating a marble pattern.


5. Use a dry rag if the other becomes saturated.


6. Continue Steps 2 through 4 until wall is painted to your satisfaction. 


7. The finished wall should look like fine marble print wallpaper.

Color Washing

Items Needed:

• Same as Rag Technique.

Procedure:

1. Paint the wall with a base coat a few shades lighter than the hue coat using a roller and paintbrush.


2. Dip a rag in a hue color slightly off the color wheel of the base coat.


3. Swirl the hue color in clockwise and counterclockwise patterns taking advantage of the wrinkles of the bunched up rag.  Newspaper may substitute the rag for added texture.


4. Repeat across wall.  Creates a swirled circle pattern slightly darker than base coat. Works best with colors that are close but shades different.

False Stone Finish

Items Needed:

• Stone or bricks as your texture model


• Painter's tape


• Mortar or base color paint


• Contrast paint (may need more than one color to achieve desired effect)


• Level


• Ruler


• Pencil


• Sponges


• Newspaper


• Roller & paint brushes

Procedure:

• Paint the base color on the wall using a roller and paint brushes. This is the "mortar" for your wall.


• Allow painted wall to dry at least 24 hours.


• Mask off the "mortar lines" into sections resembling stone or bricks stacked from floor to ceiling or desired height.


• Measure and level the lines with a ruler and level.


• Rough sketch the stones if you desire a rounded, Maccu Piccu style uneven, rustic look on the wall, then painter tape the lines between the stones.


• Paint over the stones with base paint.


• Remove the masking while paint is wet.


• Mix one part darker color latex, two-part latex gloss.


• Dab color onto the bricks using varying materials: newspaper, plastic bag, sponge, rags.  Play with depth and texture. 


• Dip into mixed paint, wipe off excess onto the roller pan.


• Trace the stones using a thin brush to add definition.  Blend or smudge slightly so the definition is not too obvious.