Faux painting is deceptively simple once you've got the hang of it. There are some basic errors that beginners often make that are worth noting if you want to achieve the results you're dreaming of.
1. Good materials produce good results. Buy the right paints and brushes and make sure your painting surface is well prepared. Painting onto flat paint is almost a guarantee of failure.
Eggshell or satin base paint is the best undercoat. Faux finishes don't work as well on flat paint surfaces. Paint also needs to dry slowly and flat finishes tend to dry quickly and the scope for fixing mistakes is limited. Finally, underlying flat paint just seems to dull finishes.
2. You may be tempted by artist's palettes and specially designed sponges and applicators. Save your money for good paints and brushes. Gadgets and special tools aren't necessary. A soft sponge sold for household cleaning will do for applying color washes and an ice cube tray doubles as a practical paint palette.
You can save yourself heaps by using common sense. Dishwashing liquid cuts grease and will even clean some oil-based paints (such as cream stencils), not only water-based paints. Leftover paint can be frozen rather than being left to dry out and hence wasted.
3. Your results depend on the surface you start with. You must fill cracks and cavities before you start, but it doesn't end there. You then need to sand it and seal it with a water-based sealant. To ensure sure that the patch job blends in with the surroundings you need to make sure it is the same colour. Use the original paint if you have it or, alternatively, you can tint the sealant using some acrylic paint of the appropriate color. Don't cut corners on surface preparation - flaws will show through.
4. Remember the old adage: oil and water don't go together. It's easy to skip reading the labels on the tin in your eagerness to get going but it can be a costly error. Know which of your paints are water-based and which are oil paints. Remember that latex paints contain water.
5. Dirt can spell disaster. Brushes that haven't been properly cleaned are a key cause of problems, including color contamination. There's a middle way between casual rinsing of your brushes and splurging on expensive custom cleaning products. In your art shop look for cleaning pads in the children's section. The same item targeted at professional artists will cost you a lot more.
You need to maintain a clean working environment, especially when working for others. Small splashes on carpets can be handled without chemicals. Try nail scissors. Wait until the paint is dry. Adding water just spreads it. Then snip the soiled ends, strand by strand. This won't work on larger patches, so make sure you use drop cloths as a preventative measure. For disasters that can't be trimmed out, try product called Goof Off.
7. Timing is all-important, especially when using glazes. The faster you can work the better, especially if the weather is hot. Defined areas of wall (or other surface) need to be painted in one go so that you don't end up with wet and dry edges that affect the way the paint spreads. Eliminate tea and toilet breaks until the job is done to avoid problems.
7. What's your painting style? Style is a product of the way a person habitually applies paint and painting a wall or floor is no exception. If two people paint adjacent areas of the same wall, the difference is likely to be quite obvious. The same applies to a single person's work at different stages of the process. If your faux painting project is a collaborative effort, assign different people to different walls, or at least alternate layers. Plan to complete sections that need to look uniform in one go. - 16035
1. Good materials produce good results. Buy the right paints and brushes and make sure your painting surface is well prepared. Painting onto flat paint is almost a guarantee of failure.
Eggshell or satin base paint is the best undercoat. Faux finishes don't work as well on flat paint surfaces. Paint also needs to dry slowly and flat finishes tend to dry quickly and the scope for fixing mistakes is limited. Finally, underlying flat paint just seems to dull finishes.
2. You may be tempted by artist's palettes and specially designed sponges and applicators. Save your money for good paints and brushes. Gadgets and special tools aren't necessary. A soft sponge sold for household cleaning will do for applying color washes and an ice cube tray doubles as a practical paint palette.
You can save yourself heaps by using common sense. Dishwashing liquid cuts grease and will even clean some oil-based paints (such as cream stencils), not only water-based paints. Leftover paint can be frozen rather than being left to dry out and hence wasted.
3. Your results depend on the surface you start with. You must fill cracks and cavities before you start, but it doesn't end there. You then need to sand it and seal it with a water-based sealant. To ensure sure that the patch job blends in with the surroundings you need to make sure it is the same colour. Use the original paint if you have it or, alternatively, you can tint the sealant using some acrylic paint of the appropriate color. Don't cut corners on surface preparation - flaws will show through.
4. Remember the old adage: oil and water don't go together. It's easy to skip reading the labels on the tin in your eagerness to get going but it can be a costly error. Know which of your paints are water-based and which are oil paints. Remember that latex paints contain water.
5. Dirt can spell disaster. Brushes that haven't been properly cleaned are a key cause of problems, including color contamination. There's a middle way between casual rinsing of your brushes and splurging on expensive custom cleaning products. In your art shop look for cleaning pads in the children's section. The same item targeted at professional artists will cost you a lot more.
You need to maintain a clean working environment, especially when working for others. Small splashes on carpets can be handled without chemicals. Try nail scissors. Wait until the paint is dry. Adding water just spreads it. Then snip the soiled ends, strand by strand. This won't work on larger patches, so make sure you use drop cloths as a preventative measure. For disasters that can't be trimmed out, try product called Goof Off.
7. Timing is all-important, especially when using glazes. The faster you can work the better, especially if the weather is hot. Defined areas of wall (or other surface) need to be painted in one go so that you don't end up with wet and dry edges that affect the way the paint spreads. Eliminate tea and toilet breaks until the job is done to avoid problems.
7. What's your painting style? Style is a product of the way a person habitually applies paint and painting a wall or floor is no exception. If two people paint adjacent areas of the same wall, the difference is likely to be quite obvious. The same applies to a single person's work at different stages of the process. If your faux painting project is a collaborative effort, assign different people to different walls, or at least alternate layers. Plan to complete sections that need to look uniform in one go. - 16035
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