Faux Finishing and Decorative Painting
"How To" Faux Links
Learn how to do faux wood graining
Learn how to paint faux marble
Wall Painting Techniques
faux painting italian plaster finish
Marbleizing or Marbling: (Faux Marble)
Verde Green Marble, Nero Maquina, (black and white), Portoro (black and gold), Granite, Drift Marble,Travertine, Mottled Marble, White Carrera, Sienna, Faux Marble Veining
Specialty Finishes: Copper Patina, Crackle, Malachite, Tortoise Shell, Gilding, Gold Leaf, Lapis Lazuli, Stenciling, Distressing, Antiquing,  Clouds, Faux Tile Floor,   Faux Starburst
Quality Paint Institute Decorative Techniques Articles
Faux Painting
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Decorative Painting Techniques

"Faux Finishing" a term which describes a decorative painting discipline, traditionally part of the house painting and decorating trade. There are schools, classes and workshops dedicated to the advancement of this craft. 

I have been faux finishing professionally for many years.  One of the missions of this site is the exchange of tips, ideas and teaching of faux finishing for the advancement of the trade.  The instruction set forth here is suitable for the homeowner and professional alike.

Interior painting techniques created with the use of glaze and paint are endless, listed below are some of the finishes I do, these finishes are and will be discussed and taught on this site.
Introduction to Faux Painting Techniques

Decorative wall painting techniques are given the generic  name of Faux Painting or Faux Finishes. “Faux” (pronounced  “foe”), is a French word for false or imitation.  Faux painting is the craft of imitating or duplicating with paint and glaze such items as marble, wood grain, leather, gold and other metallic, linen, suede, wallpaper, plaster effects, suede, tile, brick, block,  clouds,  tortoise shell, malachite, antiquing, crackle, granite, etc……

Faux painting usually incorporates the use of glaze (a clear paint medium which allows for transparency and has the ability to “hold” a pattern) and paint.  Painting techniques can be done negatively, by subtracting the paint/glaze with the aid of faux finishing tools and brushes, or positively, by adding paint/glaze to the surface. Often a mix of negative and positive techniques are employed for a particular faux finish.

Faux finishing tools
Specialty brushes, combs, pads, feathers and other unique implements are used to create a faux finish.  Additionally, there are many “crude” or common tools used (by skillful hands) to create fabulous decorative wall finishes.  A synthetic sponge or a scouring pad is used to create strie or streaked effects.  Common “rags” are used to make a formal, mottled “ragged” finish.  Simple rollers are used to mesh paint colors together  in a double roller color meshing  technique.

Specialty Paints
Some faux finishes use specialty paints:  Suede paint is a soft subtle mottled finish that is produced by the way the paint itself reflects light. Metallic paints give the impression of gold, silver or bronze foil or leaf.

Plaster finishes
Venetian plaster, both authentic and “faux” are popular wall techniques.  The variableness of these plaster and trowel finishes lends itself well to a wide range of tastes and ensures their continued use in home décor for a long time.

Woodgraining (faux wood painting). 
The faux painting technique of imitating wood is called “woodgraining”  Faux wood painting, done with glaze, paint and specialty brushes and tools, can be so realistic that even the trained eye would have a hard time determining whether it was painted or real.

Marbling (faux marble)
Like wood graining, faux marble painting is done with the use of feathers, plastic, rags, liner brushes and other assorted tools.  The finished product can be indistinguishable from real marble.

Wall Techniques
The most common of the faux painting methods.  Sponge painting, rag painting, blending, meshing, stripes, geometric designs, trompe l’oeil, stenciling, color washing  etc…  Many of the wall finishes are easy  enough for a DIY’er to do with a bit of practice, others require more training and expertise.

Training
You can learn faux painting through workshops and seminars taught by faux finishers.  Books, articles and videos are a good source for learning at one’s own pace.  This mode of faux schooling is far cheaper and exposes the  apprentice to a wider range of techniques and methods than  s/he might get in a three day seminar.

Practice
Regardless of the training method, the aspiring faux finisher will need to practice on a small scale before tackling a larger project.  The most practical method of refining one’s faux techniques is on illustration board affixed to a table top protected by a drop cloth or masking paper. Professional faux finishers will set up a studio for this very purpose and to experiment with new ideas and techniques and to produce sample boards for a client’s approval prior to starting a faux finishing job.
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Malachite
Painted Malachite is done with simple tools.  Beautiful designs  ranging from blue green turquoise to dark green.  Great faux finish for jewelry boxes and inlays.


Sylvia Jaumann’s article series

Woodgraining - Flogging
A basic element for wood graining.  Used as a background grain, but can be used a simple grain for trim and other small wood items.

Woodgraining - Mottling
Mottling gives character to wood.  Normally  done with a mottler brush, but can be done with any brush.  Often done as an over graining procedure, but can be done in one layer wood graining

Woodgraining - Oak part 1
Old text oak graining, how steel combs are used to achieve oak grain.  Written in the heyday of wood graining.

Woodgraining - Oak part 2
Heart grain techniques and quarter sawn oak graining as done during the height of popularity of wood graining when craftsmen were many in the trade.

Woodgraining - Oak part 3
More of the ancient techniques of oak wood graining including over graining procedures

Woodgraining Base Coats &  Glazes
Base coat and glaze systems for wood graining.  Fast drying base coats for quick graining.  Oil and latex glazes that work for wood graining.

How to Woodgrain a Six Panel Door  part 1
Learn how to wood grain a steel door to look like wood. Priming and base coat system.  Learn the sequence and order of graining a steel door

How to Woodgrain a Six Panel Door  part 2
How and where to use heat grain, where and when to use straight grain. Straight grain "dragging" techniques. to add realism to your wood graining. Good for steel doors or painted wood doors.

Sponge Painting
Sponge painting is a staple technique used by itself or with other tools to achieve a wide variety of looks.  Sponges are used with all types of faux finishes including woodgraining and marbling.

Stretched Linen / Strie
Dragged fine lined strie is used by itself or as a background for wall techniques.

Suede Faux Finish
Very popular and easy to do. There are several manufacturers of suede paint. It is a faux finish in a can . Learn the technique to make this finish work.

Suede Paint  Q & A
Follow up on suede painting.  Commonly asked questions about suede paint, where it works best , how to touch it up and more.....

How to Stain a Fiberglass Door
A fiberglass door is stained or grained a little differently than a wood or steel door.  Usually there is a textured grain to work with.  Learn the right glaze and method to do a good job and to achieve a real wood look.

Stripes
Popular finishes.  Easy to do. Learn how to avoid fragments. What type of tape to use for striping and how to space out your stripes.

Stripes Q & A
Minimizing ridges, paint bleed under tape, and how to determine stripe width for wall stripes and more.....

Faux Italian Plaster
Create a beautiful mottled wall finish using rollers and lambswool pad.  Get the look of Venetian Plaster with paint

Oak Woodgraining  - Plain Sawn
The most common oak wood graining technique. Learn how to create wood backgrounds and how to use a wood grain tool  and much more - very detailed wood graining instruction.

Wall Printing
Make your walls look like wallpaper. How to line up the prints, what to use to print.  Gold leaf stamping and printing.

Negative Ragging
A soft elegant formal decorative wall finish.  one layer finish with beautiful results.

Positive Ragging
The best way to do multiple color rag painting is with latex glaze and positive rag application.

Faux Granite
One of the easiest faux stone / marble finishes.  There are no veins to deal with . Can be done in oil or latex paint.

Quarter Sawn Oak
Antique oak was always quarter cut. This is one of the simplest oak graining you can do. Steel combed oak graining is centuries old. Works well in one layer.

Drift Marble
A good wall finish marble. Vein-less, can be done with sponges, rollers and other productive tools. Good for large areas - like walls

Maple Woodgraining
Faux maple is a lightly grained and heavily mottle wood.  Maple and Birdseye Maple are both covered.  This is a brushed grained wood that works well on trim and moldings.

Textured Fresco
Create a fine textured, old world mottled finish.  Easy three step process.  You can do this with a fine texture or in a two step process without any texture.

How to Fix a Wall Technique
You can fix most botched faux techniques by overglazing.  Use the previous less-than-perfect finish as "background" for the overglazing technique. 

Faux Wood Graining: A Summary of How To
An over-view of the woodgraining process.  Base coats, glazes and finish coats.  The different layers including: under-graining, primary graining, and over-graining. 

Wall Painting Techniques
If you are going to do a wall technique you need to know which types work of different walls.  The strong points of negative and positive wall techniques are described which will help a DIY'er to decided on which will be a better choice for their situation.
Faux Painting Links

Color Washing
Create wispy washed out color mottling. Great latex wall paint technique.

Ribbon Mahogany
African ribbon mahogany is a beautiful wood grain used on doors or wood trim. A great woodgraining technique.

Faux Antique Leather  (Red leather and other  leathers)
Leather faux finishes are good for accent walls or on the bottom half of a chair rail wall.

Verde Green Marble
A good faux marble technique with lots of depth. Can be done in two layers or three.  Very realistic.

Horizontal Striping
A nice wall finish that is a change from the usual vertical striping.   Easier to do and faster than veridical stripes.

Woodgraining Books Reviewed pt 1
Some of my favorite faux finish books are reviewed. The first of a series of book reviews.

Faux Clouds
Great faux finish for a kids room or other ceilings. Simple enough for a beginner.

Faux Starburst
One of a kind faux finishes can come in a variety of designs and shapes.  Here is one that was done for a young child's bedroom.

Painted Faux Tile Floor
Floors can be faux finished also. Faux tile can be done on floors or on walls as a backslash.

Woodgraining with a Brush pt 1
If you can wood grain with a brush you can wood grain just about anything - anywhere.

Woodgraining with a Brush pt 2
Part two on using a brush to create wood grain. Learn the methods and techniques to create variety of grain.

Polka Dots
A whimsical wall technique for a bedroom or accent wall to add spice to a room.

Painting Over Faux Stripes
Now that you've had the stripes on the wall for a few years - learn the best way to paint over them and move on to a solid color or new wall technique.

Faux Venetian Plaster
One of the most popular and diverse wall finishes. Venetian plaster can be "real" lime or acrylic "spackle'-like finishes.

Faux Finish Glaze:, All About
Learn about faux finish glazes. There are a lot of different types. I will tell you which oil and latex glazes I use and for what types of finishes.

Crackle
Good for antiquing and adding character to items and accessories. Can be used as a wall finish too.

Copper Patina
A metallic finish for small items or large items, I have used this for a domed ceiling also.

Tortoise Shell
Good for inlays in table tops or for jewelry boxes and the like.

Travertine Marble
A nice looking vein-less marble. Comes in a variety of colors.  Nice layered faux marble.

Walnut Woodgraining
Walnut is a beautiful brush grained wood grain technique.  Can be used on trim, doors, or mantels etc..

Color Matching for Woodgraining
How to match your woodgraining to the rest of the wood trim in a room. How to achieve the right color for your faux graining.

Faux Marble: Veining
The most difficult part of faux stone or marble it the veining. Learn how to do realistic veining.

Faux Mahogany
Heart grain and straight grain mahogany done with paint and glaze. Mahogany is a elegant wood - a must learn for any woodgrainer.

How to Use a Woodgraining Rocker Tool
Specific instruction on how to use the most basic wood graining tool - the woodgraining rocker.

Woodgraining Backgrounds
Good wood graining is done it two layers most of the time.  The first layer is the cell structure or background grain. Learn a few varieties of wood grain backgrounds.

Parchment
A standard faux decorative wall technique.  Done with a rag and in one or more layers.

Paint Stripes: Layout & Measuring
How to lay out the room for stripes. Know what to do before you start your faux stripes wall finish.

Nero Marquina Marble
Beautiful black and white marble.  Goes well with most decor. Great faux marble - very realistic.

Painting Stripes in Three Colors
How to use multiple colors for your faux stripes. Different layout methods.

Re-painting Over Faux Finishes
Surface preparation is required prior to painting over some previous faux finishes, which may include priming and / or sanding or skim coating.

Woodgraining Trim
Trim graining is usually done with a brush in order to get into the contours and grooves of the trim.

Leaf Impression Wall Finish
Add a touch of whimsical creativity to a sun room or an accent wall.  Create a pattern with leaves (or similar item), and add some variety to your mottled faux finish.

Wall Graphics & Clean Tape Removal: A Commercial Graphics Job
Wall graphics are a good alternative to wallpaper or a standard faux finish.  Masking must be done right or your design will be fuzzy or ruined.  Use the right tape(s), the right way.

Burl Woodgraining
There are certain "high end" woodgrained woods, burl is one of them that can be used on fine furniture door panels etc.... Burl comes in a variety of wood species. Simple to produce with a minimum of tools.
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Faux Painting Wood Graining Kit








Kit Includes: 1 gallon of glaze, 1 gallon of Satin Varnish, 1 Fan Overgrainer brush, 1 Squirrel Hair Swordliner brush, 1 Camel Hair Mottler brush, 1 Flogging brush, and 1 Bristle Block brush. You will also need some paint and basic supplies from your local hardware store. 
More info.....







See How to Paint Faux Wood for more details

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