The concept of faux finishing can be difficult to grasp, so professional faux finisher Barbie Jennings-Tolchiner has developed her own simple definition. “It is the art form of illusion created through the act of painting,” she says.
“It has been around for centuries and is even in the Egyptian pyramids,” she added.
Those illusions can be created in a variety of ways such as sponging, rag rolling, feathering or combing fresh paint or meshing several colors together.
Since the term faux finishing can be intimidating to people who want to create these looks themselves, professionals and manufacturers have come up with a simple idea. They renamed faux finishing and called it decorative painting to make it more accessible to do-it-yourselfers.
A change in vocabulary, however, was not the only thing they did. For centuries faux finishing has been an arduous art that was learned through apprenticeships to master painters, so manufacturers realized they had to develop new tools and materials to make it easier for the novice to do successfully.
“Until recently you just had the traditional tools, and unless you were a pro or had a great deal of time to invest in learning how to use them, faux finishing was a daunting task,” says Michael Walsh, product merchandising manager of EZPaintr. “But now, most of us are time-impoverished so new tools have come a long way and glazes and other coatings for decorative painting are available.”
These new products often are available in kits that include all the materials needed, as well as information on how to select paint colors and instructional videos that give the novice faux finisher the information they need to create the look they want.
Although faux finishing is now easier to do, it still takes some practice to make a decorative paint project look perfect. It is important to try out the technique on a piece of poster board, but Jennings-Tolchiner says that that is not enough. “Doing a wall is easy, it’s making it perfect around the edges, corners and ceiling lines where most people fail,” she explains. “Choose an application that will make that part easy,” she advises, “because no one wants to have to put up a border after they’re done faux finishing to hide the flaws.”
Some products for faux finishing are described below along with their suggested retail prices. Contact the listed manufacturers for help in finding a retailer in your area that carries a specific item.
– Sheepish tool. The Woolie was created by Jennings-Tolchiner, who wanted to find a way to work faster. She came up with this rectangular tool wrapped in sheepskin and fitted with a handle. It’s sold by itself with a half-hour how-to video, or in a kit that includes a brush that carries more paint than a traditional brush (to cut down on painting time), a tool for working in tight spots, a brush for meshing colors or creating color washes or stipling and feathers for marbleizing, along with the video.
To begin the color-meshing technique of faux-finishing, three different colors of paint are applied in heavy splotches with a brush and then spread out. The paint is then tapped with the Woolie, which can do corners and edges, to produce a faux finish. The video offers short segments illustrating other techniques too.
Price: $13 for The Woolie, $30 for The Woolie Kit.
The Woolie Inc., 3314 Winpack Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55427; call 888-5-WOOLIE.
– By the sea. The sea sponge is a traditional tool for creating faux finishes, but now Quali-Tech has designed DecoEase to simplify the process. It’s a roller equipped with a natural sea sponge. A brochure included with the product describes the various finishes that it can create. The basic technique, using latex paint and a light touch, produces the sponged look. A variation on the basic technique, using three or more accent colors, can produce a stippled granite effect. The roller can also be used to apply two paints at the same time, which will blend on the wall, as well as for sponging off a glaze mixture that has been applied over a base coat. The sea sponge roller is available in a kit that includes a roller frame, a cloth roller cover for applying a base coat, a small piece of sea sponge to create additional effects and a paint tray.
Price: $29.95 for the kit.
Quali-Tech, 2041 E. Del Amo Blvd., Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220; call 800-822-7664.
– Blending colors. The Faux-Fresco Padbrush Painting Kit makes it possible to recreate a centuries-old technique that blends colors. It includes a tray partitioned into sections to hold three different colors of glaze and interior wall paint. It is equipped with three separate wheels on an axle just above the paints. A pad with a handle is pulled over the wheels so that it picks up all three bands of color at the same time. The pad brush is then used to apply the three shades to the wall and then blend them together. The kit includes all the materials needed for this faux-fresco technique as well as a video, which is approximately 15 minutes long, that demonstrates the entire process.
Price: $39.95 for the kit.
Padco Inc., 2220 Elm St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414-2693; call 800-328-5513.
– The right mitt. Plaid Enterprises replaces traditional tools for faux finishing with a series of mitts that offer an easy way to recreate their techniques. Each of the five mitts creates its own surface appearance. They are simply loaded with decorator glaze and then pressed to the wall. The line includes a chamois mitt for a surface that has the soft look of leather, a sea sponge mitt for an airy appearance, a sponging mitt with a denser design, a ragging mitt that creates a light textured surface and a mopping mitt for an irregular pattern. A small chamois tool and mopping tool are useful for doing corners and small projects.
Prices: $25 per mitt, $18 per tool.
Plaid Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box 7600, Norcross, GA 30091-7600; call 800-842-4197.
– A stroke of genius. The Walls With Style kits and tools, from EZPaintr, cover all of the possibilities for creating faux finishing effects.
The line of products was launched in 1998 with the introduction of kits, such as one with a sponge to stamp an accent color on a base color and one with an accent roller to create a stencil-like pattern. In fall 1999, new ones were added, including the Colorwash Brush Kit, which includes the materials needed to blend two paint colors with just one stroke; the Striping Roller Kit to create stripes of alternating colors and checks and plaids; the Rag Roller and the Sponge Roller and the Stipple Roller Kits.
Each kit includes a tray with a Paintsaver lid that makes it easy to stop and restart a project without cleaning up in between, a how-to video and an instructional guide. New accessories include a number of brushes to create a variety of decorative effects as well as combs, stamps to print designs such as cows, the moon and stars, race cars and sunflowers and accent roller covers featuring objects such as chili peppers and sea horses.
Prices: $39.99 per kit, $4.99 to $29.99 for the accessories.
EZPaintr, 4051 S. Iowa Ave., St. Francis, WI 53235; call 888-GO-FAUX-IT.
– Decorative plaster. Ancient Egyptians and Romans developed a textured wall coating that required 10 to 15 layers of plaster. It was later adopted and perfected by the Venetians. Now TexSton has simplified this technique in a series called Venetian Plasters that can achieve a similar effect with from two to six layers.
The plasters are available in three styles. Marmorino is a water-based mixture that is made of crushed marble, lime, sand and acrylic polymers. It can create a variety of surfaces ranging from ones that look like natural stone to ones that resemble marble. TexSton-Terra can be used to create numerous effects such as a suede or a distressed look. TexSton-Veneciano can be used to create decorative antique, matte and glossy finishes.
The manufacturer recommends that consumers attend one of the workshops that it holds throughout the country to learn how to use the plasters and tools.
Prices: from $15 for a trial size to $48 for a gallon, depending on plaster finish.
TexSton Co., 8011 Webb Ave., North Hollywood, CA 91605; call 800-788-7113.
