|
If you are tired of the all-white walls in your home,
paint is a simple and cost-effective way of adding character
to interiors and exteriors. Not only does paint provide
surfaces with a practical, protective covering, but
it can also be an important form of creative expression.
Paint, creatively applied, provides an endless variety
of decorative finishes, bringing enriched depth and
character to the walls of your home.
Throughout history, there has been a universal need
to decorate dwellings and places of worship. During
the Renaissance, artists like Michelangelo were commissioned
by royals and wealthy patrons to adorn palaces and places
of worship like the Sistine Chapel with lavish imagery
and colors. These artists are regarded as the originators
of the popular decorative painting techniques used today,
also known as faux painting. This article uses the terms
decorative painting and faux painting interchangeably.
According to Karen Van Dehy of Karen's Company, a painting
business based in Lafayette, decorative painting has
been gaining in popularity for many years. "There
are many reasons for this," she says. It is extremely
versatile, comes in many flavors and can create an endless
array of effects in a room. Additionally, you can create
a nice textured or faux effect for a portion of the
cost of good wallpaper."
Faux is a French word meaning "false," and
faux painting is a term used to describe a range of
decorative painting techniques used to achieve visual
effects that mimic the original, such as wood graining,
metals, marbles, ageing and stone. Faux painting lets
you make almost any surface appear to be something other
than what it is. It can transform a solid surface into
terra cotta tile, leather, old world plaster , or even
give the illusion of an open window overlooking scene,
to name a few possibilities. Using your imagination,
some tips from a pro, and a willingness to experiment?
will lead you to a look you desire.
Decorative painting doesn't just happen when you pick
up a paintbrush. It demands knowledge of the principles
of art and color theory, the appropriate tools to achieve
the desired effects, an understanding of the materials
and methods used to create the desired effects and the
skill to make it happen. The results can be stunning
as a painting project and literally become a work of
art.
You can also use stunning color effects to transform
the look and feel of a room, creating a stimulating
workspace or a calming study area. The options are endless."
One of the simplest of decorative painting techniques
is the use of color to connect different rooms together
to create a sense of unity. The color on the walls,
baseboards, window frames, crown molding or even the
ceiling can differ, creating an exciting environment
in each room, yet you can still tie the rooms together.
The key is repetition. For example, if you paint one
room a pale yellow, another a vivid rose and yet another
room a deep eggplant to create differing senses of energy
in different rooms, you can create a cohesive thread
of color by painting all the trim white. The effect
is a sense of continuity throughout the rooms even though
they individually have a very different feel.
You can also play with the lighting in each room. The
amount of light illuminating any color changes the appearance
of that color. If you use the same color of yellow in
two different rooms, one with limited natural light
and another that receives lots of natural light, the
rooms may look like they are painted with two different
colors. You can exploit this effect by using two closely
related hues and applying the lighter one to the sunniest
space.
The first lesson of color theory is that warm colors
advance and cool colors recede. So, in theory, if you
want to make a room appear larger, you paint it a cool
color and to give the impression of a smaller space,
you use a warm color. "It's not this simple,"
says Van Dehy. "A bold green or blue can pull the
walls around you as well as the warmest red, while a
soft yellow can make the walls appear to dissolve, increasing
the sense of space." You have to consider the value
of the color, its lightness or darkness, and its intensity
or how saturated or pure it is. Van Dehy continues:
"Lighter, paler, less intense colors generally
give you a sense of increased space, while darker or
more intense colors generally have the opposite effect.
This all depends, however, on the size of a room, its
furnishings, the amount of wall space, windows, trim,
height of the ceiling and so on."
Faux painting techniques also include the simple techniques
of blending, sponging and ragging. Below is a description
of some of more simple techniques and the effects they
produce. By building on these basics, the adventurous
homeowner or professional can achieve a "look"
ranging from marble to leather to denim jeans - whatever
you have in mind, there is a technique to make it happen.
Blending is a versatile technique that can create romantic
look for a dinning room or a great backdrop of a whimsical
mural for a child's room; it can soften the effect of
a bold color or "cozy up" a room with large,
tall walls. Blending starts with a base color and then
1, 2, 3, or more colors are applied in a random pattern
over the base coat. The colors are then blended together
with a variety of tools, different tools create different
patterns in the blend. The effect is seamless and soft,
there are no perceived lines where the colors change.
You can use colors that are similar to each other for
an extremely soft look or colors that are complementary
for a more dramatic effect.
Sponging can make ordinary walls appear as though they
are wallpapered with textured paper, and is very effective
when you faux with deep, rich colors. Sponging can create
dramatic or subtle variations of color and dimension.
This technique is created by the combination of a base
color painted on the surface with a glaze color applied
over it. The technique used to apply the glaze color
over the base color is what creates the faux finish.
Any number of tools can be used to create this effect
other than a sponge - rags, plastic bags, plastic sheeting
and more - and each creates a different texture. Again,
you are limited only by your or your designer's imagination.
Ragging creates a classic and understated effect, simulating
a lacy, elegant look. Like sponging, ragging is creating
by the intermingling of two colors - a base color and
glaze color. With "ragging on", the glaze
color is applied to the canvas of dried base color with,
you guessed it, a rag! A water-dampened cloth rag is
dipped into the glaze color and the excess wrung out.
The rag can then be dabbed or rolled along the surface
in random patterns. The effect is much like sponging
on, except that the pattern looks more like a beautiful
combination of swishes and swirls rather than sea corral.
The benefits of hiring a professional to help you are
numerous. A good faux painter can guide you to the creation
of exactly what you are looking for, or even open your
eyes to ideas you never imagined. The techniques and
options of faux painting are constantly developing,
so you want someone who is on top of the latest techniques
to help you achieve effects that set your home apart
from everyone you know.
|
