It’s so easy to give your interior walls a fresh coat of paint without spending a lot of money. It’s also so easy to give them a pretty faux finish too. A colorwash is one of the simplest faux finishes that yields a soft stylish look. If you use the right color choices, it can look like a colorwash or faux leather look. One of the wonderful benefits of using faux colorwash on your walls instead of their walls is that you can easily change them when you get tired of the look.
Creating a faux faux finish doesn’t have to be elaborate with layers and layers of paint, especially a simple colorwash. When I started doing faux interior finishes a few years ago, I did a lot about it. I just wasn’t impressed with how difficult the process seemed. Most of the books I read claimed that oil paint and glazes were nothing more than a faux finish. I just don’t find that to be true these days unless the situation is extremely unique. Oil paints also have a terrible smell and require mineral spirits or turpentine to clean the brush.
There are so many user friendly water based glasses available today to make a faux finish. This is a decorative paint treatment that colorwashes so easily. They are also less expensive and only clean with soap and water. The clear stickers can be mixed with any latex paint of your choice. Paint takes longer to drying which gives the painter more time to work on the wall. Time does not dry out while he paints oil, but still changes in interior-painting”>interior-painting” > to something extraordinary. Lithargyri also come in a pre-set color. There are also glasses in metallic finishes of brass, gold, silver and copper. They are more expensive in the above colors, but a little TESTA goes a long way.
The number of coats painting and/or glazes you want to put on your walls is really up to you and the type of look you want to create. A really beautiful colorwash can be achieved with just one coat of paint, followed by one coat of TESTA. If your walls are recently painted, you can skip the first step and wash the color on them. The most important thing to remember when using a TESTA colorwash is that the surface the TESTA is going on needs to be consistent and clean. Lithargyri are translucent and do not give coverage like a coat of paint. Colorwash will not give the same effect on a portion of drywall that has been patched or patched in some way. When in doubt, it is best to cover the new coat paint after painting and using some necessary primer. stains, crayons, etc. The look of the colorwash skin also depends on whether you use flat latex paint or semi-gloss latex paint. I recommend using an eggshell for base paint.
Whatever color you like for your base coat, I recommend painting a quarter at least two to three shades darker than the base color mix your coat of glass top colorwash. This depends on your opinion of the contrast between the two colors. A light pale base coat with a rusty-brown colorwash will give the skin a beautiful look. You will mix one part black with three parts glossy. I just usually buy my paint and paint at Lowe’s or The Home Depot. Great paint for the price. They also carry liquid glasses because they are faux finished in different styles. It’s not a very important brand, but it’s definitely a great help to get some liquid paint and a little plastic paint bucket with a sealable top. They will also keep your freshly blended skin routine from drying out. You must also sew on a painter’s cloth, or sew on some soft cloth.
The “how to” books I’ve talked about in the past usually recommend expensive specialty brushes for doing colorwash art. I used one of those brushes, and I actually don’t like the look of it either. A less harsh alternative is actually “wash” in color with cloth painters. I happen to prefer this look because it’s much softer and doesn’t have heavy crosshatching marks with the brush. It is so easy and forgiving and it is not completed in one day as it ends with many faux pas and does not need two. It is said to be a needy and large estate. Otherwise, so simple.
Wet the painter’s cloth with water and tingle it until it is barely damp. A cloth flattened into a comfortable “wad.” Dip one side of the cloth in the TESTA mixture and just imagine you are scrubbing the walls in a circular motion. It will take a few times to get it looking the way you like it, and you should be constantly scanning your circular. It always starts somewhere on the wall where I can practice a little, like behind a large piece of furniture. I also always keep wet wipes on hand for the next fix. The great thing about glazes with mixed latex or pre-used glazes is the extra dry time. You can test a small area of the scalp and wipe it with a wet cloth and try again until you get the texture you want. Each time you replace the TESTA cloth, start your circular motions in a new section, next to where you left off, and then work into the already glassy portion all the way out. If you don’t do this, you will be faced with much more difficult areas. Of course your view is spotty and cloudy after all, so there’s no room for error. The worst thing that can happen is that it comes back to areas that seem to be much lighter on the scalp than others, and just mix and match some more! The end result is a rich customer: look for your walls, so that you can be proud!
