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Paint techniques

Here are a few Paint techniques

Decorative paint techniques are the cheapest and most rewarding way to give your home unique charm and character, and make you feel refreshed and happy when walking into your home. Sponging, marbling, ragging and distressing are only a few of the multitude decorative painting techniques to jazz up your house’s walls or even furniture.

Here are a couple of decorative paint techniques and how-to instructions:

  • Marbling
    Choose a piece of marble you like before you start to mimic its colours and veining. Choose base and top coats to match the desired base marble and the textured effects respectively.

    1. Clean the surface by cleaning, sanding, removing residues and filling all the imperfections.
    2. Apply two coats of basecoat and let it dry completely. Mix raw sienna colour with one tablespoon each of white spirit and oil glaze. If you are using latex paint mix the sienna colour with acrylic latex glaze. Apply sparingly with an artist’s brush.
    3. Wipe away varying amounts of wall glaze with a small cloth allowing patches of light and dark to form.
    4. To achieve “veins” of marble apply the sienna glaze with a thin artist’s brush in varying thickness.
  • Sponging
    Sponging On
    1. Apply a solid base colour.
    2. Once the base coat has dried apply a glaze or wash on top of it using a dampened sponge to create that mottled look. You can add more than one wash or glaze colour but each coat first need to dry before applying another.
    3. Use lighter colours over darker colours to create depth and darker ones over lighter colours to attain definition and texture.
    Sponging Off 
    1. Apply a uniform glaze coat over the base colour with a brush or roller.
    2. Before the glaze coat has completely dried use a sponge to remove some of the glaze to expose the undercoat.
    Tip for sponging: Use a natural sea sponge instead of a synthetic household type to achieve a varied and interesting texture.
  • Ragging and Rag Rolling
    This technique gives a wall that dramatic effect of crushed velvet, chamois leather and watered silk.
    Apply a solid base colour and let it dry.
    Rag Rolling On
    1. Roll the cloth in a sausage shape of varying tightness.
    2. Dip it lightly into the wash or glaze and apply it to the base coat in a rolling motion.
    3. Layering glazes work well; just allow each layer to dry first.
    Rag Rolling Off
    1. Slightly roll a dampened cloth through the wet glaze to still reveal the undercoat and lift parts of the glaze coat to reveal the undercoat.
    2. Layering glazes work well; just allow each layer to dry first.
    Tip: You can use materials like linen, lace and burlap or any other natural fiber material that is lint free. 

Require a professional painter’s help to apply paint to your walls using different paint techniques, contact Warrior Paints 

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