Decorative Painting

I learnt how to do manipulated paint finishes in their heyday in the 1980's, a time when "paint effects" were all the rage and every available interior surface could be (and often was) stencilled, ragged, marbled, colour-washed etc. I have had therefore some experience in most of these types of finish. Including.....

• • Graining This once popular art simulates wood by manipulating paint with brushes and combs. It was commonly used in the past to make 'cheap' timber like pine look like a more expensive wood like oak or mahogany.
  • Marbling Painted in places where real marble might be used (not windows!), a skillful craftsman can re-create the best marbles and stones with a painted simulation that is hard to tell from the real thing. Most modern ragged and distressed finishes have their origin in the art of marbling.
  • Stone-Blocking An effective broad-wall treatment. Drawing the shape of blocks on the walls, painting the 'blocks' to look like stone, and completing the mortar lines to give the effect of masonry walls - better than it sounds.
  • Textured Surfaces The addition of fillers to thicken the paints which are then textured, followed by colour-washes. Think Italian villa, not bungalow ceiling.
  • Antiquing Pale earth-colours brushed on and wiped off to simulate the patina of antiques, the use of crackle-glazes to suggest aged paint, and other techniques to create an aged surface.
  • Colour-washing Thin 'washes' of colours to give a fairly subtle distressed look to large area's like walls or ceilings.
  • Ragged, Dragged, etc. A lot of the techniques used in graining and marbling can be used on their own to create 'movement' or textures on otherwise flat painted surfaces.