Assignments

i hope you dont mind me getting in touch, i happened to come across you on a web site as i was looking for painting techniques. I need to blend dark green to a lighter green and then to a yellow at the top and i have no idea how to do this. My children are Ben 10 mad and want their rooms decorated, these are the colours and rather than have one wall a colour and so on i thought about blending the colours up the walls from dark green to yellow. I hope you dont mind but i need help and dont want to make a mess of it.

Yours a desperate mother in need of decorating tips Justine

A.1011

Justine

This is a technique from years past but created then in oil paint. The process was very messy, high in solvents, difficult to clean up after and when done a fire hazard - the good old days. It can now be achieved in water based products, but it can be a bit more difficult. I don't know how your skills are or if you have the tools. Anyway here we go...........

TOOLS

Brushes to apply the water based paint- 2"and 4" or a flat wall brush. Buckets or plastic paint kettles to mix the paint. Sponges and clothes. Hogs hair stippling brushes two 6" x 4" or as big as you can get. Dust sheets. Tools to prepare the walls if necessary.

MATERIALS

Acrylic eggshell for a base colour of your choice. Clear acrylic scumble. Acrylic tube colours or stainers of your choice. Materials to prepare the walls if necessary.

METHOD

I would suggest you create this effect in panels on the wall, not the full wall itself, it can be a daunting task.

Use masking tape to

create the panels

ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ

ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ

Paint the outside of the panel in a complementary colour

If you have a dado and picture rail you may not need to create panels

Apply the base colour, without any brush marks if you can or roller it to create an even roller texture. Practice this first, be prepared to paint it over if you make a mistake, mix the scumble with the tube colour to the strength you want. Check how much tube colour to scumble then if it dries too quick you can add more scumble.

Apply the lower colour, say green, first to about one third the way up, apply the top colour say yellow to the top third. Mix the bottom and the top colour in equal amount and apply this to the middle third. Before you start charge the stippler with some colour, so as it does not pull the colour off the wall. Work along the bottom in a straight line and then back along the same line but one half the way up the first stipple. Do this and work your way into the mixed colour in the middle third.

Then with a clean stippler do the same from the top down. Do not turn the stippler round, keep it going in the same way with the same edge going in the same direction. Stipple into the centre to give a gradual change of colour, no lines or a jump from one colour to the next.

Do not start with too strong a colour use colour that have been slightly neutralised and don't put the colour on too heavy.

Hope this helps Fred

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Q.1012. GOLD MARBLE

Hello,

I saw some of your online videos and was deeply impressed. I am working on a reception counter, and I was wondering how I would go about doing a gold marble with kind of a 3D effect as shown in the attachment. I really really need your help.

Thank you so much, Ken

A.1012

Ken

You don't give me any idea of the level of skills you have.

The photo you have sent is typical of marble, whether it's real or painted, it has that translucent, you can see just so far into or below the surface of the material. You call it a 3D effect.

Whatever marble, whatever colour you want to create to be a marble effect it must have a '3D effect'. We're lucky, the sample has a dark background. Dark colours tend to recede where light colours will advance.

If your brief is to copy a particular piece of marble then first find the darkest colour in the sample and paint the background with it. Find the lightest and that is your final veining colour.

Mix a small amount of the lightest colour with the darkest and create a cloud effect, some cloud shapes with hard edges some without. Parts of the clouds must look like they are disappearing into the background. Create a heavy vein on top of the clouding with a colour lighter than the clouding. Create a second vein lighter and sharper than the last and finally, with the lightest colour and only on the last vein a sharp small vein.

If it is going on a reception counter then the finish will need protecting.

Hope this helps Fred

Q.1012. GOLD MARBLE. Part 2

Thank you for your help!

As you probably have noticed, I am a beginner. I just started practicing faux a couple of months ago. I drew in some of the clouds but I am having a lot of trouble with the veining. I am working with water based paint and it seems really difficult to do the veining. Maybe I just need a lot of practice.

Thank you, Ken

A.1012. Part 2

Ken

It is difficult with oil based but bloody difficult with water based. Are you using acrylic tube colours? or ready mixed. It is best I think to mix your own. Try and experiment with tube colour and glycerine or KY jelly. Use a pure sable or kolinsky hair number 4 or 6, depending on the size of vein. Roll the brush between the thumb and forefinger at the same time moving over the surface. If this all sounds a bit confusing then give us a call back.

Fred

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Q.1013. BLISTERS IN EMULSION PAINTED WALLS

doreen

i'm having problems with painting my interior walls with emulsion as in odd places it keeps on blistering i've let it dry and rubbed it down but it still keeps on doing it any advise on how to solve it

A.1013

Doreen Hello

Emulsion paint can blister for a couple of reasons.

Damp will make it blister but I think if it was damp you would see it.

If you apply emulsion straight from the tin on to new plaster it will blister, you need to thin down the first coat so as it soaks into the surfaces and creates a bound between the paint and the plaster.

Dust on the surface will stop the first coat from adhering to the plaster, if you've rubbed down and not removed the surface powder then the paint will stick to the powder and not the wall forming patches where the paint flakes.

Small areas of grease, could be where someone has been putting their hand say to open a door, on the wall would stop the paint from sticking and it will flak off.

Nicotine, if not removed will make emulsion paint to flake off.

Old plaster which is crumbing will make the paint flake off.

Old gloss painted walls if not prepared correctly will stop the emulsion paint from adhering, rub down the gloss to take the shine off, wash with sugar soap, rinse and apply the first coat.

Hope this helps let us know which one it is if it's any of then at all. Fred Biddulph

Q.1013. BLISTERS IN EMULSION PAINTED WALLS. Part 2

its definitely not bare plaster as the walls have been painted plenty of times before. i had wallpaper on before which i steamed of and then i sugar soaped and rubbed down. then a week late started painting so i'm beginning to think it might be damp. but i will let you know . any suggestions for damp. as also the paint is only laying on not really taken hold to much.

A.1013. Part 2

Find the cause of the damp, if it is worse at the top it could be the guttering, if it is coming in over the whole of the wall it could be penetrating damp. If it is coming up from the floor then it's rising damp. I'm sorry if this sounds a bit frightening but I am just giving the possibilities. When you've found the problem get it fixed and wait for the inside to dry before redecorating.

Fred

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Q.1014. BUBBLES/BLISTERS IN PAINTWORK

I have painted two external doors with an undercoat and a gloss top coat bot both doors have bubbles coming up. How can I prevent this?

Jim

A.1014

Jim

Has the bare timber of the door been exposed for any length of time? If so then the wood may have absorbed moisture. This moisture will dry out and if the door has been painted will push the paint off in the form of bubbles. If this is so then any loose or bubbling paint work must be removed, the area rubbed down, primed, undercoated and glossed.

Did you knot the knots? If you haven't applied shellac knotting to bare knots this will not only stain the new paintwork but on old exterior timber will stop adhesion of new paint. Again remove existing paint, prep, apply knotting, prime undercoat and gloss.

Hope this helps

Fred

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Q.1015. PAINTING PINE VARNISHED/UNVARNISHED

I want to know what paint to use for unvarnished pine and also on varnished please?

kerry

A.1015

Kerry

For your unvarnished pine the finish can be gloss, satin/eggshell or matt/flat in oil paint or water paint.

It's the preparation which is important. Remove any dirt or grease and give it a rub down and dust off. Any knots? give them a coat of shellac knotting and when dry paint with wood primer, oil or water base. Apply at least one coat of undercoat and then a finish coat of your choice.

As for the varnished work prepare the surface as before making sure the shine on the varnish is dulled and apply one or two coats of undercoat and one of gloss or whatever.

Fred

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Q.1016. OLD STYLE DECORATORS TOOLS

Hello Fred, my friend & next door neighbour gave me some stuff years ago... he was an old style decorator.... and I would now like to sell them on e-bay, but although I have identified the brushes as Hamilton's 'fitch', I don't know what the other 2 things are, or what the brush with the 7 long, spaced-out bristles is called. Can you help me? I e-mailed one of the big companies but they didn't get back to me & when I saw your page I thought you looked like you might know . Thank-you in anticipation..

Dorothy

A.1016

Dorothy

Please find attached your image of the various graining tools you sent me. I have made a note of their names and a very brief description of what they are used for.

Hope this covers everything.

Fred

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Q.1017. PAINTING HANDRAILS

Hi , I would be very grateful for your advice. I have painted our stair bannisters with a satin finish paint. The ball finials at the top and bottom of the stairs suffer from a lot of handling with not terribly clean (children's!) hands and the paint seems to be uncleanable. I've now sanded them down as they looked so awful and in doing so it was as if the paint wasn't exactly dry, (softish layers of fused paint and dirt) - which it obviously was because the painting was done months ago. Anyway, I am largely back to bare wood and need to repaint and wonder if you could recommend a paint and/or technique which would be more resistant? I dont really want to have to redo the entire bannisters. just the ball finials.

many thanks, barbara

A.1017

Barbara

Yes this is hand grease, not just from dirty kids but from clean adults also. Hand grease will be found on staircase handrails and newel posts, on doors, where in the days gone by they used to fit finger plates, and around the door knobs.

The dirty stuff will be seen and can be seen to be removed but the clean grease can sometimes be more difficult. People who may be house proud will say there isn't any, but it is there. Sugar soap, obtained from your local DIY or decorators merchants, will remove the grease before general preparation. In your case I think you may not have removed it all. If there is some left on the surface it mixes with the paint and stops the paint from drying.

In your case it may be best to remove, as I think you are doing, the affected paint down to the bare wood - just on the handrail and newel post knobs. If you think there is grease on the bare wood then wipe with a turps soaked rag. Prime the bare wood with a good wood primer and paint in the normal way.

Hope this is the answer to your problem Fred

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Q.1018. SIENNA MARBLING

Hi,

I've readed your useful site, with a lot of interestings tips! I'm going to decorate my small bathroom in a house of '38 in Turin (Italy), I've discovered old faux marble under tiles...

well... the point is: I'm imitating sienna marble.. everithing goes ok until I'm starting dark venis... nothing to do with your example! I've already done some vert de mer faux marble, and the sienna venis seems to me the same of vert de mer and the result is awful....

If you could give me any suggestion....

Many thanks in advantage

Matteo Ravazzolo

A.1018

Matteo Ravazzolo

When I create the veins in vert de mer I use a goose feather but when veining sienna I use a pointed sable signwriting brush.

Hold the sable brush across the four fingers with the thumb on top and manipulate the brush to create a wide and thin vein.

The brush is lifted from the surface so as only the tip is touching the surface. The bush is moved across the surface to create a very thin line or vein. Lower the hair of the brush so as all the hair, just the hair is touching the surface this will create a thick line or vein. Practice this lowering and lifting action and then try to roll the brush as well.

It will take some practice Matteo but you know what they say - practice makes perfect.

Hope this helps

Fred

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Q.1019. PAINT COLOURS FOR DADO

WHICH PAINT COLOURS TO USE WHEN USING DADO RAILING IN A CORRIDOR?

ANNA

A.1019

Anna

The choice of colour for a dado rail, including the skirting and doors frames etc. could be a darker shade of the wall filling and/or dado. Or, perhaps, a contrasting colour to give emphasis to the woodwork. Large areas such as the wall would normally be painted in a pale colour and the skirtings, dado and frames in a darker colour. The eye can accept large expanses of pale or light colour and small quantities of strong colour.

Hope this helps some way

Fred

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Q.1020. MARBLE EFFECTS

how do i paint marble effects?

marfan

A.1020

Hello

If you go on the marble page and follow the instructions, I'm afraid there is a lot of them, you should be able to create some basic impressions of a marble effect. You can also watch the small videos, they have been speeded up, so do not expect to do it so quickly.

Hope this will help you Fred

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