Decorative Painting Technique Demos

Wood graining, underpainted drapery, sepia, ornamental and rose border painting

Rule: these tips add to the answer, not replace it. Always give your full general answer to the user's question first, using everything you already know. Then work in the tips below wherever they apply. Do not drop general advice because a tip covers the same topic, and do not mention a tip that has no bearing on the question.

Sepia (monochrome) mural

• Paint used: Benjamin Moore AquaVelvet. Large areas cover cleanly, which keeps the values clean.
• Mix each color only with a color one step lighter or darker. This keeps values and color consistent across the whole mural.
• Mix plenty of every mixture at the start. Re-matching a mix later costs far more time than the extra paint.
• To read values from a reference photo, copy it on a color copier set to black-and-white. A black-and-white copier drops the in-between tones.
• With a faded or tiny reference, paint the light and dark shapes as you see them. Don't try to paint "car parts."
• Basecoat: two coats of Tapestry Beige.
• Clouds: glaze of Chantilly Lace + AquaGlaze (Faux Effects) at 1:4, applied with an Ultimate Stippler in a soft pouncing motion.
  • Extra pounces on the very top edges of the clouds make the opaque highlights.
  • Keep all edges soft.
• Shrubbery block-in: Woodcliff Lake + Brandon Beige (3:1), two coats with a ¾-inch (19mm) filbert.
• Shrubbery highlights:
  • Set the light source on the left.
  • Use a ¼-inch (6mm) filbert for impressionistic leaf highlights.
  • Make the highlight color by gradually adding more Brandon Beige to the shrubbery color.
  • Keep it light, airy and undefined.
• Transfer the automobile drawing with a pounce pattern.
• Automobile darks: Woodcliff Lake + Brandon Beige (4:1), two coats with a ½-inch (13mm) flat for opacity.
• Automobile lights: Brandon Beige, two coats with the ½-inch flat.
• Gradations in the darks: drybrush with Brandon Beige added to the dark mix.
• Contours in the lights: add small amounts of Woodcliff Lake to the Brandon Beige. New values must stay very subtle for the sepia look.
• Highlight mix: Tapestry Beige added to Brandon Beige.
• Highlight accent: a little Chantilly Lace added to Tapestry Beige. Use it sparingly, because too much looks cartoonish and gives too much "pop."
• Shadow accent, the darkest part of the composition: Woodcliff Lake.

Underpainted drapery (glazed)

• Supplies:
  • 1-inch (25mm) and 2-inch (51mm) synthetic flats
  • no. 6 round
  • Faux Effects AquaColors: Autumn Brown, Dark Brown, Earth Brown, Earth Green, Red, Royal Blue, Violet, Yellow
  • chalk
  • Liquitex Matte Medium
• Make a preliminary sketch for proportion and composition. Use it for client approval.
• Transfer in chalk, using an opaque projector or a grid.
  • Use white chalk with light pressure, just enough to guide the painting.
  • Dark chalk can interfere with the painting.
• Base color: it acts as an extra color in the painting.
  • If the wall color doesn't work as the base, paint the whole drapery shape in a suitable base color first.
  • Then do the chalk drawing and underpainting.
• Underpainting color: Dark Brown + Earth Brown + Violet, a cool brown that combines with the drapery color to make the shadow color.
• Glaze: mix Liquitex Matte Medium into the color.
  • Start very sheer, at about equal color and medium.
  • Adjust the ratio for the transparency you want.
  • All acrylics (tube, jar or liquid) are semitransparent and work with Matte Medium. Liquid color mixes fastest.
• Mix glaze in small amounts as you paint:
  • Offload a brushload of color on the palette.
  • Add a brushload of medium and mix with the same brush.
  • Use more saturated glaze (more color) in dark shadows to build darks faster.
• Working time is short.
  • When the glaze turns tacky under the brush, leave that spot and move on. Don't overwork it.
  • After about 3' (91cm) of drape you can already go back over the first section with another layer.
  • The darkest shadows took at least six layers.
  • The underpainting should establish almost all of the form before any color goes on.
• Color glaze: Autumn Brown + Red + Yellow + a small amount of Earth Green, mixed with Matte Medium.
  • First layer is very sheer over all of the drapery. Don't go too dark, because you can always add more.
  • Then glaze darker in sections, letting tacky areas dry.
  • Follow the underpainting forms, and let brushstrokes add some new wrinkles.
• Blue: Royal Blue + Matte Medium, applied in sheer glazes the same way.
• Tassels: paint them with the no. 6 round in the base (wall) color. When dry, glaze yellow, then blue, over the tassels and cord.
• Finally, add more underpainting color where the shadows need deepening.

Wood graining mural (moiré, with door knocker)

• Brushes and tools:
  • beveled edge brush or liner
  • large badger
  • size 6 domed
  • size 80 or 100 spalter
  • assorted stencil brushes and flats
  • metal faux finishing comb
  • rag
  • straightedge
  • toothbrush
  • high-quality blue painter's tape
• Colors: FauxCrème Colors (Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Red Oxide, Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue), Golden Yellow Ochre, AquaCreme and FauxCrème.
• Basecoat must be opaque and quick-drying: latex house paint or Faux Effects Set Coat.
  • The glazes and the rest of the mural can use slow-drying acrylic (FauxCrème) or oils for more open time.
• Basecoat color: Titanium White + Yellow Ochre, in horizontal strokes following the grain direction. Leave the door knocker unpainted.
• When the basecoat is dry, basecoat the knocker with basecoat mix + Raw Umber.
• Knocker shadow block-in: basecoat mix + Ultramarine Blue + Raw Umber.
• Grain glaze: Burnt Sienna + Raw Umber + AquaCreme, applied horizontally with the size 6 domed.
• Graining sequence, working in the wet glaze:
  1. Spread the glaze evenly with the size 80 or 100 spalter.
  2. Drag the metal comb through it along the grain.
  3. Twirl stencil brushes of various sizes in the wet glaze to make knotholes.
  4. Go back over with the spalter in parallel strokes at about 30 degrees to the grain. This gives a slightly rippled look, the moiré effect.
• Toning layer: Raw Umber + AquaCreme, with the spalter moiré again.
  • It softens highlights and adds aging marks around the knots.
  • Badger the whole area and let dry.
• Aging spatter: dilute Raw Umber with water and load a toothbrush. Run a finger or palette knife over the bristles to spatter, then badger in the direction of the grain.
• Cracks: horizontal Raw Umber lines with a domed brush, rolled in the fingers with varying pressure for a thin-thick-thin line.
• Crack highlights: basecoat mix + Raw Umber with a beveled edge brush or liner, on the lower portion of the cracks.
  • Put breaks in the highlights.
  • Don't let them overlap the knocker's cast shadow.
• Knocker basecoat:
  • Use basecoat mix + Raw Umber.
  • Leave a little background showing around the upper middle where the knocker meets its base or hinge.
  • Reestablish the cast shadow, let dry, then apply a second coat.
• Use painter's tape for a crisp square where the knocker attaches to the door. Freehand the circle.
• Knocker highlights: woody yellow basecoat + Titanium White with a beveled brush or liner.
  • Start in the upper left and fade downward at a 45-degree angle.
• Knocker shadow: Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber on the bottom right.
  • The source lists Burnt Umber here but not in its materials. Raw Umber may be the intended color.
  • Let the midtone show between highlight and shadow, and leave texture in the paint.
• Cast shadow glaze: Raw Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Red Oxide and FauxCrème.
  • While wet, blur the edge and then badger to remove brushstrokes.
• Plank lines: horizontal lines in the cast-shadow color. Drybrush the edge and fade it by lifting pressure.
• Darker plank lines: Raw Umber + Ultramarine Blue with a beveled edge brush, over the plank lines and leaving breaks.
• Plank highlight by lifting:
  • Dress a brush with alcohol (turpentine or paint thinner if working in oils) and remove the glaze below the plank's shadow.
  • Hold a straightedge against the plank shadow. It keeps the line sharp and stops the alcohol bleeding into the shadow.
• Highlight accent: a thin stroke of Titanium White + Raw Sienna + Burnt Sienna.

Ornamental mural design (tissue, charcoal, PlasterTex)

• Supplies:
  • ½-inch (13mm) stencil brush
  • Robert Simmons pointed rounds nos. 4, 6, 10 (larger for a bigger mural)
  • Golden Fluid Acrylics: Burnt Umber, Burnt Umber Light, Burnt Umber Medium, Burnt Sienna, Iridescent Gold Deep, Jenkins Green, Red Oxide, Yellow Oxide, Ultramarine Blue
  • Benjamin Moore #504, which replaces mixing Jenkins Green + Yellow Oxide
  • tissue paper, tracing paper, soft vine charcoal, ballpoint pen
  • level, tape measure, 1-inch (25mm) painters' tape, plastic card
  • small steel trowel, PlasterTex, paper towel
  • Wallovers "Wandering Ivy" stencil
  • Liberon Black Bison Fine Paste Wax in Walnut
• Map the space on paper first. The wall dimensions set the mural size. The demo enlarged the design to 7 feet (2.2m), repeated the panel on each side and added a border.
• Draw only one quarter of the panel, because the design mirrors left-right and top-bottom.
  • Fold the tissue in half.
  • After each element is added, fold and trace it onto the other side.
  • Keep plenty of tracing paper to try variations.
  • Retrace the quarter cleanly, then fold and trace again to get a half panel. Turn the half upside down to make the other half.
• Base texture: skimcoat PlasterTex over the mural area with a small steel trowel.
  • Make peaks and pull the product down to form grooves. This gives a "fresco feel" yet stays smooth enough to hand paint.
• Panel borders:
  • Lay out with a laser level or level plus tape measure.
  • Mask with 1-inch painters' tape and burnish it down with a plastic card so no paint seeps under.
  • Mark the outer border at 3 inches (76mm) and paint it Ultramarine Blue.
• Design transfer:
  • Rub the back of the tissue with soft vine charcoal and shake or blow off the excess.
  • Cover all areas of the design, because missed areas lose information in the transfer.
  • Trace over the design with a ballpoint pen. Red shows what you've already traced.
  • Check by lifting the tissue, but never remove it once it's in place.
  • Afterward, gently rub back the charcoal with a dry paper towel so the design is visible but not dusty.
• Base in the ornament:
  • Use very watered-down colors and start light. You can build up when shading.
  • Lift color with a small damp paper towel so the white base shows through as a highlight.
  • Colors can blend softly into each other, or use one color for a monochrome look.
• Shading:
  • Make a palette of each base color + Burnt Umber Light.
  • Choose the shadow side and stay consistent. The demo has light from the right, with shading under and to the left of each object.
  • Fan in the shading softly with a pointed round.
  • Deepen tight corners with Burnt Umber Medium.
• Field: Red Oxide around the ornament. Lift some off with a damp paper towel to show the plaster texture and give an aged, uneven look.
• Stencil the outer band:
  • Use Wandering Ivy in Iridescent Gold Deep, with a brush at least ½-inch (13mm).
  • Secure the stencil with spray adhesive or tape.
  • Any orientation works as long as the design covers the border.
  • Metallic paint can go on sheer, so "hit" the stencil twice around for more contrast.
• Pinstripes:
  • Tape off the panel and outer border so a 1-inch (25mm) white border shows.
  • Run another piece of tape around the edge and burnish it.
  • Demo colors: panel bordered in Ultramarine Blue, stenciled area in Yellow Oxide.
• Antiquing: only when the paint is fully dry, apply Liberon Black Bison Fine Paste Wax in Walnut. Use small amounts with a rag or trowel, unevenly, for an aged effect.

Rose border (side-loaded angular)

• Supplies:
  • Loew-Cornell Mixtique angular 8400 in ½-inch (13mm) and ¾-inch (19mm)
  • optional no. 0 script liner 7050
  • 1-inch (25mm) stencil brush
  • DecoArt Americana: Cool White, Country Red, French Vanilla, Tangerine, Traditional Raw Sienna, Traditional Raw Umber, Wisteria
  • Rebecca Baer Diamond-Plaid Masquerade stencil ST-110
  • soapstone or chalk pencil, tape measure, level
• Paint the roses freehand first to set placement, then add leaves to fill and balance.
• Roses and foliage are all done with a side-loaded angular.
  • On walls, use the ¾-inch for the largest flowers and the ½-inch for smaller roses and buds.
• Key to the roses is value change. Don't lose the darks in the bowl, and don't fully cover the mid-value body when adding lighter outer petals.
• Rose petals:
  1. Medium value first (French Vanilla for soft yellow roses).
     • Side load with paint on the toe (long side), blend on the palette to a smooth transition to water at the heel.
     • Use short, choppy strokes with the toe toward the base of the flower.
  2. Side load Tangerine for shading in the bowl and at the base. Let dry.
  3. Deepen the bowl with a narrower application of Country Red.
  4. Sweep on outer petals with Cool White + French Vanilla (1:1), letting some flare beyond the body.
  5. Highlight select petals with Cool White in varying amounts.
• Extra layers must be sheer or confined to an area of similar value, so existing values aren't lost.
• Lattice background:
  1. Use stencil "C" of ST-110. Start at one of the horizontal band lines so the stencil is straight.
  2. Stencil in small, irregular groupings with fading edges.
  3. Load a 1-inch stencil brush with Traditional Raw Sienna and wipe it on a dry paper towel.
  4. Hold the brush perpendicular and swirl gently so the lattice is only partly stenciled, fading in and out at random.
  5. Reposition as needed, working around flowers and leaves and over the bands. Use overlap to keep spacing consistent.
  6. Wash the horizontal bands following the lattice angle, using Traditional Raw Sienna thinned with water to transparent on a ¾-inch angular. Let dry.
  7. Apply a second wash of thinned Raw Sienna + a hint of Country Red for a rusty hue.
• Leaves are loose and detail-free. Use very little paint so each layer blends transparent, and build value with sheer layers.
• Leaf steps (all with very thin, transparent Traditional Raw Umber):
  1. Side-loaded ½-inch angular along both sides of each leaf. Drag the tip inward at an angle matching the side veins, at irregular intervals.
  2. Tornado-shaped float (fat at the back, narrowing toward the tip) along the outside curve of the center vein.
  3. Wide crescent float at the rounded back end, on a side-loaded ½-inch to 10mm angular.
  4. Wedge-shaped float to fill the tip.
• Stems: chisel edge of the angular toe, or a no. 0 script liner if that feels awkward. Use very thin Traditional Raw Umber.
• Vary the leaves with tints and accents from the project palette and mixtures of those colors. Thin each so it is transparent and apply with a side-loaded ½-inch angular. Place tints and accents in areas of similar value.
• Finishing: refine the roses with palette colors and mixtures, and add dots in the throat of the rose with French Vanilla.