It was only a matter of time before creative minds came up with new ways of painting — and not simply with spray guns and rollers.
Talk painting these days and not only does the topic of colors crop up but techniques. These are techniques that offer a look anywhere from old world to aging crackled to metallic.
Examples of the painting technique would be dragging and strippling, suede impressions and sand tones, crackling techniques, rag rolling and sponging techniques, and lime and color washing.
Each technique produces unique decorating patterns that are becoming very popular these days.
All of the techniques involve applying a base coat of one color followed by a glaze of another in patterns from stripes to swirls to splotches.
What exactly are these painting techniques?
Dragging — In dragging, a dry brush is pulled through a wet glaze of paint, producing fine, blurry stripes of the base coat showing through the glaze. On walls, dragging creates a striae effect of soft, graduated lines. This lends to tone-on-tone color combinations. Another technique, called combing, involves the used of a graining comb to produce a bolder pattern of stripes, squiggles, swirls and designs.
This technique can be used on woodwork, flat surfaces or furniture.
Stippling — This is similar to dragging, except after the glaze coat has been applied, and while the glaze is still wet, a dry strippling brush is used to remove pinpoint spots of the glaze.
Sponging — This is one of the easier finishing techniques. Sponging creates colorful walls that range from a dappled, mottled look to that of marble. This look can be subtle or bold. This simply involves dipping pieces of sponge in the glaze and then dabbing it in various patterns on the wall over the base coat.
When sponging in only one color over a base coat, it is recommended that painters go with a monochromatic scheme close in value, that is, tone-on-tone, for a rich, subtle look. If people want more punch, they can use contrasting colors, such as blue over yellow, or sponge on two different colors to create a more dramatic effect. The effects of two colors can be softened by applying a third color close to the base color.
Another technique is called "subtractive," where a sponge is used to take off the wet glaze off the painted surface.
Rag rolling — This is a technique that leaves walls with a very rich and elegant look. It is accomplished by applying the glaze and then using a rag, which is rolled up into something that resembles a hot dog bun, is then rolled over the wall. The base coat shows through as the glaze is removed.
Crackling — This painting technique leaves behind an aged look, which complements casual, country or traditional decorating styles. For an eclectic style, some people are applying the crackle finish to woodwork and trim. To get the look, apply a crackle glaze over a base coat. As the glaze dries, cracks will emerge in the base coat. The cracks can be lightened or darkened by rubbing on a second glaze. This, too, is a technique that can be used on walls or furniture.
Line washing — This technique gives old-world charm to walls. It is accomplished by painting a lime wash over the base coat, leaving behind a white cloud look. It can be accentuated by applying a textured lime wash to the base coat.
Color washing — This is similar to line washing except a color glaze is applied with a brush over the base in random "X" patterns.
Suede impressions and sand tones — This is accomplished with a special paint that is applied and then re-applied using a brush for the suede and roller for the sand. It leaves behind the soft look of suede and the courser look of the granule texture for sand.
Metal and patina — This delivers a metallic finish to a wall. To get the desired look, a metallic glaze is applied over a base. A wallpaper smoothing brush is then used to create a texture pattern. The finish comes out a silvery blue, rust or copper colored.
Some of the techniques are more difficult than others.