What Is Faux Painting? Techniques and Ideas

Faux painting is a great way to use paint to replicate the appearance of natural materials or to create your own high-end and artsy-looking paint finishes on your walls, counters, and furniture. Many techniques, from sponging to lime washing are very easy to learn. Read about faux painting's history, tips, and techniques so you can begin to design your own masterpiece.

What Is Faux Painting?

Faux painting, or faux finish, is a term used to describe a wide range of decorative paint techniques. For instance, some people paint a wall to make it appear as if it's made of stone, marble, or brick. "Faux" means "false" or "fake" in French. People may use faux painting because it's cheaper than using the materials the paint is trying to mimic. Faux painting is not to be confused with other types of techniques to achieve textured walls, such as stippling with drywall compound.

History of Faux Painting

Faux painting became popular in classical times, where artists would apprentice for 10 years or more with a master faux painter to get recognition and be rewarded for tricking viewers into believing their work was real. Faux painting remained popular throughout time, experiencing reappearances in the neoclassical revival of the nineteenth century and the Art Deco style of the 1920s, mainly in commercial and public spaces.

The most recent comeback of faux painting was during the late 1980s and early 1990s when wallpaper began to lose its popularity. At this time, faux painting began to emerge in homes, with high-end homes leading the trend. Many painters and artists began faux painting services and businesses during this time, but most of these painting techniques were simple enough for homeowners to create themselves.

Faux Painting Techniques

In modern-day faux painting, there are two major types of techniques used:

• Glaze painting: This technique requires the use of a translucent mixture of paint and glazes applied with a brush, roller, rag, or sponge, and often mimics textures, but it’s normally smooth to the touch.
• Plaster application: This technique used in faux painting can be done with tinted plasters, or washed over with earth pigments, and is generally applied with a trowel or spatula. The final product can be flat to the touch or textured.

Here is more information about various faux decorative paint techniques, many of which involve applying glazes over a base coat of paint to achieve varied looks.

Color Washing

Color washing is a faux painting technique that gives walls a subtle old-world elegance and is best used in traditional interiors. The technique involves washing color over painted walls. The method requires painting walls in a base color and then ragging or sponging on a thin layer of contrasting glaze using a soft brush, wiping it on with a circular motion. Applying a lighter color glaze over a darker glaze is one way to achieve an aged patina. For a deeper, richer color, work with two darker color glazes over a base color.

Rag Rolling

Rag rolling is related to sponge painting, but it uses a twisted rag to create a more distinctly mottled effect on a wall. You'll need to apply a base coat, then rag a glaze on the surface in random directions, using your wrist to differentiate the patterns. There are, however, specially designed rollers that do the job of rags more efficiently. This is a beautiful effect for traditional interiors.

Linen Weave

A linen weave faux painting effect, also called strie, is a fabric-like effect applied to walls. The technique requires pulling a dry brush through a wet glazed surface to create the "weave." You can drag the glaze either one way (vertically) or in both directions (horizontally and vertically). Typically this technique is used in a traditional room paired with wainscoting. It can also look beautiful done directly to wood paneling to make the wood look aged.

Mottling

The faux painting technique called mottling mimics frescoed plaster walls, giving walls the parchment or leathery look of old villas. It's a perfect backdrop for Mediterranean-style architecture. To mottle walls, paint them a base color and blot, dab, and swirl glaze over the surface in random layers until you have the look you desire.

Tea Staining

If you love the look of aged walls, try tea staining. It's the perfect backdrop for living spaces or outdoor areas in antique, rustic, or country homes. Though you could try staining walls with tea, it may be easier to use a clear glaze mixed with your base paint to get the aged effect on larger walls. It's a technique that sometimes involves spraying water on the walls so you'll want to practice the method so you can get the staining just right.

Venetian Plaster

Venetian plaster is a faux painting technique that mimics a stucco surface coating for walls. The plaster is a putty made from fired limestone and crushed marble mixed with water that is sold in a can just like paint. It's is applied to a wall using a trowel and it takes a little practice to get the technique down. If the Venetian plaster is burnished after application, it will look like polished marble. Venetian plaster has a sheen that regular lime plaster does not have. This technique is a classic look that interior designers use to elegantly finish traditional to modern interiors.

Metals Patinas

Create a weathered patina of copper or bronze using a faux painting technique called verdigris. Or add a "new" faux patina using metal spray paint. To create a greenish verdigris effect, use a coppery or gold base paint and apply a dark green top coat with a sponge. Then you apply a lighter green paint on top of those two colors and blot it with a rag.

Crackle

Crackle is a faux finishing painting technique that gives a surface an antiqued or distressed finish. It's created with a water-based paint and crackling medium or glue, topped with a color (optional), then sealed with polyurethane. It works best on wood surfaces (furniture or frames) rather than on walls. It works well in modern farmhouses and other types of rustic interiors.

Sponging

Sponging a wall creates a multicolored random patterning on a wall that's actually flat and smooth but looks textured. It works great for casual, high-traffic spaces and imperfect walls. The sponge painting technique is achieved by dabbing various colors onto a base color. You can make your sponging bold or subtle, depending on your color mix. Sponging can be done with different glazes and sheens, from matte to glossy. Note that alkyd paint is often recommended for sponging because latex paint may dry too quickly for this technique. The different types of sponges you use can also result in unusual patterns.

Marbling

Marbling makes a surface (countertop, table, or wall) look like veined marble using paints. To achieve a convincing marble look, use white, light gray, and dark gray paint. The look of marble is created by painting long marble veins with light gray paint. Faux marbling looks beautiful in traditional to modern interiors and is a popular DIY project for bathroom and kitchen countertops.

Faux Stone

Along with marbling, faux granite finishes add a sophisticated look to all types of surfaces, such as countertops, walls, and floors. The effect is achieved first with a few coordinating base colors and then sponging on a glaze. You can also mimic granite by speckling on some glaze. Creating faux stone involves a lot of paint and glaze layering to get the look of granite. It also pays to research what color and veining of granite you'd like to replicate and use photos or samples as a model while painting.

Antiquing

Antiquing, also called distressing, is commonly used for furniture and cabinetry and achieved with light-colored flat paint and wiping off a darker glaze or stain with fabric, plastic wrap, or other materials to age a piece.

Limewashing

A limewashed wall is extremely simple to achieve, and it can take on a soft, suede-like appearance on a wall or a plaster-like sheen if it's buffed. Limewash is a paint made from lime and a colorant. The opaque and chalky finish goes well in many decor styles, from cottage to rustic to modern interiors. Limewash is often confused with whitewash, a diluted and translucent painting technique.

Pickling Wood

Pickling wood is a technique used to stain wood with a white transparent finish to achieve a brighter color and make the grain stand out. Oak, pine, and ash are common types of wood used for this technique.

Wood Graining

Wood graining is a technique used to imitate the appearance of wood with detailed grains. This is usually done on a plain surface to simulate the look of wood. Latex paint a wood grain tool (a combing tool with different textures and patterns) are typically used for this process.