Applying glaze to painted walls helps you create an attractive faux finish. Designed for use over a base coat of paint, glaze finishes add complementary or contrasting color to your project while imbuing extra texture for a unique look and feel.
Translucent finishing glazes from the Real Milk Paint Co. come premixed in espresso, mahogany and mocha tints, but you can mix your own colors by adding Real Milk Paint pigment powder to premixed glazes or creating a color wash with Real Milk Paint powdered paint and water.
No matter the type of decorative painting techniques you choose for your interior design, the Real Milk Paint Co. has you covered with high-quality products for preparing, painting and finishing your faux finish project.
Glazing Techniques for Walls
Glazing techniques for walls work much like painting techniques, giving you numerous styles to work with to get the appearance and parts glaze you desire. Each of these glazing techniques provides very different visual effects, so before you get started, it helps to consider how each one would work in your space so you can select something complementary.
Be sure to prepare all you need such as a plastic wrap, a brush, paint colors, glaze colors and others. Also keep in mind the color combinations and texture you wish to use for your faux finishing project, as some glazing and painting techniques require either high-contrast or highly complementary palettes.
Sponging
Sponging and sponge painting work best for walls when you choose a color that contrasts either subtly or dramatically with the base acrylic, chalk, milk or latex paint color on your wall.
Especially well suited to rougher texture walls, sponging helps you create either subtle or vibrant effects, depending on the colors you use. To make use of this glazing technique, dip a large-pore sponge like a sea sponge in your translucent glaze color, then press and daub the wet edge into the base color on the surface of the wall to create cloud-like impressions.
Stippling
To stipple walls with glaze, you need a regular paintbrush or a special pouncer brush. With either tool, however, you simply dip the end of the brush into your glaze and then press the color-filled bristles of your brush into the painted wall in random patterns.
This glazing process offers an excellent solution for walls with lots of imperfections as it gives you creative freedom to add color right where you need it most. Another advantage of stippling is it’s relatively easy to do and a good technique for beginners just learning the painting project ropes.
Ragging
Just like the name indicates, ragging means applying glaze color to your wall with a rag. This process creates a cloud-like look to the wall of your room similar to what you get with sponging, only it’s typically lots softer looking and may even mimic the appearance of faded plaster or leather.
Ragging glaze onto walls works lots like sponging too, with pressure and dabbing the glaze into the surface creating the desired visual effect. To use this glazing technique, you can apply the medium you select with virtually any type of rag, from cheesecloth and cotton to terry cloth and burlap, depending on the type of texture you hope to impart to your wall.
Rag Rolling
Similar to ragging, rag rolling naturally requires the use of a piece of cloth to apply the glaze to your entire wall. Instead of wadding it up and dabbing, however, you need to roll the rag up into a cylindrical shape before dipping it into your glaze and rolling it across the wall.
This glazing technique also works well for color washing and lets you add several different colors for a stunning faux finish. If you want to use this style with less mess, consider purchasing a special rag rolling tool that completes the task in a cleaner fashion.
Marbleizing
A faux finish that mimics the look of marble offers an upscale way to update the walls of your home and blends perfectly with your furniture. To achieve this effect, paint your wall a darker base color, then use a lighter complementary shade to add the marble veins.
While you can purchase special pens that help you create the veins, you can also glide them on with a thin paintbrush, then dab the lines with a compressed rag to blend the colors for a DIY natural marbleized look. Alternatively, you can use a feather to add the veining, though this paint technique works best for those with more experience using faux finishes.
Smooshing
Smooshing offers a similar look to marbleizing, albeit with a lot less work and formality. To create a faux paint finish by smooshing glaze color onto your wall, apply a dark base color to your wall like with marbleizing and choose a lighter glaze color for smooching.
Paint on the lighter color with an artist paintbrush after the base coat dries, then immediately cover the area with plastic wrap and smoosh it into the surface of the wall. You can add extra texture and visual appeal by dragging the wrap downward, upward or to the side.
Dragging
To use the glazing and painting technique of dragging, you first apply the glaze or color wash to the entire wall with a roller. Instead of letting it dry, however, you drag your choice of tools across the surface to create uniquely striated light patterns.
You can achieve this effect with a wide range of tools, including old combs from your bathroom drawer, wallpaper brushes and palette or putty knives. This glazing technique provides you with ample opportunities for creativity and is forgiving because you can correct any mistakes by simply sponging on more glaze color and trying again.
Dry Brushing
Dry brushing works just like it sounds — you simply dry brush your choice of glaze color over the base color on your wall. You can use a dry brush to create random patterns on the wall surface or apply brushstrokes in a single direction to achieve a more controlled, uniform design.
Regardless of how you apply dry brushed glazing, the visual effect it provides typically reflects a casual, distressed appearance that fits well in farmhouse, rustic and country spaces.
Paint Colors And Glaze Colors at Real Milk Paint
Whether you’re painting walls for the first time or you’re a professional, using a glaze mixture to spruce up your interior design offers a fast, simple way to add unique visual effects. Consider each of these faux painting techniques when planning your painting project, and put products from the Real Milk Paint Co. to use making the job easier and more attractive.
