Most of the work by Alexander Hamilton is done in lime based paint. Painted architectural features and decorative ornaments are used to set off views and landscapes in grisaille and colour.
Hamilton learned these traditional techniques by working on the reconstruction and restoration of old painted rooms in castles and villas in various regions of Italy.
Below you will find short descriptions of the different techniques used in decorative or faux painting. Some basic, others more for "special effects".
Slaked lime and casein can be combined to give a fairly thick versatile covering paint. It has the advantage of drying to a strong opaque layer. It is best used on freshly mortared walls.
The lime mortar is made from slaked lime and sand, sometimes a finer layer is applied which has marble dust added to the mortar mix. The mortar is applied to the walls and is left to dry thoroughly before painting on.
When one is ready to paint the wall should be thoroughly soaked in limewater and then painting can begin.
This in our opinion is still unrivalled by any modern painting technique. It can be used inside and outside and will dry to a very hard surface which lasts for centuries.
The simplified theory being that the wet lime-mortar (no cement) at a certain point in it’s drying process is very receptive to being painted on with pure colour mixed in water. ( no binders or glues) The pigments are diluted in water and then are painted on to the damp mortar which sucks them in for ever. There is a complicated chemical reaction at this stage as the mortar goes off, but you could read about this in the numerous books dedicated to the subject.
The process requires much practice and most of all preparation (cartoons, drawings, stencils and pounces), but the results are spectacular and worth the extra effort and expense in every sense.
A glaze in painting refers to a layer of paint, thinned with a medium, so as to become somewhat transparent. A glaze changes the colour cast or texture (gloss or matte, for instance) of the surface.
Glaze is an important technique in mural and traditional oil painting, but is also used in cabinet, furniture, and faux finishing. The benefit of glazing is that not only does it afford the painter more control over the evolution of the painting, but it also creates a luminescent, translucent surface, with certain layers appearing to show through. Many artists consider this an important aspect to the vitality of a piece.
When the technique is used in mural painting, the entire surface is covered, often showing traces of texture (French brush, parchment, strié, rag rolling).Water-based materials are generally used for glazing walls but oil and wax can also work, depending upon the desired effect.
Kerosene or linseed oil may be used to extend the "open" or working time of oil-based glazes. Water-based glazes are sometimes thinned with glycerin or another wetting agent to extend the working time. In general, water glazes are best suited to rougher textures where overlaps of colour are acceptable.
Scumble is a technique similar to glazing, except that the coating is opaque. It is normally quite difficult to identify if a painter has used 'scumble' on his or her work.
Colour washing is the faux painting technique that gives you a soft, subtle, aged look to your walls. It is a popular technique using paint thinned out with glaze to create a subtle wash of colour over walls or other surfaces.
A colour wash can be varied in appearance to the way in which the oil or latex paint is wiped off or on. You can use cheese cloth, brushes, or sponges for this finish. Colour washing is great for walls that lack personality.
Colour washing is an easy and forgiving form of faux finishing often used by beginners, but perfected by professional finishers. It was historically created with oil-based products because of the long drying time, but today's environmental and health conscious companies are producing user-friendly water based glazes.
Colour washing can be done in any colour of paint and is generally applied with brushes over a solid paint colour, using long sweeping strokes to meld the glaze colours together.
Sponging is a quick faux painting technique and an easy way to freshen up a space. This faux painting finish can be done with water-based (mixed with acrylic or casein) or oil-based paint (mixed with mineral spirits or oil scumble glaze).
Choose two or three colours which are tonally similar. The base coat can be any texture for water-based paint and an eggshell or gloss base coat for an oil-based paint. The last colour will be the dominant colour.
The frottage technique is accomplished with the use of paint (oil or water based), glaze, and sheets of paper or plastic.
The base coat is painted and left to dry. A second glaze coat of a different colour is applied liberally, a sheet of paper or plastic is placed over the surface and rubbed smooth, the paper or plastic is then peeled away form the surface, and the process is repeated until all surfaces have been covered.
The frottage finish is useful for murals (for nondescript backgrounds or to distress the ground coat when creating faux marble).
Stenciling is a faux painting technique in which paint is applied through a cut-out design. Different designs can be bought or created and cut out of cardboard, plastic or very thin metal with a very sharp blade or knife.
Surfaces for stenciling can range from wet plaster to high gloss paint,the paint for the stencils should definitely be thicker and drier to reduce bleeding, as mistakes are not permissable.
Strié is a popular form of faux painting using glaze and paint brushes to create a soft natural striped texture.
Strié comes from the French word meaning "stripe" or "streak". It is referred to as a negative Glaze technique. The glaze is generally rolled over the entire surface, and then removed with a tool such as a brush. The word "Strié" can be used to describe this process of painting, or to describe the actual finish created.
Strié is a simple technique that can be altered and elaborated in many ways. It can be done on its own, with the streaks directed either vertically or horizontally. It can be brushed over stencil.
It is also very popular to overlap a horizontal and vertical Strié, creating the look of fabrics such as linen or denim. This is often referred to as a "Linen Weave" or "Burlap".
Rag painting or ragging is a form of Faux painting using paint thinned out with glaze and old rags to create a lively texture on walls and other surfaces.
Ragging is a fast and fun form of Faux painting utilized by beginners and professional decorators. It can be done as a negative or positive technique. The former involves rolling glaze over the entire surface, and removing it with clean rags to reveal the underlying paint color in a pleasing textural pattern. The latter is accomplished by applying glaze directly to the wall with a rag, and creates a similar pattern.
Ragging is a very adaptable finish that can be used in a variety of areas, creating the illusion of an old world texture, but on a flat surface that can be easily painted over.
Ragging can be done in a variety of patterns, including rag rolling in which the rags are twisted together, and then rolled over a wet glazed surface creating the illusion of fabrics such a velvet or silk. Ragging is also often used as a pattern underneath stenciling.
Graining is the practice of imitating woodgrain on a non-wood surface in order to increase that surface's aesthetic appeal. Graining was common in the 19th century, as people were keen on imitating hard, expensive woods by applying a superficial layer of paint onto soft, inexpensive woods.
Graining can be accomplished using either rudimentary tools or highly specialized graining tools. A special thick brush used for graining is often called a mottler. It is carried out in layers, with the first layer being a base, and then a second layer applied later. During the 19th century, however, brushes were more commonly used.
Graining can also be applied on bricks and brass, as is more common today. Graining can also mean the production of any artificial texture on any surface. A stoneworking equivalent of graining is marbling.
Marbleizing or faux marbling is the preparation and finishing of a surface to imitate the appearance of polished marble. It is typically used in buildings where the cost or weight of genuine marble would be prohibitive. Faux marbling is a special case of faux stone painting used to create the distinctive and varied patterns of marble - the most imitated stone by far.
Faux stone painting was widely used in Pompeii, but it really took off in Europe during the Renaissance with two schools of faux painting developing. The Italian school was loose and artistic, the French school was formal and realistic. It typically took an apprentice ten years or more to fully master the art.
The sophistication of the techniques are such that visitors are frequently unable to distinguish between false and real marble. The techniques were perfected by the 17th century and have been used in all styles of construction well into the 20th century, including Baroque, palladian, neoclassical and historical revival styles as well as Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings.
Other techniques for producing faux marble include Scagliola, a costly process which involves the use of specially pigmented plasters, and terrazzo, for flooring, in which marble chips are imbedded in cement, then ground and polished to expose the marble aggregate.
Scagliola (from the Italian scaglia, meaning "chips"), is a technique for producing stucco columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble marble.
The Scagliola technique came into fashion in 17th century Tuscany as an effective substitute for costly marble inlays, the pietra dura works created for the Medici family in Florence.
Scagliola is a composite substance made from selenite, glue and natural pigments, imitating marble and other hard stones. The material may be veined with colours and applied to a core, or desired pattern may be carved into a previously prepared scagliola matrix. The pattern’s indentations are then filled with the coloured, plaster-like scagliola composite, and then polished with flax oil for brightness, and wax for protection.
The combination of materials and technique provides a complex texture, and richness of colour not available in natural veined marbles.
Aged plaster is a faux painting technique used to create an Italian, "Old World", look to your decor.
This faux painting effect can be accomplished on water based painted walls (paint must have some degree of sheen such as: eggshell, satin) or on lime washed walls. One or several scumble glazes (warm colours like:burnt umber, burnt sienna, raw sienna, and yellow ochre) are applied to create areas of light and dark.
Stucco Veneziano is a faux painting or faux finishing technique using thin layers of plaster applied with a spatula or trowel and then burnished to create a smooth surface with the illusion of depth and texture.
Venetian Plaster can give you that warm, Mediterranean feel. These plasters are not just used for decorative wall finishes, they are also being used on concrete floors. The plasters consists of marble, sand, and lime that have been finely ground to a powder and can be tinted with pigments.
The oldest plasters were found in Mesopotamia dating from around 9000 BC. Modern Venetian plaster finishes are often made with acrylic based plasters, and sealed with water-based waxes.
There are two types of gilding, water-based and oil-based. Oil gilding is less difficult. A transfer gold leaf is used in oil-gilding. The transfer leaf is applied to an almost dry, gold sized, surface. The gold sizing comes in different drying -time formulas. Oil-gilding cannot be burnished or polished, but varnishing gives it a nice high gloss.
In water gilding fine leaves of gold leaf are applied to a finely, gesso surface. Sometimes the gesso is coloured. All surfaces must remain completely dust and dirt free, it is then painted with a mixture of denatured alcohol, water, and size. The gold leaf is then applied to the surface, and when dry it is burnished and polished to a high gloss.
Gold leaf and transfer leaf are great base-coats for a tortoiseshell finish and painted gold ornamentation.
A faux painted metal patina can be applied to any paintable surface or object. Plain wrought iron metal can be faux painted to look like pewter, silver, copper, bronze, gold, aluminum, or platinum. Antiquing patinas can be added to create a subtle, aged look.
A verdigris or patina is created when copper is exposed to the elements it turns a chalky, grayish, coloured green, and a verdigris begins to form. This faux finish is frequently used on furniture, ornaments, and wrought iron railings.
For indoors, a water-based black matte paint, white matte paint, as well as turquoise-blue, dark green, and raw umber universal tints. For outdoors, oil-based paint equivalents of the water-based paints and mineral spirits.
Antiquing or "aging" is the faux painting technique used to simulate natural aging and wear and tear with the use of paint glazes, crackle glazes, bees wax, paper, hammers, sandpaper, or chains to distress and weather an object, wall, etc,
The aged antiqued effect can be achieved by using a latex or oil colour glaze or varnish that looks like an aged, brown, colour or by whitewashing and wiping most of the white wash off.
This antiquing faux finish can be used on furniture, built-in cabinets, walls, floors, and accessories. Surfaces need to be clean and dry and free of dirt, oil, or wax before antiquing. A water clean-up polyurethane varnish will stain and protect the surface or object your antiquing as well.
Crackle is a faux painting finish produced by using two varnishes having two different drying times which work against each other to produce a crazed, crackled, effect.
The first coat of varnish is applied and left to dry. While the surface is still "tacky", the second application of varnish is applied.
