The colour of you basecoat is extremely important because it will set the colour of what your glaze is going to look like when applied.

Cigar Lounge - Heavy and expensive

Depending on what you are trying to achieve, your basecoat can be either lighter than the glaze that you will be using to do the tech

nique, or it can be darker. As a good rule of thumb; if the glaze is supposed to be darker than the basecoat, it should be a lot darker, and if it is supposed to be lighter, it should be a lot lighter. The reason is that the glaze gets spread very thinly over the basecoat in order to achieve that washed effect. So if the difference in shade is not substantial, you will not get the desired effect.

I prefer to use a light basecoat with a dark glaze on walls. I often go the other way around when doing a technique on furniture. The trouble when using a dark basecoat with a light glaze on walls is that it becomes extremely streaky and does not look nice except if you plan to do a baby room with a nice blue basecoat and a white glaze.

Tools you will need: mutton cloth (the rough one, not the smooth one), 50mm paint brush (good quality, more expensive ones are preferable), a 75mm paint brush, scissors and your glaze.

You can have your local paint shop (not hardware shop that sells paint) make some glaze up for you, or you can do it yourself. Even though I have worked with glazes for many years, I still prefer my paint suppliers to make the glaze up for me. It is much less messy.

You can also choose between two typ

es of glaze: oil-based or acrylic based. I prefer oil-base. It takes longer to dry and therefore give you some time to work around the edges that you are going to create as you glaze. It is however a bit more difficult to clean, so be careful of carpets and your clothes.

Oil-based glaze is made up of one part oil-based colour paint (I only use Plascon Velvaglo), one part oil-based scumble glaze (preferably Plascon) and one part mineral turpentine. Acrylic based glaze is one part acrylic based colour paint (Like Plascon Double Velvet) one part acrylic based scumble glaze (preferably Plascon) and one part water. Any of these can be applied over an acrylic basecoat.

When doing a wash technique, I prefer using a glossy basecoat (usually they say it has a sheen) as apposed to a mat basecoat. Mat basecoats tend to absorb the glaze a lot quicker and therefore might not give you the effect that you require. It also makes the application a lot harder and too precise for my liking.

After everything is ready; your basecoat is painted on and nicely dry – preferably a day or two after you painted – and your glaze is mixed and ready, you can start.

I like to start in a bottom corner and work myself up from there. Cut yourself a 40- to 50 cm piece of mutton cloth, fold it up in your hand so that you have a good grip on the cloth. Make sure that the par

Giving life to a passage

t you are going to rub against the wall forms a flat surface about the size of your open hand.

When you have the mutton cloth secure, take the 50mm paint brush and put two or so brushes full of paint onto the mutton cloth in your hand. This is to soak some glaze into the mutton cloth so t

hat it does not dry immediately when you start. Now start in a corner by rubbing the mutton cloth against the wall in smallish circular movements, spreading the glaze to the top and the sides. Make sure that you do not get glaze on the skirting and cornices.

As you continue, use your 50mm brush to apply streaks of paint onto the wall and immediately rub it off with the mutton cloth in circular movements. Stand back occasionally to make sure that you are not going lighter or darker as you go along.

It is very important that you do not stop for longer than a minute until you have finished an entire wall or section, otherwise you will get dry-lines where you stopped and started again as the glaze dried. It is very important for you to work from one point outwards. You cannot do one height i.e. your body height from the ground and then climb onto a ladder to finish the top, as this will also create a line between the bottom and the top.

Once you have finished the wall, take a clean, dry paint brush (the 75mm one), and lightly wipe it over the technique as if you are dusting the wall off. This will smooth any streaks that were caused by the mutton cloth.

Leave the room to dry for at least a day before moving your furniture in. Paint takes between one and two weeks to cure completely, and before the curing time is over, it is very vulnerable to dents and scratches. So take care to make sure that you do not damage the walls.

If this all sounds too difficult; give me a call.

This forms the end of the series of articles on painting and how to do a wash technique. Other articles that you can look out for include Suede Techniques; how to create features using Sandstone; how to become interesting with coloured cements; and furniture: what you need to know.

About the author: Michael Pretorius is an experienced interior designer and owner of Creative Touches interiors. For more information you can visit www.creativetouches.co.za or call him directly on 082-392-3336

Techniqued lounge

Usually, a person would climb into his/her car to go look for a couple of guys sitting next to the road with brushes and paint rollers displayed on sticks. He/she stops there, enquire about the price, often negotiates the price down a bit, takes the guy to the paint shop to tell him/her what paint to buy, buys the paint and goes home, assured of the fact that this person knows exactly what to do and how to do it. You see, painting a room or a house is not difficult at all, anyone can do it, right? Wrong!

The thing you need to remember when painting is that if someone messes up, the problem is probably only going to show a couple of months after the job have been completed.

The purpose of this article is therefore to instruct you on how to paint, and what to look out for. These methods are the only way to ensure that your wash technique will be successful. In my opinion the following approach should always be used when painting, even if you do not plan to do any technique.

Firstly, the paint: Price is of great importance. Rule of thumb, the more expensive the paint, the better for you. Buying a cheap paint will probably look the same for the first few months, but thereafter you might start having problems. Usually a cheaper paint will be more watery when applying, will cover the wall with a thinner layer, will not stick to the wall that well, will get dirty easier and will start to rub off when you clean it; and most importantly, when you decide to repaint because the paint has become dull or flaky, or you have had enough of all the problems, it will not provide good adhesion for the new paint – even a nice expensive paint – because your new paint will stick only to the previous coat, not necessarily the one beneath that.

Tried and tested brands like Plascon is your best bet. Prominent Paints have also come out with good, and more affordable paints over the years. Do not trust most of the “in-house brands” that some paint shops advertise. They are just not good enough, especially when doing a technique. No matter what they promise.

Secondly, the application: The painter you use – if you do not want to do it yourself – must know what they are doing. Getting someone from the street will initially be cheaper, but can become extremely costly when mistakes start happening. A reputable company will give you guarantees, advice, and less worries. They will know about primers that you need to use if the previous paint has become flaky or was oil-based, or was already techniqued. They will have all the necessary equipment, and will provide drop sheets and other precautionary materials in order to protect you; and them.

French Provincial

The process of painting is not particularly difficult if you follow the right steps:

1. Preparation.

This step will save you a lot of trouble. Before you start painting, take off all the plug and light switch covers. Remove the curtain railings and everything else that might be on the walls. Use masking tape to stick over the skirting and window frames. Place drop sheets over the floors and secure them. If you have chosen to use someone from of the street, make sure that there are as few things as possible that might get in the way of the brush, because it will get painted over!

2. Cutting.

Cutting is the term used for taking a brush and painting a line in the corners, around the skirting and cornices, around cupboards, windows and light and plug plates. This is the most important step. This line should be at least 100mm wide, and should be done neatly with a steady hand. Mostly, you will find that painter that are not professionally trained will do this step last – it is much more fun to take a roller and paint than going painstakingly around the sides with a brush. Especially when you are planning to do a technique, this will be disastrous if done last.

You see, when painting with a brush, it creates streaks. If you do the cutting after you have rolled the paint on, those streaks will show, and your glaze will emphasise it. On the other hand, if the cutting was done first, (in a process of first layer cut, then first layer rolled on paint, then second layer cut, then second layer rolled on paint) and the rolling on was done as far as possible into the cut area, the streaks will be minimised, and your technique will be a greater success.

3. Rolling

Rolling is the term I use to paint the rest of the walls with a roller. It is important to choose a good roller that is fit for the paint that you plan to use. When using an acrylic paint, a roller with medium length hair or a sheep skin roller is the best. I prefer a synthetic one due to its cost effectiveness. A Sheep skin roller makes for a lovely finish, but is more expensive and has a possibility of leaving a line where the skin has been stitched together around the roller. The difference in finish between the two is minimal. For oil-based paints, you need to use a roller with very short and fine hair. I would, however, very seldom suggest to use oil-based paints as the coat for you walls.

Before you start painting, take the roller out of its protective packaging and vigorously rub it through your hands from side to side in order to loosen any small hairs. If you do not do this, these little hairs will come loose and will create little bumps and fibres on the walls. It will not be that easily to notice just after you’ve painted, but as soon as you start with your technique, those little bumps will cause the glaze to accumulate around them and will drastically diminish your end-result.

When rolling, make sure that you have enough paint on the roller, but not so much that it drips everywhere. If there is too much paint on the roller, it will glide instead of roll over the wall. It should soon start rolling as more paint gets rubbed off onto the walls, but this can influence the quality of your finish. Every time that I put new paint onto my roller, I start painting about 30cm from where I left off – onto the surface to be painted – and then work it in toward where I stopped the last time. This ensures that you do not have any thick lines of paint that is difficult to see on the wet paint, but can cause drips of paint on the wall when it is dry.

4. Coat and recoat
   

   Baby room

With a good paint, you should not have to put on more than two coats. With a very dark colour, like red, however, it might be necessary to put on three or even four coats depending on what the old colour was.

Wait at least 45 minutes between coats. Before you start painting your second coat, make sure that the previous coat is completely dry and that there are no blotches of wet paint left on the wall. If you paint over wet paint, the wet paint will come off and you will be left with a mark that might be difficult to fix. Usually, if I start on the one side of a room, it will be dry by the time I am finished with the remainder of the room.

Work in a nicely ventilated area, and make sure that you give more time for the paint to dry if it is rainy or cold outside.

In the next article entitled “Techniquing your way to art” I will describe the wash technique paint process. We will also see some of the different glazes and methods that can be used to apply them.

About the author: Michael Pretorius is an experienced interior designer and owner of Creative Touches interiors. For more information you can visit www.creativetouches.co.zaor call him directly on 082-392-3336

When someone asks me what they can do to bring a little creativity and life into a room without spending a fortune, the first answer is to do a paint technique.

Smooth Wash technique

Paint techniques can vary from rather simple wash techniques (rubbing a thin layer of glaze paint over a new coat of paint using mutton cloth), to more complicated suede paints, to extremely complicated marble techniques that should not be attempted without a thorough understanding of the types of paints that you can use, the sealers that should be used and a good artistic hand to actually combine all the different colours and paints to create something that looks like marble or granite.

In this series of articles, I will discuss how you can do a wash technique on a newly painted wall and how everything should be prepared.

In reality, you can do a wash technique on a wall that has previously been painted, provided that the paint is still in a very good condition, i.e. it must be clean, smooth, and without any marks, dents, or dust. The paint must be in a good condition because the glaze that you are going to use will accumulate in the rougher, untidy or damaged areas, and emphasise those areas, making it look unsightly and spoiling all your hard work.

Wash technique onto scratch plaster

One point that needs emphasising is that your walls should be smooth for the wash technique to work well. This in not a problem in most newly developed houses as their

walls were Rhinolighted when the house was built. On the other hand, in a lot of older houses, the walls will have been done with a rough plaster that looks like long streaks running from the ceiling to the ground. In this case a technique might look blotchy and unsightly. However, depending on what you like, you can still get very creative with such walls.

The best ways to get a rough wall smooth is to use Rhinolite it (only if the walls have never been painted before) or Plaster Skim (can be thinly applied over previously painted areas). I would strongly recommend using a specialist for this type of work.

I will continue this series from the assumption that you have smooth walls and that you have decided to give your walls a new coat of paint. I will describe the painting steps in detail in the next article entitled “Paint – more than just rolling something onto your walls”

About the author: Michael Pretorius is an experienced interior designer and owner of Creative Touches interiors. For more information you can visit www.creativetouches.co.za or call him directly on 082-392-3336