Fauxology: Studying the Visual Magic of Faux Finishing and Interior Design (brought to you by Garay Artisans)

We frequently get e-mails asking for advice from other artists looking to start their own business or continue their education.  I will post some here as well as sharing a few of the mistakes we’ve learned from bigtime recommendations we make.  ;)  Here are a few e-mails received: 

JR from Florida writes:  I am a painter and I’ve been getting into faux finishes. I’ve been doing suede for years and it’s safe to say I’ve mastered it. I’m starting to get into venetian plaster and what I’m finding is that there is a ton of things that can be done to it. Metallics as well. I am 100% self taught, never worked with anyone. Lately I’m starting to ask questions that other painters and the paint store can’t answer. I saw your website and now I know that these things are possible, I just don’t know how to get there. Do you have any advice on how I can learn different techniques?

Mo from Florida writes:  We also do Faux Art.  We just want to tell you what great talent you have been given! God bless your hands!! W-O-W!!!  Would love to learn some things from you!

Michael from Wisconsin writes:  Hi, I’m an artist and starting my own business as a decorative interior painter.  I have so many questions for you. I thought it was very gracious of you to invite up-and-comers such as myself to pick your brains about the logistics of this type of business. I’ve been working for an internationally known decorating studio for many years and decided to go on my own. After finding your website I am tempted to ask for employment with you!   After all, you are located in a state that I have wanted to relocate to. If we could have dialect, it would be most appreciated. Thank you! 

Mike from Florida writes:  I am a master drywall finisher (17 years of playing in the mud) and have been introduced to faux.  I love it and am trying to expand into this direction but don’t really know where to start.  I’ve been researching on the net and must say that you guys are absolutely amazing.  I just wanted to give you guys a thumbs up and if you could give me any good advice I would be extremely appreciative.  Keep up the inspiration.  Thanks! 

Who wouldn’t feel good after a hard day’s night to come home to those words and know that others have a genuine interest in the career you adore?  I’m truly a lucky, lucky person.  Well, here are some recommendations:

1)  Soul-searching - There are so many avenues in this business, so, before you make another move, please sit down and decide what you truly like to do.  There are things that our company does that some don’t do — are you willing to glaze 25′ walls?  Would you like to work on exteriors at high altitudes?  Are you willing to travel for weeks at a time?  (It’s like being on tour – sounds glamorous, but it’s a lot of work and you don’t get much time to see the location fully.)  How labor-intensive do you want to get?  I know some artists that do not want to extend themselves — they just want to paint beautiful murals on 9′ walls or less…and it works for them!  Our company doesn’t get into concrete or much floor work but other faux finishers thrive on it.  It helps to be clear on your boundaries, what surfaces you are willing to work on and what kind of commissions you’d like to have.  Once you have established this, then you can move on into what kind of classes fit your business model.

2)  Professional Classes - Books and self-exploration can only take you so far and I can’t stress this enough: it’s extremely helpful to get expert advice and training.  Every year, we travel to take at least two classes and go to several conventions…otherwise, your work portfolio becomes stale and you are not tuned in to new products, finishes and innovations.  Pro classes run about $650 (two days) - $1,950 (a full week) each.  Might sound like a lot but it is an investment: in many cases, if you sell just one finish you learned, it could quickly repay itself.  It also frees you up to take creative leaps from what you learned and discover new uncharted finishes for yourself.  Some great schools to consider are Dundean Studios, Sarasota School of Faux & Architectural Finishing, The Finishing School, School of Italian Plasters, Faux by Kathy, Modello Workshops and Faux Works Studio.  There are many other quality schools out there.  Googling will help you find some in your area. 

3)  Apprenticeships - If desired, try to find employment with an established firm.  A good project manager will be helpful and patient with your experience, if limited.  Under their guidance and supervision, a company can help you perfect a finish, explain pitfalls to look out for and introduce you to new products.  When we bring someone new in, we make sure to know what their goals are, what their knowledge is and what they like to do.  This helps us tailor a jobsite better and ensures that all of us are happy — and happy artists produce beautiful work.

4)  Networking - There are so many good groups and online forums to meet other artists, get great advice, share recipes and gain inspirational ideas from a picture gallery.  A great group to join is SALI and they have many state chapters.  (They also have a fantastic rate on residential liability insurance.  If you’re like me and plan to do commercial work, then you’re stuck paying the big bucks for insurance.)  A great online forum that I’ve talked about before is Talk Faux.  Also, take the time to get to know your fellow area artisans.  Although a few will be secretive and not social, most will enjoy having another ally and work/referral resource.  Some of the local artists are among my best friends and we help each other a lot.

There are some great media recommendations as well: business-wise I recommend Making Money with Your Creative Paint Finishes by Lynette Harris and recipe-wise any books or videos by Gary Lord, Melanie Royals or the first book by my new friend, Curtis Heuser, can jumpstart creativity. 

Hope this has helped a bit — talk to you soon!

This month’s Mailbag question comes from Caryl in Orlando, FL.  Here is what she wrote to us:

My interest is in antiquing & distressing furniture. I bought a book and one of the supplies that it recommends is rottenstone.  The book says it is a fine, light brown powder which is used as a mild abrasive to give texture to some antiquing techniques.  I have not been able to find it, however.  Have you heard of it? And do you know where to get it? Thank you!

From Regina: Hi, Caryl!  I have heard of rottenstone and have used it sparingly throughout the years.  It’s a kind of fine crusty textured rock dust with some coloration to it — but it will just age nicely and not scratch your surface.  When I’ve used it, I’ve experimented with both mixing it with dead flat vanish and Liberon furniture wax, separately.  (I’m sure you can even use a tinted glaze, although I haven’t tried that. You can see that rottenstone is very versatile in its use.)  It gives it a nice crusty aged look by gathering in the crevices and lines so it looks like the piece has been weathering for years.  Just so you know, I use the dead flat varnish with it to give it a fully flat appearance — something that’s been weathering for ages doesn’t have much of a sheen to it.  If you use the Liberon wax, it will leave some sheen (esp. if you buff it) but it gives is a more elegant edge than just a flat surface.  It really depends on the look you are going for.

Refinish Furniture is a cool website for those who are interested in learning more about working on furniture.  They have some great information and tips.  Please note that Woodworker’s Supply sells rottenstone online, among many other good products.  Hope this has helped!

For our blog readers, here’s a pic what rottenstone looks like and what it does:

If you have any questions about faux and such, please feel free to write in.  I’m here to help…and we may just pick it to be in the Mailbag!  Have a great day!

This month’s Mailbag comes courtesy of Kristen from Jacksonville (this is her second appearance — she has great questions!).  Here is what she asked us recently:

I’m thinking about painting my dining room walls black.  I’m starting to see this trend.  What paint would you reccommend? Thanks.

From Regina:  I myself notice a lot of black coming in and according to paint trend predictions, the coloration will lean towards a navy-black color towards the end of the year.

Well, as far as paint manufacturers — my favorites are Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore.com, however, according to Consumer Reports, the Behr line from Home Depot is a great choice.  A black with warm undertones is what you should shoot for — the staff should be able to help steer you in this direction.

Here are some other options:

If you want to do something a little different in black, try a metallic black (actually, a kind of really dark gunmetal gray) that leaves a bit of shimmer.  We did it over a tissue paper finish and it was so cool — it gave an added dimension to the color.

Or, you can forego the walls and do the black on the trim and/or under the chair rail as we did here.

When it came time to tackle my own master bedroom, my husband requested “black somewhere”.  I used Ebony LusterStone as the base and then handpainted bamboo stems and used with variegated gold leaf as the leaves.  LusterStone is a shimmery plaster in which you roll on the first layer and then trowel the rest of the layers (as many as you wish).  Here is a during pic — I haven’t yet finished the room.

Finally, ceilings are also a good area to try black as well.  My master bathroom has a black ceiling (to compliment the black accent wall in the bedroom) and it works quite well.  You can see another ceiling with black as the base here.  I’ve provided a close-up (right pic) of the same area so you can see a bit more of the finish detail.

Barbara Leone, a fantastic designer I work with, also has an interesting idea to consider.  Check out the third picture in the Portfolio section of her company’s website, Leone Interiors.  You can see that the walls have a neutral finish but she has a large piece of art used as a headboard — and it is primarily black.  Great concept!  You can also check the Garay Artisans Gallery for other color and/or finish ideas.

Please note that metallic black is available exclusively through Star Scenic in Orlando and the Ebony LusterStone is available through Faux Effects but I order it through my Sarasota source.  I hope you liked the question this month — thanks Kristen.  If you have a question about faux or design, please send it in.  I’m here to help (and plus you may find it in our blog’s mailbag)!  Have a great day!

As you may or may not recall, we started the Mailbag section of our blog last month with a question received about stripes.  Check it out if you are thinking about doing stripes (horizontal or vertical) — I put some of my best tips in there.  This month, we have a question that came in directly from our You Tube section.  In addition to our first How-To Video, the section has our Company Promo and an About Us interview by WFTV ABC-9.  The Mailbag question was prompted after watching the how-to on a Glazed and Gold Powder Bath finish.

Dawn from New York writes: I watched your video about gold leafing and it was really informative.  I just wanted to ask you about the imitation gold leaf shabin.  I have never heard of that before and I wanted to find out first of all how to spell it correctly and also where you would purchase this product.  Thank you so much.

From Regina: Hello!  Thank you for e-mailing us on the instructional video…I had so much fun creating it with WFTV and it’s nice to hear from those who have seen it.  I love gold leaf schaibin — I try to use it whenever possible.  It is irregular sheets of imitation metal leaf and comes in gold, aluminum/silver and copper.

I’m going to recommend three separate locations to purchase it: (1) Orlando (my supplier): Star Scenic, (407) 246-5118; (2) New York: Sepp Leaf, (800) 971-7377 or (212) 683-2840, and (3) Mail Order only: Gold Leaf Company.  Schaibin is sold by weight and prices can fluctuate.  The most popular size sold here in Orlando by Star Scenic looks like a regular shoe box but you can order more by the kilo.  In case you’d like the recipe written out (with a few more details), please click on our previous blog post link.  Have a great day!

Here are a few shots of schaibin in action.  Hope you enjoy!

We sometimes get e-mails from our website visitors asking questions about a specific finish or just about a general finishing dilemma they have.  While we can’t give away all our secrets, we are pretty open about a lot of our faux finishes and recipes.  I’m going to be sharing some of the e-mail questions we receive that I think many would benefit from.  So, here goes the premiere of our first mailbag question: stripes!

Kristen from Jacksonville, FL writes: Hi! First of all, you do amazing work. I’d like some info on your sunny yellow and white stripe room. What kind of paint did you use? Is it a glaze? Do you know the specific colors that were used?  It is awesome. How wide are the stripes? Thanks so much.

Kristen: Ah, those stripes.  One of my FAVORITE rooms — but it wasn’t while we were doing it, LOL!  Our client called us in with that yellow pre-existing?with her home purchase.  It literally started at the baseboards and was taken into the ceilings.  There were no house records of the paints used and no paint can available to guide us in the right direction.  It was a dark sunny/yellow ochre at least, that’s the way I would describe it.  We went to our local Sherwin-Williams to match it using a painted switchplate.  (Took us 4 tries — you have no idea how much we wish we knew what the original color was.  We were touching up so it had to be spot-on.) We used the white to tone the yellow down with stripes and painted the ceiling, but left the baseboards and crown with the yellow intact.  There were no glazes used.  The stripes were 5″ wide from what I remember (it’s been a few years).  The accessories in that room were kept to black and white and small splashes of color.

One thing I do remember about that yellow is that it was slightly obnoxious on its own.  So, in looking for that yellow, I would test out some that are, on first impression, not “pretty” and a bit much — in fact, you may look at it and say “no way” initially. That yellow turned into a powerhouse only when the white (and black) came in to pair up with it.  I hope that has helped…let me know how it turns out…and thanks for the compliment! - Regina

Here is another view of the room she is referring to, in addition to the link above:

Below are a few tips on stripes — and a few more pics.

Tip 1: Before starting, measure the length of the entire room.  We divide this number by the stripe width we are hoping to achieve and find a happy medium that will give us the best possible equal length stripes. We then use pencil and a laser beam level to map out the stripes. There are a few ways to create stripes but this method is effective for us.

Tip 2: Before you begin painting the stripes, seal the tape with either a clear color (such as Faux Effects AquaSeal) or use the same color that the tape is protecting. When it dries, it creates a seal barrier that your striping color can not penetrate  allowing for a crisp clean line. (If the color you use to seal with does seep under, it’s absolutely fine since it will either be the same color that it seeps into or will dry clear and you will not be able to see it.) You will sooooooooo thank me for this tip.

Tip 3: Know that all stripe lengths will not be spot on but the final effect is such that no one will notice. Start at the least seen corner and work your way around back to the starting point.

Tip 4: The direction of the stripes (horizontal or vertical) affect the size of the room while the color of the stripes affect the ambience and style.  Vertical stripes add height while horizontal stripes make the room appear larger.

Tip 5: To achieve subtle stripes, either (1) paint the same color in both a satin and semi-gloss or gloss sheen or (2) paint the room using a satin base paint in your chosen color and then stripe with a semi-gloss or gloss topcoat.