Faux painting or
Faux finishing are terms used to describe a wide range of decorative painting techniques. From the French word for "fake", faux painting began as a form of replicating materials such as marble and wood with paint, but has come to encompass many other decorative finishes for walls and furniture.
Faux finishing has been used for millennia, from
cave paintingCave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known European cave paintings date to Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
to
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
, but what we generally think of as faux finishing in
decorative artThe decorative arts are a traditional term for a number of arts and crafts for the making of ornamental and functional works in a great range of materials including ceramic, wood, glass, metal, textiles and many others. The field includes ceramics, glassware, furniture, furnishings, interior...
s began with
PlasterThe term plaster can refer to plaster of Paris , lime plaster, or cement plaster. This article deals mainly with plaster of Paris / gypsum plaster....
and
StuccoStucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a coating for walls and ceilings and for decoration...
Finishes in
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
over 5000 years ago.
Faux painting or
Faux finishing are terms used to describe a wide range of decorative painting techniques. From the French word for "fake", faux painting began as a form of replicating materials such as marble and wood with paint, but has come to encompass many other decorative finishes for walls and furniture.
History
Faux finishing has been used for millennia, from
cave paintingCave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known European cave paintings date to Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
to
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
, but what we generally think of as faux finishing in
decorative artThe decorative arts are a traditional term for a number of arts and crafts for the making of ornamental and functional works in a great range of materials including ceramic, wood, glass, metal, textiles and many others. The field includes ceramics, glassware, furniture, furnishings, interior...
s began with
PlasterThe term plaster can refer to plaster of Paris , lime plaster, or cement plaster. This article deals mainly with plaster of Paris / gypsum plaster....
and
StuccoStucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a coating for walls and ceilings and for decoration...
Finishes in
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
over 5000 years ago.
Faux became hugely popular in Classical times in the forms of faux
MarbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
, faux
WoodWood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...
, and
Trompe l'oeilTrompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil, is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional...
Murals. Artists would apprentice for 10 years or more with a master faux painter before working on their own. Great recognition was rewarded to artist who could actually trick viewers into believing their work was the real thing. Faux painting has continued to be popular throughout the ages, but experienced major resurgences in the
neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
revival of the nineteenth century and the
Art DecoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
styles of the 1920s. Throughout the recent history of decorative painting, faux finishing has been mainly used in commercial and public spaces.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s faux finishing saw another major revival, as
wallpaperWallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. They are usually sold in rolls and are put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
began to fall out of fashion. At this point, faux painting started to become extremely popular in home environments, with high end homes leading the trends. While it can be quite expensive to hire a professional faux finisher, many faux painting methods are simple enough for a beginning home owner to create with a little instruction. People are also attracted to the simplicity of changing a faux finish, as it can be easily painted over compared with the hassle of removing wallpaper.
In modern day faux finishing, there are two major materials/processes used.
GlazeA glaze in painting refers to a layer of paint, thinned with a medium, so as to become somewhat transparent. A glaze changes the color cast or texture of the surface...
work involves using a translucent mixture of paint and glaze applied with a brush, roller, rag, or sponge, and often mimics textures, but it always smooth to the touch. Plaster work can be done with tinted plasters, or washed over with earth pigments, and is generally applied with a trowel or spatula. The finished result can be either flat to the touch or textured.
Faux finishes
- Marbleizing or faux marbling is used to make walls and furniture look like real marble. This can be done using either plaster or glaze techniques.
- Graining
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...
, wood graining, or faux bois (French for "fake wood") is often used to imitate exotic or hard-to-find wood varieties.
- Trompe l'oeil
Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil, is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional...
, "trick the eye" in French, is a realistic painting technique often used in murals, and to create architectural details.
- Venetian plaster
Venetian Plaster is a 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....
is a smooth and often shiny plaster design that appears textured but is smooth to the touch. Venetian plaster is one of the most popular and traditional plaster decorations.
- Color wash
thumb|250px|right|Example of the color wash in multiple huesA color wash is a popular technique in faux painting using paint thinned out with glaze to create a subtle wash of color over walls or other surfaces....
is a free-form finish that creates subtle variations of color using multiple hues of glaze blended together with a paint brush.
- Strie
Strié is a popular form of Faux Painting using glaze and paint brushes to create a soft natural striped texture. thumb|250px|right|Example of the strie faux painting technique over raised stencil...
, from the French word meaning "stripe" or "streak", is a glazing technique that creates soft thin streaks of color using a paint brush. It is a technique often used to simulate fabrics such as linen and denim.
- Rag painting
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....
or ragging is a glazing technique using twisted or bunched up rags to create a textural pattern.
External links
See also
- Distressing
Distressing in the decorative arts is the activity of making a piece of furniture or object appear aged and older, and there are many methods to produce an appearance of age and wear. Distressing is viewed as a refinishing technique although it is the opposite of finishing in a traditional sense...
- Glaze (painting technique)
A glaze in painting refers to a layer of paint, thinned with a medium, so as to become somewhat transparent. A glaze changes the color cast or texture of the surface...
- Marbleizing
- Painterwork
Painterwork accomplishes two things, namely the preservation and the coloration of the material painted. The compounds used for painting, taking the word as meaning a thin protective or decorative coat, are very numerous, including oil paint of many kinds, distemper, whitewash, tar; but the word...
- Rag painting
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....
- Terrazzo
Terrazzo is a faux-marble flooring or countertopping material.-Production:Terrazzo workers create walkways, floors, patios, and panels by exposing marble chips and other fine aggregates on the surface of finished concrete or epoxy-resin. Much of the preliminary work of terrazzo workers is similar...