Posts Tagged ‘Decorative Finishes’
Here’s another metallic plaster technique that I have yet to execute on a wall but it sure looks nice. It’s the kind of decorative faux finish
The Shaw penthouse property located in downtown San Diego could easily be described as exotic or surreal or extravagant and still the description could be considered inadequate. It surely is a one of kind property in San Diego. The penthouse located atop the north tower of the Renaissance condominium complex could rival the Hearst castle in luxury.
In 2004, I was living in Barcelona Spain where I was teaching workshops in faux finishes. At the request of a fellow decorative artist that I had met there, I agreed to be part of the team of artisans assembled to work on this project. My background was in decorative finishes and textures for hi end homes.
My first assignment was to give the window casements a gold and silver leafed treatment. The windows were standard issue and painted an industrial grey. Boring to say the least. Some 12,000 sheets of gold and silver leaf later the windows radiated a bright metallic glow. Left as they were, the finish on the windows was much to harsh and needed to be toned down. I created glazes using Burnt Umber colorant for the gold leaf and Raw Umber for the silver leaf. Once the leafing was applied and allowed to dry overnight, I sealed the leafing with a top coat of satin polyurethane. Once this dried the glazes were applied with foam brush and stippled using a large stipple brush. The photos show the now warm glow of a muted metallic effect. 
