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Do you ever have a problem with a colorwash blending together tooooo much? You aren’t alone. It happens more often than you’d think, really. Suzy wrote in with just that problem, so I thought I’d share it with you … just in case you know someone that could use this information. 
Not YOU, of course!
Anyway…here’s the email from Suzy:
Hello, I want to thank you for your expertise on faux finishes. I love getting your emails. Thank you so much. Now I would like to ask you a question if you don’t mind.
When colorwashing, or just using two glaze colors with sponging, my two colors blend together too much, making one color take over the other. It seems that no matter what I do, you cannot see both colors on the wall. I have to go extra steps, playing around too much to get the darker color to show through the lighter color, using much extra dark paint, sometimes leaving it too heavy looking.
I would love to accomplish the faded in and out look of two colors. Could you please tell me what I am doing wrong. On the wall, I used an antique base color and two different greens, two apart
on the color strip, but had to use a lot of extra darker green to accomplish the look. I tried for that softer wash look, but the dark green just looked like the light green when trying to do this.I hope I am not asking too much of you. Thank you so much.
- Suzy
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Hi Suzy!
We think your problem is that you are using a lighter color “over” the darker color. We do this when we want to have a frosted look to the walls. This is discussed in another article that you can find here:
If you want to keep your walls blended and “darker” you should use only the darker color. When it is mixed with glaze and applied to the wall it will naturally have darker (more pigmented) areas and lighter areas without having to use two colors. It’s from the overlapping.
If the first layer of your color wash is tooo choppy… let dry 24 hours and go over again with the exact same glaze. This will give a deeper richer blending of colors.
Using any paint colors that have too much white as the base will give a faded muddy faux finish instead of deep rich colorations to the walls.
For more information on colorwashing and using multiple colors go here:
Hope this helps..
Debra & Tawn
THAT Painter Lady (x2)!
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So…does that help you, too? Sometimes we just overwork things. I know I do when I’m painting a mural. Debra has to tell me, “You’re done…you’re done…you’re done!” because I just think it needs a little more of this or a dab of that. I’ve had to learn to let it go and not be such a perfectionist. Debra has another word for it that I won’t share here. Lol!
While we’re on the subject of creative faux finishes…check out this cool book I found:
It’s called “Simply Creative Faux Finishes” and it’s by Gary Lord. Let me tell you…the faux finishes in here are AMAZING! Of course it starts out with surface prep… SEE!! We aren’t the only ones that tell you the key to a good finish is the prep work!
Anyway…he shares 30 BRAND NEW finishes and includes step-by-step instructions on how to achieve these fantastic looks. He gives you a complete list of tools and GREAT color photos to guide you through the processes.
No…I don’t know Gary…nor did he put me up to plugging his book. Lol! Jeez…now that I think about it…maybe I should see if I can contact him about that…. Lol!
Anyway…I just thought it was a neat book with some great new ideas and wanted to share with you. That’s what we like to do around here…share!
So get out there and SPLASH some paint around!
