What is glazing

Glazing .... what is used for faux finishes, ragging, sponging, washes etc. Glaze is a medium or "vehicle" to apply a thin layer of color or paint over another while keeping it transparent enough to act as a sheer piece of fabric would. So ... when I use the word vehicle or medium , what I mean is: it is simply a tool to make the paint behave the way you want it to.

Glaze allows you to thin down the paint without making it becoming runny . The glaze itself, if you were to use it all by itself, would dry clear .... almost like the Elmers glue you used to put on your hand when you were a kid , letting it dry and peeling it off. In fact I kind of wonder if much of the glaze out there isn't actually made from the same recipes as elmers glue. Glaze is usually white and should always dry clear.

My very first attempt at glazing was done after totally screwing up our bathroom with wallpaper back in the early 80's . There really wasn't much info for the lay person at that time and most paint stores weren't carrying faux finish products or at least there wasn't much demand yet. So .... I had an idea and went with it !! It worked out in the end but WHAT A MESS!!!! First off I used oil based paint and just thinned it down with paint thinner , got some gloves and drop cloths and started rubbin' down those walls!!

This faux finish was done using an HVLP sprayer

I only do faux in water based products now ( for walls ) and ALWAYS combine a glaze product with my paint . 4 parts glaze to 1 part paint. The color , when mixed with the glaze will look pastel ( reds look pink, navy looks sky blue, etc ) but when the glaze dries the original color comes out . keep your eyes open for drips and globs of paint on the wall because they will be much more noticeable when dried.