Color Washing

• Primary colors render a more dramatic color washing, while pastels and earth tones create softer swirls that seem to move.Light Green Faux Painted wall image by Jim Mills from Fotolia.com
  
  Perhaps one of the simplest ways to enhance a painted surface, color washing involves layering one color of paint that's been diluted with glaze over a base color. A roller or brush dipped in the glaze and drawn across a dry surface simulates soft, cloudy depth. Color washing several colors over the base coat replicates a rustic patina of time gone by.
  
  

Ragging

• The key to ragging is the type of fabric that is rolled or daubed across your glazed surface. Cotton, linen, wool and cheese cloth each offer varying textures. You'll need a generous number of rags, as they will become saturated with glaze and will have to be replaced frequently. Besides the weave of the cloth, increased pressure of the rolling imparts more dramatic results.
  
  

Sponging

• When sponging a wall with color, rotate the sponge in your hand to avoid repeated patterns.Sponges image by kasiap from Fotolia.com
  
  Sponging is forgiving of unintentional errors and is, therefore, perfect for beginners. A large sponge -- preferably a natural sea sponge for its oddly shaped holes -- is tapped or wiped lightly over the surface of a wet glaze. The trick is to keep moving the sponge over the surface. Linger too long in one spot and you will lose detail.
  
  

Dragging

• Dragging requires a steadier hand than either sponging or ragging and produces the most pronounced design. The glaze rather than the base color is first applied to the wall before a comb is pulled or dragged across the surface in a straight or undulating line. Each new drag requires precision and patience to camouflage the overlapping perimeters of the pattern. Special combs with long teeth can be purchased at an art supply store or you can cut out a comb from the plastic lid of a coffee can.
  
  

Frottage

• The frottage effect involves laying sheets of newspaper over wet glaze so that the paper absorbs some of the glaze, thereby emphasizing the creases, folds and lines of the paper. The resulting image is similar to a parched desert floor, spackled and cracked. To keep the effect subtle, the base coat and top coat should be similar in tone. Glaze dries quickly and seams will be apparent unless the job is done with two people working together.
  
  

Tips

• Paints can be either oil-based or water-based. Oil-based glazes take longer to dry and are easier to work with but more difficult to clean up.paint image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com
  
  The number of faux effects that can be achieved with paint are as varied as the colors of paint available. Dramatic effects are achieved with more intensely contrasting colors while shades of the same color layered over one another create a textured surface with depth. Experiment with the colors in a small area before swathing the entire wall.