How to Marbleize With Paint

Look at many marble surfaces to find the look you want for your faux surface. Although creating an exact match may be difficult for a non-artist, having a sample of marble to work from helps you chose colors and designs for the marbleizing and veins.

Clean the surface you plan to marbleize. If the surface is rough or uneven in any areas, use sandpaper to smooth it out. If there are any indents or gashes in the surface, fill those areas in with wood filler. Wait for it to dry, then sand the area. Clean the surface free of any sanding dust before you begin.

Paint the entire surface with a white or gray primer. This gives it a solid base color to start from and takes away the variations in color wood naturally has. Debra Conrad, author of That Painter Lady website, recommends using a paint with an eggshell finish for the first coat, opposed to a primer. Either works for this project.

Apply the first coat of paint after the primer or base coat is completely dry. This coat of paint is comprised of two colors; one slightly lighter than the other. Have both paints open and ready to work. Using a 2-inch brush, apply the two different colors with diagonal strokes. Allow the colors to overlap while you paint the surface. The diagonal strokes mimic the textural look of marble.

Take a clean brush, dipped in water, and brush over the paint while it is still wet. The wet brush should be applied with horizontal strokes. This blends the two colors together unevenly.

Paint over the entire piece with a thin glaze after the paint has dried. You can make your own glaze in the colors you want, by mixing latex paint with Blend and Glaze.

Create the marbleized look in the glaze. To do this, use sponges to sponge over the wet glaze. You can also use a dress brush to stipple the surface. To stipple the surface, bush the dry brush bristles straight into the wet glaze, then pull the brush away. As the glaze dries, add more layers of glaze in lighter or slightly darker colors and continue with the sponges and brushes. This step in the process continues until you accomplish the desired look.

Add veins to the marble. All natural marble has what looks like veins running through it. You can create veins by either using a small artist brush and painting them in with a dark color, or you can use a feather. To use a feather, apply paint along the center of the feather, then drag it along the surface. This creates a hard line of the vein, but also smudges the paint a little and moves the line, so it looks more natural. You can add veins in multiple colors.

Seal the entire surface with a high-gloss polyurethane finish. This gives it the shiny hard look of marble, and it protects the paint from scratches.