How to Do a Fresco on a Wall

The Walls

• 1

  Wash the walls where you want to paint your faux fresco treatment, and allow them to dry. Then paint them with a coat of water-based primer. Allow time for the primer to dry -- usually about 2 hours, but check the primer's label.

• 2

  Pour some of the clear latex glaze into the paint pan. Fill it at least halfway full with glaze.

• 3

  Add a small amount of each of the three eggshell paint colors to the paint pan -- at least 1 inch apart and not touching each other. Start by adding the darkest color, then the medium color and then add the lightest one. Pour a thin strip of glaze between each of the colors, which will slowly spread and touch one another. Allow them to spread a bit, but do not stir or jiggle the paint tray to mix them.

• 4

  Dip one of the 5-inch paintbrushes into the glaze and then into each of the paint colors. Do not wipe color off your brush. You want a little of all the colors on the brush at the same time. Working with all the colors on the same brush gives a natural, antique-plaster look to the paint.

• 5

  Start painting the fresco technique by working with the brush filled with paint in a 2-foot square area. Paint in “X"-shaped patterns throughout the imaginary square, until it's completely filled in. Each "X" should be medium sized -- 8-inch to 12-inch strokes.

• 6

  Paint from the existing wet edge of the area you just completed. The glaze mixed with the paint should help keep the paint from running -- keeping the colors wet enough to allow you to slightly blend the edges for your desired look. Do not over-blend your painting or over-mix the paint colors. The idea of the fresco wall technique is to create a feeling of depth to relieve the flatness of the walls.

• 7

  Finish the entire area for your fresco wall at the same time, because you will not be able to match the paint patterns and colors if you stop in the middle and come back later.

• 8

  Allow the first layer of the fresco wall treatment to dry fully. Then apply a second full coat using the same technique as described in the above steps. This gives added depth and texture to your walls.

The Fresco

• 9

  Draw your sketch for the mural directly on the wall, using a pencil.

• 10

  Clean the paint pan used earlier, and dry it thoroughly. Then pour clear glaze into the paint pan.

• 11

  Add dollops of colored latex eggshell paints to the glaze, without letting them touch one another.

• 12

  Paint the mural with the smaller, 3-inch brushes. Do this by dipping the brushes in the different paint colors and applying each color to the wall -- filling in your mural.

• 13

  Blend colors on the wall while they are still wet to soften the edges. Do not over-blend, or you will end up with muddy colors. You may want to have several smaller-sized brushes on hand for detail work, if your drawing is very intricate.