Painting With Metallic Glaze

Practice

• 1

  Select the color of metallic glaze you’re going to use and choose a latex base coat that will complement it; for example, with a silver glaze use a gray base, with a gold glaze go for a base in a tan or mustard color.

• 2

  Paint a coat of the latex base on an old piece of drywall and leave to dry. Apply a very thin coat of the metallic glaze to part of the drywall, using a foam roller; this will let you judge how much of the glaze you need to apply to the wall.

• 3

  Put a little of the glaze on a clean sponge. Blot with a paper towel, then dab on the remainder of the glaze to the drywall piece.

Roller and Dry Brush

• 4

  Apply masking tape around the edge of the wall or section of the wall that will be painted with metallic glaze.

• 5

  Apply a coat of the latex base paint to the area within the tape. Paint with either a roller or a paintbrush, making sure you cover the color underneath, although there’s no need to paint a heavy, thick coat on the wall. Leave to dry.

• 6

  Pour some of the metallic glaze into a roller tray and roll a foam roller in the tray; you’ll achieve the best results and coverage using a foam roller. Wipe off any excess on the side of the tray and begin to apply the glaze over the base coat, rolling to make an X pattern on the wall.

• 7

  Take a dry paintbrush and begin to work the glaze in side to side strokes; you’ll need to work fast and with sure strokes as the glaze dries quickly. Aim for a light covering over the base coat – remember, it’s a glaze, not a full coat of paint, so you want it to be very thin, even allowing some of the base to show through.

Sponge and Spray

• 8

  Apply the base coat and leave to dry.

• 9

  Dampen a sponge in the metallic glaze and blot most of the excess with a paper towel. Push the sponge against the wall, moving the sponge slightly each time so that the glaze sits lightly on top of the base. Refill the sponge with paint as needed until you’ve dabbed the glaze over the entire area, then leave to dry.

• 10

  Use a paint sprayer if applying glaze to the entire room, having covered all the walls in the correct base coat first.