Inspired by masters such as Raphael, Rubens and Michelangelo, artist Suzanne Bellehumeur has created a dramatic fresco effect on the walls of the Paris Nightclub in South Norwalk, Connecticut. Although her beautiful murals are the work of an expert, she insists that painting beveled-edge panels is a project anyone can do. Here she explains to Jennifer Convy, host of HGTV's Awesome Interiors, how easy it is to paint a trompe l'oeil beveled panel that truly fools the eye. Frescos are traditionally painted with watercolors on wet plaster. Suzanne has altered that process to create a technique she calls stucco painting, or painting on dry plaster to get a fresco effect. Materials:
Joint compound
Painter's tape
Blue masking tape
Paintbrushes in 4", 2" and 1" widths
Small round brush for detail work
Stencil brush
Stencil
Yardstick
Stir stick
Pencil
Flat trowel
4" to 5" putty knife
220-grit sandpaper
Mixing buckets
Universal tints in brown and gold
Water
- Using painter's tape, mask off the wall area to be painted.
- Joint compound applied to the wall provides a plasterlike surface for the painted panel. Scoop up the joint compound with a putty knife, and spread it on the trowel (figure A). Spread the joint compound evenly on the wall (figure B), smoothing out trowel lines as you go. Let dry.
- Apply a second coat of joint compound to the wall. Use less compound this time, and smooth it in a thin layer over the trowel with the putty knife. Apply the compound to the wall by pressing the trowel to the wall and pulling it away so the compound sticks up from the wall. Press the trowel to the wall, and pull away in different directions (figure C). Smooth this thin layer of compound evenly on the wall with the trowel.
- When the second layer of joint compound is dry, sand it lightly with 220-grit sandpaper to remove trowel lines. Leave it a little rough or you'll defeat the purpose.
- To begin the trompe l'oeil beveled-edge panel, draw a 20" by 30" rectangle on the wall with a pencil. This forms the outline of the panel. Draw another rectangle 3" in from the first one, and draw a line connecting the corners of the two rectangles.
- Three transparent earth tones are painted on the panel, from light to dark: light golden brown, medium golden brown and brown. Mix a very small amount of universal tinting colorant with water to create the tinted washes.
- Use the 4" brush to paint the entire wall light golden brown (figure D). Paint the medium-toned color on the inner rectangle of the panel with a 2" brush (figure E). Apply the brown wash to the right and bottom beveled edges of the panel with a 2" brush (figure F). These two darker edges begin to give the illusion of depth. Use a small round brush and the brown tint to paint over all the penciled panel lines (figure G). Paint a 1" strip of brown along the top and left inside edge of the middle panel to create a shadow (figure H).
- When the colored washes of paint have dried, lightly sand the finished panel for an aged look.
- Suzanne added a fleur-de-lis stencil pattern on the wall above the beveled panels (figure I). To stencil a pattern above the panels, first mark the desired position of the stencils on the wall.
- Hold the stencil up to the wall, and use a stencil brush to apply joint compound to the stencil area. Lift the stencil off, and let the joint compound dry.
- Reposition the stencil in the same spot, dip the stencil brush in the brown paint, and dab the paint on the stencil. Fill the wall above the beveled panels with stencils as desired.
RESOURCES :
Suzanne Bellehumeur, Artist
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