Decorative Painting: "Wall In A Tartan Skirt" Or: The Checkered Wall

For a checkered wall you need a lot of leisure when masking and you have to adhere exactly to the dimensions. Nevertheless, fabrics are a good source of ideas for wall painting. Because once the checks are filled with glaze and the commas are drawn, the wall in the Scottish check pattern becomes an eye catcher. Part 4 of the decorative painting series by Friederike Schulz.

Text and photos: Friederike Schulz

A grid for the checkered wall is created using a chalk line. The lines are then taped cleanly. It is important that the adhesive tape is firmly pressed on so that the glaze does not go under later.

To fill in the plaid pattern, mix two very watery glazes. This can be done with pigment, binder and water or you can use acrylic or tinting paint instead of pigment.

It is best to make a sketch of the kilt pattern in advance. This sketch shows how the glazes have to be placed on top of each other and at what intervals.

The checkered wall is created

The glazes are alternately spread on, sold with the modler and then combed with a steel comb with fine or medium serration. This is how the “fabric effect” is created.

With large areas you can work from square to square, with smaller areas you can also proceed with larger areas. It is important to change the fields at regular intervals - in this case every second lane is glazed with red and the other lanes each with green. To understand the technology, you should be aware of what happens when you work with two different colors in different directions: By applying the layers in different orders, different colored fields are created that interact harmoniously - even if you use complementary shades is working. The crossed work creates a material-like surface, which is also emphasized by the pattern.

Other episodes of the decorative painting series:

Three-dimensional painting

Painted fabric

Painted mahogany wood

The check surfaces are evenly coated with the glaze and distributed with a modler.

Photo: Friederike Schulz

Immediately after applying the glaze, the wet surfaces are combed evenly with a fine steel comb.

Photo: Friederike Schulz

After four glaze coats - the two shades were each applied in the cloister - the tape is removed.

Photo: Friederike Schulz

With the help of a painter's ruler, a uniformly wide and intense line is drawn along the edges of the squares.

Photo: Friederike Schulz

Another line in a different color (here gold) is drawn. A marking on the ruler always guarantees the same distance from the first line.

Photo: Friederike Schulz

The final result in detail: fields of different colors interact harmoniously; the lines form the accent.

Photo: Friederike Schulz