How to Paint a Room Quickly and Problem-Free

In most cases painting a room is a fairly simple task, even for the most inexperienced people. Depending on the size of the room, painting the whole room can take only a few hours, a full day, or even days on end. However there are some techniques and methods you must learn before beginning to paint which will greatly speed up the process. Furthermore, you will need to learn how to make the job as problem free as possible, and learn how to avoid any 'painting disasters'.

To begin, let's go through the tools and items you will need before you begin the paint job.

Essential Tools and Items For Painting

The most obvious tool you are going to need for a paint job, is a paint brush - of course. Paint brushes come in many different forms and sizes, but as in this case you are painting a room, a large paintbrush should do fine. Although having a smaller one for some of the corners and more precise parts of the wall would be beneficial.

The next most essential tool you will need is a paint roller. If you have never used or seen one of these before, it is a large roll with a handle which you dip into paint, and then roll across the wall back and forth. A paint roller makes painting one hundred times easier and quicker, and unless you want to spend ages painting the wall, you are going to need a paint roller. When you buy a paint roller you should also get a tray as well where you would pour some of the paint into.

The correct clothing is also very important. It goes without saying that you wouldn't wear any of your best clothes while painting. Actually, you shouldn't be wearing any normal types of clothing at all as the first layer. What you need is a full set of overalls that you could wear while painting. It's almost impossible to complete any paint job without getting a whole lot of paint over yourself, no matter how careful you may believe yourself to be. Overalls are extremely cheap, and the chances are you, a relative, or a friend will already have a pair they can lend you anyway. In the worst case of scenario you should wear the worst, and cheapest clothes you own!

The last item you will need is the cheapest, and easiest to find - scrap paper, tissues, or newspapers. Before beginning to paint you will need to make sure that you cover the floor, especially the edges with scrap paper. It's very likely that you are going to spill and drip paint on the floor, and the last thing you want to do is spill in on your floor. So have scrap paper on the floor, and at your floor will be protected at least a little.

Steps for a Perfect* Paint Job

Read over these steps before beginning the painting, as its very important that you understand each and every stage of painting a wall.

Stage 1 - laying out the correct tools and materials. Make sure that you lay all the scrap paper or covers you can across the floor, and make sure no area of the real floor can be seen where you will be painting. Next, pour the paint you will be using into the paint roller tray, and place it on the floor or work area where you will be painting. And of course, make sure you are wearing all the correct clothes.

Stage 2 - make sure wall is as smooth as possible, and grit free. Any tiny lumps, or any grit at all you can see on the wall you will be painting should be removed before any painting is done at all. The last thing you want to be doing is painting over physical dirt or grit on the walls, as then it will be there for good. I strongly suggest you give the wall a good sand before beginning the painting.

Stage 3 - Paint main surface of the wall with roller. Excluding the corners, or turning points in the room, you should paint the wall by rolling the paint roller in the paint tray, and then rolling the paint over all of the main surfaces of the room. This is the most time consuming part of the paint job, but it's pretty simple and easy to do. Make sure you don't go near the corners of the room using the paint roller.

Stage 4 - Paint the corners of the room. Now instead of using the paint roller, you are going to need to use a paint brush to paint the corners of the room. Using your brush, simply dip the brush into the paint and smoothly begin brushing over the corner and sides of the wall. Make sure you are very careful when approaching a skirting or floor. This is more difficult that using the paint roller, but it's the only way possible to paint those corners of the room.

Stage 5 - Leave the paint to dry.. Depending on how thick you have painted the walls, it will generally take a few hours to dry. After you are complete the painting, leave the room and do something else for a few hours before returning.

Stage 6 - The cleanup. Only after the paint is completely dry, should you re-enter the room and begin to clean up your painting tools. Make sure you pour any remaining paint in the paint tray back into the bucket. Furthermore, make sure you clean the paint brush under a tap as soon as possible as you don't want the bristles of the brush going rock solid. And lastly, collect all of the scrap paper or cover over the floor.

You have now successfully painted a room! (Hopefully to perfection... )

To conclude, what you have learned in this article is essential to making sure you paint a room to a good standard. Without knowing what you are doing, it can be very easy to make a complete mess off a paint job. So learning what you need to know before beginning I'd very important. If you followed the instructions I have explained here, then you are headed in the right direction. However becoming a good painter is a skill, you may be surprised to here, and the chances are you are always going to make mistakes on your first try, and learn from them.

Oil Painting For Beginners - How to Get Started

So are you a total beginner to painting or do you have some experience in painting with other mediums? Well either way there are some key facts that you will need to start you off on the right track. To a certain extent you can do whatever you like with acrylics, just keep piling the paint on until you get what you are looking for but with oils it is slightly different.

So, to start with you will need some materials. The art shops have a huge selection of materials to choose from and this can be quite daunting if you don't really know what you are looking for. In addition to all the numerous paint colours you can chose from there are a wide variety of mediums, brushes, painting surfaces etc.

Paint

Let's look at paint to start with. There are 2 main types of oil paint in terms of quality - student colours and artist's colours. Student oils paints are often cheaper than artists as they don't use the expensive pigments and are produced in larger quantities. The colour strength might be slightly lower than artists' quality oils but really these are good enough if you are starting out and are often used by professional artists in conjunction with the higher pigment colours of artists' oils or as base colours before using artists' oils for the top layer. So to start off with you need only have a basic selection of 10 or 12 tubes of paint. You can often buy the starter boxes which contain a lot of the colours that you might need.

Painting Mediums

In addition to the paint you will need to get some thinners and also a bottle of painting medium. There are so many options with regard to painting medium but to start off with you can just chose to use linseed oil and as you go on and experiment more try different types of medium and how they affect the paint and help or hinder with your style of painting.

Brushes

So, then you will need some brushes. These also come in so many different types and sizes. It may well depend on what style of painting you are planning to do as to what brushes you need. For example if you are going to paint realistically in fine detail you may want smaller round brushes but if you are going to paint big abstract blended paintings then go for big softer flat brushes. I may be contentious in advising this but when you are just starting out, especially if you are just going to be testing out various techniques I would advise getting some cheap brushes to see what kind of shape and size you prefer to use. The main problems with cheaper brushes in my opinion are that firstly, some of the hairs may come out whilst you are painting and secondly, the brushes may not retain their shape as well. Advantages are that you don't buy expensive brushes that you subsequently decide are not the right type for you. Once you have decided your painting style and which brushes are suitable for that you can then buy the more expensive ones. For me, as an abstract artist, I also prefer the much softer (and for some reason cheaper) big brushes that blend the paint really nicely and don't leave so many brush strokes. I will use the brush firstly on a test painting and that will generally get rid of any of the lose hairs so hardly any will come off on my actual painting.

Support

Then of course you need something to paint on! The main choice in art shops is between stretched canvas and canvas board. There are obviously a lot of alternatives but to start with choose either a board or a canvas that is primed and suitable for oils (just read the label or chose one of the more common makes like Daley-Rowney or Winsor & Newton). Maybe choose a small one to start with just to get to grips with the medium.

Once you have your paint and your surface or support (canvas) you can start! You will also need a palette of some kind but you can use anything from disposable plates, to a piece of wood, a proper palette from the art shop or a book of disposable palettes (saves on messy palettes hanging around as you can just throw them away!). Plastic palettes are useful as they usually have little sections that you can pour your medium into and use whilst you are painting.

What to Paint

So, now you can start. But what do you paint? If you are really just starting out then you may want to get a book that gives you a step-by-step guide as to how to paint a particular scene or painting, then you can learn the methods used to bring the painting to life. Otherwise you may have a favourite photo or a picture from the internet or even an old master that you want to recreate. I really think that trying to copy something that someone has already done is a good way to learn about techniques as it pushes you to try and think about how to do something and in doing so you learn these new techniques that you might not have learnt otherwise.

Layers

Whatever you are trying to paint, you should use a number of layers to build up the painting and not try to complete it all in one go! When I say this I mean the following: For the first layer, use the paint 'watered' down with thinners. This is starting the painting using the 'fat over lean' method. In basic terms when you apply paint, the most oily layer (fat) should be on top of the layer with least oil (lean i.e. containing thinners) underneath. If you don't use this method then your painting might subsequent have cracks in it where the different layers of paint dry at different speeds.

There are many different schools of thought as to how to actually paint and what colours to use and this article is not going to be encompassing enough to go through those. Basically on the first layer apply it with thinners in a loose manner (i.e. the painting does not have to be precise at this stage). The main aim is to cover all of the canvas with some paint to provide a foundation. As you apply more and more layers - the number of layers is up to you - the paint should have more oil in it as you go on. So for example in the next layer you could use half linseed oil and half thinners as a medium and then the layer after linseed oil with no thinners.

Cleaning Brushes

The common school of thought is to clean brushes with turps or a specific brush cleaner. However, I find it better (I think on the environment as well as the smell and keeping the brushes for longer) to use soap and warm water. Soap can be just a simple soap or you can use washing up liquid. Make the brush wet then build up a lather with the soap. Rinse out the paint with warm water and repeat until the brush is clean.

Oil paints do take a reasonable time to dry - particularly if you compare them to acrylics. Paint with more thinners in will dry quicker however and you can also buy mediums that will make the paint dry quicker (e.g. liquin). The first layer with thinners should dry reasonably quickly, particularly if you are using earthy colours. It is up to you if you wait for the layers to dry, quite often this depends on the type of painting you are doing, or if you add subsequent layers on top of the wet paint. If you do this then just be careful to work in definite strokes and to clean your brush often so that the paint does not 'muddy' and mix layers together more than you would like.

Summary

So in summary, for the complete beginner in oils I would say this. Get yourself a box of student oil paints, some thinners, some linseed oil, a palette, 2 or 3 brushes in different sizes, and a canvas. Choose a subject or get a book that gives you step by step instructions. Paint in layers 'fat over lean'. Keep practising!

There have been lots of books written on the subject and I would advise you if you are really serious about painting with oils to get hold of one that gives you all the detailed information but this article is just to give you a few hints and tips to start you off.

The author has been a professional artist for 5 years and supplies paintings to individuals, interior designers and hotels in addition to having a passion for art spanning over 30 years

Discover the Best Application Techniques For Applying Acrylic Paints

Simple Techniques You Can Use To Create That Professional Looking Finish When Painting Your Home. Acrylic Paints are by far the easiest painting products to work with. Acrylic is easy to clean up, it dries quickly and doesn't run or sag, unless you apply crazy amounts or unless moisture and cold weather gets to it. It's really easy to apply, spread out and work with. So really, how hard can it be?

To be honest, for most who have never been taught the basics it can be really difficult. I often cringe when I see non qualified people painting. Maybe it's a pride issue, I don't know and I don't mean to be harsh, after all they are trying their best, but some of the techniques they use leave a lot to be desired. Painting the correct way isn't hard, it just takes a bit of practice, but first we have to see what bad habits you have picked up and what your application techniques actually are. Then I can show you the correct way.

Once you get a few of these basics down and had a little practice, then painting with acrylic will quickly become easy and you will be applying paint with a professional, quality finish every time.

1) - First things first - To paint acrylic well, you have to paint like you aren't paying for the paint! If you want a nice paint finish then you need to apply the right amount of paint. You should never spread paint out thinly because you want to save some money or for any other reason. It simply doesn't work, it will leave you with a coat of paint that you can see through, looks scratchy, has an uneven finish, or is simply very ordinary looking. To paint well, forget about the cost of the paint and apply a nice, even, thick coat. Of course not too think or else it will all end up sagging off your wall, but we will get to how much is the right amount as we go.

2) - How to apply acrylic paints correctly using a brush When I was taught how to paint I was made to do everything with a 3 inch (7mm) brush. This includes cutting in, painting windows, Glossing off wood work, everything.

Now, while I don't expect you to have the same control over a brush that this exercise taught me, it will help you to understand some of the differences between the over all finish that a DIY person using cheap, little, fiddly brushes will get versus a painter taught the correct way using the correct equipment. The number one reason for being taught this way is that you can achieve a much nicer finish with a bigger 3 inch brush than what you can with a little brush. The second reason and it is also a big factor is that it's much quicker once you develop the skill required to cut in with a bigger brush. Good quality little brushes have their place for fiddly work but the majority of your acrylic painting should be done with a 3 inch brush.

So what is a good quality brush then? Painting with a bargain shop $2 or $3 brush is going to produce a really crap finish. Use these types of brushes for washing engine parts!

As I have stated before in other articles, I favour the Purdy range of brushes. They are fantastically constructed, they narrow down to a thin point for cutting in at the tip of the bristles, they hold their shape extremely well and usually come with a nifty storage cover designed to hold the shape of the bristles during storage. This is so that you don't set about to start painting, pull out your collection of brushes from the shed to find the bristles are now bent in all directions except a usable one. But here is the best part about the Purdy's! With the proper care and correct use these brushes last for years! I have been using one of these 3 inch types just like the one you can see on this page for 8 Years!!! That's the same brush not different brushes! 8 years, now that's a good quality brush!!! Get yourself a decent brush it's essential for creating a good painting finish.

Method for painting acrylic with a brush: Now when it comes to applying paint with a brush, I find that most people dip the paint into their pot and then straight away wipe it all off again on the side of the pot??? The next problem is they like to use very short stokes with the brush and go back and forth. Hmm. This is how to do it properly. Lets presume that you are painting a wall and you have your painting pot, paint and a 3 inch brush ready to go.

Fill the pot up with only about 100mm or 4 inches of paint leaving enough room up the side of the pot to "tap" your brush against the side.

Next you dip the bristles of your brush no more than 1/2 way into the paint tap both of the flat sides of you brush 2 or 3 times against one side of your pot (this keeps your pot relatively clean.)

With either of the thin edges of your bristles as the leading edge( or pointing in the direction you are going to move the brush. Apply straight to the wall about 50mm or 2 inches from the surface you intend to cut into and wipe the bristles about 1 arms length across the surface.

Next you are going to spread the paint up towards the line you are going to cut into. Once you have cut in a nice straight line, which just takes practice. Then finish off the entire arms length stroke with a light even pressured stroke. That's it just one stroke over the whole surface you have just painted two max. This leaves a nice even finish making sure that you haven't left any "fat" edges or stop start marks which look horrible when the paint dries. if you have any fat edges left after this, then just wipe over them again with your brush in long strokes.

The whole length of your cutting in should be about 100 - 150mm or 4 - 6 inches wide and about one arms length long with no fat edges and a nice even finish free of stop start marks. Its important To make sure that you remove all stop/start marks ensure that the finishing stroke goes back in the direction of your previously painted surface, not towards the direction that you are about to paint next. always go back into your work with a long stroke to finish off.

3) - How To Apply Acrylic Paint Using A Roller Again there are many bad habits when it comes to using a roller to apply acrylic paints and also the tools that you use will make a huge difference too.

These are the tool that I suggest you use for your painting project. Thickness of the roller - For interior acrylic paints on a normal wall/ceiling - 11mm nap/pile (that's the length of the wool - I only use the wool roller sleeves I can't stand foam or the man made fibres) Length of the roller sleeve. - I always use the 270mm roller sleeves which is the largest sleeve and frame combo that you can buy. Why waste time with a smaller one?

The type of roller tray that you use is a big factor on how easy your job is going to run. many of them are just rubbish and cause you more spillage and headache than anything else. there are a few different one that painters use. My personal favourite, and unfortunately I can't supply with a photo so you will have to put up with my lame description is a curved well type. From the side on view where you pour the paint into looks a bit like a "C" with a tray coming of the bottom of the "C". I will take a photo of a nice clean new one and post it here for you to see. This type reduces the spills and accidents immensely plus it has a handle underneath so that when you pick it up all the paint sits in the Well and doesn't spill everywhere. They are great!!

Extension Poles - they are a must! Using an extension pole is essential for creating a professional finish to your wall. If you don't use them it will take you all day to do a 5 - 10 minute job and the finish will be uneven and very amateurish. The bottom line if you want nice even & professional finish to your newly rolled surface get yourself a good twist lock or extendable roller pole.

The Roller Frame that you use isn't overly important but there are a few things to keep in mind. With the cheap roller frames often after a bit of use they start to bleed a grease that mixes with the paint and causes grey splatters of tainted grey paint on your nice new wall. While this is really annoying it can be avoided most of the time by getting a better quality roller frame. Apart from that I don't have a favourite type that I would recommend.

Method for painting acrylic with a roller: Make sure you are wearing old clothing & have remove any nice jewelry that you don't want spattered with paint, you have a good quality drop cloth down on the floor and covering your furniture. Rollers tend to spray lots of little paint flecks so cover everything up. Now after stirring your paint, pour some into you tray but don't fill it right up to maximum capacity. You need to have a little bit of room to work with, so just full up the Well of your tray not the flat tray it self. Next rinse the roller sleeve under some cold water and spin out excess water this is just to dampen the wool which stops the paint from drying hard at the base of the wool fibers.

attach the extension pole and adjust to fit your size. When rolling you want to stand about 1 metre away from the wall and be easily able to reach all the way up to the ceiling without stretching and all the way down to the top of the skirting boards without bending over. Now load up your roller with paint. Start by placing your clean sleeve on the flat tray and role into the paint coating smaller amounts of the sleeve at a time until full (should take about 5 or 6 dips to do this) Never just plunge the entire roller sleeve into the paint nor do you roll back towards you on the tray, always roll towards the paint well this will keep the paint from dripping over the edge of the tray and making a big mess.

once the roller sleeve is nice and evenly coated all over then apply to the wall. Start about 200mm or 8 inches away from the corner of the wall and about knee height and roll up wards until you get about 3/4 of the way up the wall. leave it for the moment and re fill your roller and apply in the same fashion starting about knee height and about 150mm further across the wall from your last roller full. Next you want to spread it out evenly. After the 2nd applying roll, take your roller off the wall go back to the starting point of your first roll. Applying a firm even pressure roll up towards the cornice but this time roll it a bit closer to the cornice but not up to the final height yet, stay down about 150mm for now. Then roll down and across to the starting point of your second applying roll, again rolling it up to the cornice again staying down about 150mm from it. then roll back down and across to the starting point and down to the skirting board.

Now that the majority of your paint is spread out you need to push it out the the edges of your wall. so roll the paint gently out to about 30mm above the skirting board edge of your wall and the same up below the cornice. The trick is to avoid fat edges so lighten the pressure you are applying to the roller as you approach the edges and finish with a very light pressure as you rebound and roll back in the opposite direction. So - As you roll down to the skirting board start lightening your pressure about 300mm or 1ft above the skirting board and as you get to the bottom it should be just the weight of the roller on the wall as you stop your downwards roll and start rolling back up the wall.

When spreading the paint to the outside edges or as you are pushing the paint into the corners of your wall you want to make sure you aren't pushing copious amount o paint into the corners to make fat edges. For the edges of your wall make sure the side of your roller frame that the sleeve slides up against or the side that disappears into the sleeve is facing away from the wall. (you should always lead with the edge. that means have it facing the over all direction that you are painting) Now push gently and tilting the pole away from the edge that you are rolling into (this will lift the pressure on the edge of the roller closest to the internal corner of the wall and reduce the risk of creating a fat edge in that corner). Roll gently taking your time not to get too close to the other wall.

Now that the paint is evenly spread across the wall and all the surfaces are covered you need to apply the finishing roll. This is other wise known as "laying it off" with your now emptied roller start about half a roller width from the corner of the wall at about waist height. Again make sure the part of your frame which going inside the roller sleeve is facing towards the direction that you will applying your next roller full to. Now again slightly tilt the roller pole making your trailing edge of the roller sleeve light to avoid leaving a line of paint. Now roll up and into the top corner of your wall then roll down along the wall taking care again not to get it on the other wall. Once at the bottom roll up to the cornice this time slowly moving your roller as you go about half a roller sleeve width away from the internal corner once at the top. Do this movement over the whole rolling stroke don't lift off and reposition or slide over then start again for this lay of technique your roller should never lift off the surface. Once at the top go back down again moving 1/2 a roller sleeve over on your way down then at the bottom do it again and keep doing this until you have gone over the entire surface you just applied paint to.

Have a quick look to see if you left any lines of paint down your wall form uneven pressure or incorrect technique if it all looks good the start with the applying technique again. if not re do the laying off method until you are happy with it. For the rest of the wall it is exactly the same method as before. only you treat the previous laid off surface as the internal corner of the wall, except for when you get to the spreading it out part and when you lay it off. This time you will go back into your previously laid off surface about 1/2 a roller width when spreading it out and 1 full roller width when laying it off. Again with your laying off technique, start away from where your laying off stroke that goes back into your existing work will finish and at waist height roll up to the full 1 roller distance into the previously laid off surface roll straight down and then start the up down 1/2 roller at a time movement across the wall until you cover all the newly applied paint.

For all surfaces that you roll its the exact same technique. on ceilings though it is worth me mentioning that you start against one edge and work across the ceiling walking backwards. but you apply and lay off the paint exactly the same way. put it on spread it out and roll to the edges then lay it off and you're done! Painters tip: Remember to lighten the pressure that you are applying on your roller pole when you are about to change directions to avoid leaving a build up of paint where you changed the direction or other wise known as a "fat edge".