Professional Painted Finishes: A Guide to the Art and Business of Decorative Painting

Great book for all levels.Ina and Allan Marx run a great faux finishing school that has spawned this great book. Completeand through it a bible for novice to expert painters. Not only do they teach you the technique, but alos how to "look and see" the item you are painting from nature. They are true professionals and above all both are excellent teachers. I have taken their classes, and as there is no substituion for taking one of their classes, this book is a great how to guide if you can't take one.Excellent. Their knowledge of teaching and superb knowledge of faux painting marry in this books.

I have a library full of books on painting techniques but this and the Finklestein book are the two that I consider "must haves." While most new books on decorative finishings repeat and repeat and repeat . . . the same pedestrian information on faux treatments, these give much more indept information on the techniques involved.

This is a wonderfully thorough book on creating the highest quality specialty painted finishes. It is advanced enough for the serious decorative painter while the instructions are detailed enough to allow the amateur or novice to try these techniques with outstanding results. The interior designer will also find it to be a valuable source book for fresh exciting design ideas.Overall, the projects are more sophisticated and time-consuming than those in most books. A great deal attention is paid to tiniest details that make these finishes really stand out. The instructions are excellent, showing you how to create each finish step-by-step with a complete text description and demonstrative photos. Complete material and supply lists and recipes accompany each project.The book starts out with the basics such as materials, safety, surface preparation and finishing coats. The glaze section is next with information on multi-layer glazing, novelty effects and techniques for glazing in small and large areas. There is great chart of problems and solutions and another on how tools affect glazing as well.The simulation of marble and stone follows. Here the author talks about the formation and replication of stone before going on to the projects, which include fifteen marble and stone types such as malachite, granite, red levanto and French grand antique. The section on graining is fantastic. It contains the most in-depth information on graining I have found anywhere. There is an analysis of patterns, a discussion of color, techniques for creating knots, troubleshooting section and color swatches of straight gained wood styles. There are over 20 wood types covered. Some include American oak, Brazilian rosewood, orientalwood, burl and birds-eye maple. The final section of the book talks about setting up a professional practice. It contains financial planning, estimating, sample-making and much more. The appendix gives a great list of sources, lists English and metric equivalents and has a nice glossary of terms. If you want to create truly professional looking finishes, this is the book to get.

This is one of the BEST books you can find on the techniques used for decorative painting as well as a good sourcebook in getting started in the business. Detailed photos and lots of explaining by the authors brings their 'school' (The Finishing School, Inc of NYC) alive for those of us who cannot get there. I would also like to recommend ART OF FAUX by Finkelstein, and for all you traditionalists who want the vinegar/fantasy grained look of antique furniture, DECORATIVE FURNITURE FINISHES WITH VINEGAR PAINT by Russell and FOLK FINISHES by Teles, as you will be hard pressed to find these at your local bookseller. Altogether, these four books will get you jumpstarted into the wonderful world of painted finishes...one you won't want to leave!