Splashing paint is messy. Wear old clothes and shoes you don't mind getting paint on.
Splash painting can add a colorful, whimsical texture to your walls. Depending on the colors you use, the technique may work best in a game room or nursery, but you can always play with colors to paint an accent wall in the dining room or an adult's bedroom. Splash painting is also called spatter painting. The technique will get messy, but the process can also be fun.
Instructions
1. Move all furniture away from the walls and your work area. Paint will spatter farther than you might think, so move anything you don't want speckled far away.
2. Place drop cloths over the floor. Tape plastic cloths to the wall and floor seam to prevent drips from staining the floor. Tape plastic cloths to the wall and ceiling seam to prevent paint from splashing on the ceiling.
3. Wear clothes and shoes you don't mind getting paint on. You will likely splash yourself with paint while you are splashing the wall.
4. Fill small cups with different colors of paints, one color per container.
5. Stand 1 to 3 feet from the wall. Hold one container and draw it back, then thrust it toward the wall so the paint splashes on the wall. Adjust your distance and force to vary the results. Either let each color dry before splashing on another, or splash on all colors at the same time and let them mix.
6. To add smaller splashes of color, dip a small or medium brush in the paint. Flick your wrist to spatter the wall with paint from the brush -- the brush should never touch the wall. Flick the brush using your fingers to vary texture. Repeat as desired.
Splashing Paint for a Brick Finish
7. Paint a base color on the walls or the piece. Choose a mid-tone hue.
8. Place a piece of nylon mesh securely on an embroidery hoop.
9. Cut off the end of a basketball needle to create a small nozzle. Attach the nozzle to an air compressor.
10. Brush your accent paint on the mesh. Start with lighter colors first. A little bit of excess paint is fine, but be sure to keep the hoop over your drop cloth to prevent splashing in unwanted places.
11. Turn on the air compressor. Hold the embroidery hoop in front of the nozzle, paint-side facing the wall. "Blow" the paint from the mesh onto the wall in quick, short bursts. Apply more paint on the first two layers of splashing, since you'll be covering them with more layers. Repeat the process with other colors, going from light to dark, until you are satisfied with the finish.
