Earth Painting on Interior Walls
“http://www.fanningart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/earth-painting-12-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> Leah painting an interior strawbale wall with earth paints
My latest earth painting project was on the interior walls of a strawbale house. Since it was a natural wall with an earth plaster on top, I was able to just use earth pigments mixed with water. It made a wonderful creamy easy to apply paint. Although when it dried it was powdery to the touch (kind of like touching a pastel drawing). So I recommend either coating it with a protective glaze or even easier, mixing in some home-made flour paste with the paint (see recipe below). This will give the paint a much better, protective, hard finish.
Django and Rosie in front of the finished painting
If you would like a natural earth paint look on an interior drywall or wood wall, you can use the same technique but definitely need to add the flour paste to make it adhere. Get a 5 gallon bucket and mix the pigment with water and flour paste (and a little sand if you’d like some texture) and paint it on! You’ll have a nice, earthy adobe feel in a conventionally built home.
*For a free estimate on earth paint murals, call me at 541-899-1448
Flour Paste Recipe:
*wheat, rice or rye flour is good (about 1 part flour to 6 parts water)
Mix flour with a small amount of water to make a smooth paste; then add hot or warm water to make a thin consistency; cook on low heat, stirring constantly until thick. Use immediately or refrigerate to preserve it.