Faux painting school of Denver, Colorado, now featured at the Faux Design Center. Learn to Faux Finish.

Faux school instructing: Venetian plaster, color washing,sky painting, metallics, stencils, trompe l'oeil, marble, woodgraining, muraling, distressed finishes,furniture finishes. For beginners and professionals.

The FO School of Applied Arts, located within the Faux Design Center, has one of the most innovative decorative painting curricula in practice. Offering numerous introductory classes for beginners and refinement classes for advanced professionals, the FO School of Applied Arts has something for the artist in us all. Our internationally recognized instructors teach basic through advanced courses in faux techniques such as marble and stone replicating, furniture finishing, stenciling, trompe l'oeil, muraling and sky painting.

Students enrolled here learn a full range of media from assorted product lines to become empowered with an incredibly dynamic skill set. We offer comprehensive training in classes devoted to product knowledge, technical procedure, ethical business practices, and most importantly, commercially viable creative expression.

Our premier class:

The Principles of Faux

    This extensive five-day class is designed for beginners and the professional Faux Artist whos looking to further the scope of their business.This is the foundation that you need to be a decorative wall artist. Beginning with every aspect of preparation with tricks of the trade to help you become more efficient, you will learn traditional and contemporary wall glazes, European textures, Italian plasters, crackles, metallics, and specialty finishes. Not just techniques but practical applications in the field as well! We teach todays hottest finishes with the newest water-based decorative finishing products. But dont just learn our finishes, come to learn how to create your own style. Improving your skill and craftsmanship through training is essential for the growth of your business. Understanding how all the available Painting and plaster mediums perform is essential to being successful in the field. Unsure how to apply all this knowledge? Youll learn how to successfully complete large projects. Learn how to work with local designers, architects, and contractors with greater efficiency. While attending this class you will be building a portfolio of finishes that will impress all your clients and take you to a new level of faux finishing.

The Principles of Faux is our core class. In this class, you will learn about all decorative painting techniques. The structure of the curriculum was formatted with these particular goals in mind:

    1. To provide a base understanding of project preparation and tool usage, ensuring a smooth launch and completion of any project.

    2. To establish a fundamental understanding of the working properties of all decorative painting and plastering mediums, and to create a core understanding of the chemical properties of current market products and their particular application ( i.e. what paints/plasters are suited for interior vs. exterior applications, etc...).Product names and labels can be confusing in todays world. With this in mind, we have created a language that helps you distinguish particular categories of products and their relationship to your project.

    3. To create a learning tree that relates particular application methods to physical characteristics of each medium. For example, how does a light body plaster react to brushing as an application vs. troweling, and how this technique is applicable when you are trying to accomplish a particular look.

    4. To make the student aware of the semantics used to describe color characteristics so that he/she can better communicate this with the client or product manufacturer.

    5. To show the history of color craft and how students can refine their own craft through the use of colorant systems in the current marketplace. Help create a system for matching and mixing color. Introduce creative ways to keep color records and sample libraries for clients.

    6. To develop a foundation in understanding color harmony, and to provide a structure for future learning in this life long study.

    7. Techniques to be learned:

Wall glazing            Watermarking                Color washing

Sky muraling            Faux patina                 Distressing

Dry brushing and antiquing    Wood graining             Marbling

Imbedding            Decoupage                Acrylic Plastering

Flooring            Embossing/Onlays            Debossing

Faux stone            Toning                    Wall upholstery

Extruding            Stenciling                Gilding

Crackling            Lime paint                 Venetian plaster

Marmorino            Travertino

    8. To enhance good business practices and establish a fundamental knowledge in:

Estimating            Portfolio development            Presentations        

Marketing            Following trends             Creating referrals Product experimentation dos and donts                Sales

Business structure (planning for the future)

Working with third party clients (i.e. designers, architects, building contractors...)

This class runs Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm (approx. 45 hrs). Continental breakfast and lunches are provided. Additionally, students receive a complimentary brush, and a portfolio with which to carry their samples. This class is hands-on; you will produce approx 20, 2x2 sample boards which you take home at the end of the week. On these boards, there will be 2-5 techniques studied. Any one of these techniques can provide a basis for an entire career. This is the best decorative painting class in the world.

Our goal for this class is to prepare you for the professional world of Decorative Painting. The instructor for this class is Andre` Martinez, a nationally recognized craftsman who divides his time between teaching and working in the field. We hope to see you in class soon!