Vasari

Archive for October 6th, 2007

• October 6th, 2007

Vasari Venetian Plaster provides any color in any paint fandeck. The only slight limitation we have is to make ultra deep burgundies because of the extreme amount of tint needed which can degrade the structural integrity of the venetian plaster. Reds are easy, but the burgundies can turn hot pink in unburnished areas. Although with our reddish brown waxes, those lighter areas can disappear. So, it is possible, but you need wax. Other reds, such as your typical red oxide aren’t a problem. Incidentally these colors are fantastic with brown waxes.

Ok, as far as other colors. If you are mixing something yourself from our white base, the first thing you should know is that our venetian plaster, because it has such a high lime content, will lighten up by as much 60% when dry. So your deep colors have to be saturated with lots of color.

We now use zero VOC universal tints (ones to tint paint). These tints are made with the same natural powders that are sold in Italy. Our tints are more consistent and easier to mix than the individual powders. The powders in fact, are usually only good for Lime Wash. Some powders, as certain colors, are difficult to exactly reproduce with tints, such as some burnt siennas. In general though, 98% of all colors can be easily matched. Also, some natural powders radically change the consistency of the venetian plaster. In Lime Wash, nothing happens. Most colors for most projects seem to fall in range with golden ochre / nutty brown tones. These can be achieved with 3 primary tint colors that can be purchased in most paint stores. These are Yellow Oxide (C), Raw Umber (L) and Brown Oxide (I). So for example, say you want a nice warm ochre yellow. Assuming your mixing a 5 gallon bucket, it would be 5 ounces (about ¾ of a cup) of Yellow Oxide, 1 ½ ounces of Raw Umber and a little less then 1 once of Brown Oxide. If you want a nutty neutral light brown, it would be about 5 ounces of Raw Umber, 2 ounces of Yellow Oxide and 1 ounce of Brown Oxide. A sage green would 11 ounces of Yellow Oxide and 2 ounces of Thalo Green (D) and 10 ounce of Raw Umber. A deep red color would be 2 ½ quarts (yes that much) of Red Oxide (F). Sky light blue would be 5 ounces of Thalo Blue, ½ ounce of Violet (V) and ½ and ounce of Lamp Black (B).

Vasari Venetian Plaster also provides custom tint mixes and primary colors.

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