Advanced Wood Coloring: Glazing

  As a professional finisher I tend to receive a lot of problems from the shop that have to be fixed. Glazing is one of the tools that can create miracles when nothing else works. There are some real hazards with glazing that a lot of people don't consider. The biggest thing to make sure of is adhesion between layers. This varies depending on the type of finish you are using. There are basically 3 types of finish:

1.Oxidizing (Varnishes, Urethanes and Oils are examples)You MUST sand between coats to create adhesion.
2. Solvent Release (lacquers and shellacs are examples) The next coat melts into the previous one. This is perfect for glazing.
3. Catalyzed (Conversion Varnishes, 2K Polurethanes and Catalyzed Lacquers are examples) Some of these actually do melt into the previous coat if done within a certain time frame, after curing overnight MUST be sanded for adhesion. (For Conversion Varnishes a vinyl sealer is a good idea for the glaze coats)

Anytime I apply glaze I apply over a coat of finish applied the same day unless it is lacquer or shellac. I never glaze between coats of Varnish or oil based Urethanes I would seal with De-Waxed Shellac and do my glazing between coats of Shellac before applying the Oil based finish.

  There are as many techniques for glazing as there are finishers. Everything from Faux Wood Grain, Marbelizing, Antiquing , Sap Correction or Simple Color Adjustments can be done using a glazing technique.
Glaze is always applied over a finish of some kind. It can be done as an additive (applying glaze to a surface with a tool of some kind) or subtractive process (applying the glaze wet to a surface and then removing some of the glaze with a tool of some kind. I recommend reading "The Art of Faux" by Pierre Finkelstein for the brush techniques involved in faux painting. There are also powder off glazes for catalyzed finishes as well.
Another popular technique is a Ceruse Finish which is having the grain a different color than the stain.

Ceruse Finish

All of these finishes are accomplished with glazes. The bottom 2 pictures have urethane moldings which were faux painted to match the wood. The wagon wheel was for a conference table and the hub was painted red a black glaze applied over the red and sanded through in spots to look old. The beams are all faux painted to match the actual barnwood wall paneling.

This table is from a job with a center panel of ebony veneer unfortunately the shop didn't have any ebony solid and made the solid ends and the data opening frame out of maple and I had to make it match. Most wood grain is done using graining brushes, I did the wood graining over a thin coat of sealer and then toned to match the color of the ebony.

This was for a project where I had to faux paint an MDF box to match Quarter Sawn Oak for a renovation project at Lake Tahoe. The carved panel in the center was created by me using a urethane mold to match existing carvings on site. The box on the left is sealed and has a base color of pearl gold on which I do my brush glazes. The inset panels are not inset, the shadows are airbrushed for a trompe l'oeil effect. These are upside down and go 15 feet in the air on top of oak columns.

This was also done on MDF. There is no raised panel all shading is done with an airbrush.

These are box beams that were distressed by hand, stained with a base color, sealed and then glazed to create the illusion of real solid beams.