CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Venetian Plaster

ALIEN MOONSCAPE

Darlene Olivia McElroy

Carved and stamped Venetian plaster with layers of colored acrylic glazes.

Venetian plaster reminds me of all the old frescoes and wall treatments in Europe. It consists of plaster mixed with marble dust and has a fragile matte finish until finishing. Burnishing will create a highly polished, rock-hard, marble-like finish. It can be painted, carved into, shaped, sanded, layered and so much more.

MATERIALS USED IN THIS CHAPTER:

• acrylic paint
• canvas or burlap
• mark-making tools
• polymer medium
• sandpaper
• stamps
• stencils
• transfers
• Venetian plaster

Venetian Plaster Tips

• VersaBond and joint compound are very similar to Venetian plaster, and the same applications can be done to them.
• Add Venetian plaster to your acrylic paint to give it more body for an impasto look instead of using gels and pastes to thicken it. This will save you money that you can spend on more art supplies. This trick is great for palette knife paintings and scraping color over color. Try scraping tone over tone (like a red over a pink), or just go crazy with your colors.