Wood graining courses in London
Course Date: 23rd Friday and 24th Saturday September 2022

COURSE TIMES: 9AM-4:30PM
PRICE: £300 + VAT = £360

Learn Straight grain, Oak, Mahogany and Walnut, Birdseye maple, Burr walnut effects and also a trompe l’oeil panel.
All materials, tools, gloves and refreshments will be supplied. There will be a number of sample boards to take home, perfect for showing to potential clients.
This course is suitable for decorative professionals, professional decorators, plasterers, or those interested in changing their careers.

Course location is in Chiswick, west London

WOODGRAINING : WOOD GRAINING COURSES – COURSE INFORMATION

I teach two seperate one day intensive Wood graining courses, each course teaches different wood types:

• WOODGRAINING 1
  Students will learn how to paint four wood types: Straight grain, Oak, Mahogany and Walnut,
• WOODGRAINING 2
  Students will learn how to paint Birdseye maple, Burr walnut and a trompe l’oeil panel.

You will learn the importance of picking the right base colour, mixing the right glaze, choosing varnishes and waxes for protection of the finish, what tools to use, and of course the tricks of the trade!

BACKGROUND INFORMATION – WOODGRAINING COURSE

The diversity of colour and pattern found in many timbers is of such a beautiful variety that throughout history artists and craftspeople have been inspired in the pursuit of the painted illusion of highly figured beautiful woods, this is commonly known as wood graining although it is in fact a form of Trompe l’oeil.

There are a number of techniques decorative artists use to trick the eye into believing the wood is real, the end results are quite beautiful and very convincing, this art is known today as woodgraining, and is an artistic skill still very much in demand.

Historically, realistic woodgraining was done as far back as 2780 B.C. in Egypt, due to the expense of obtaining figured woods in ancient Egypt, wood effects were often used for economic reasons and so the woodgrainers skill was very much in demand. For long periods after that there are few records of much Woodgraining being done, until the 17th century in Europe.

In the 18th century in England a small amount of wood graining was done mainly inside expensive pieces of furniture, however a century later highly figured woods became rarer and much sought after and Woodgraining became very much in vogue, it was also used as a cheaper alternative to expensive Wood veneers.

In North America in the early part of the 19th century woodgraining took off with great gusto but as a slightly more naive style of folk graining. Crafts people would go beyond realistic graining in an imaginative way, much of it now is considered to be highly prized art in its own right.

Today, Wood graining is still popular, as solid figured Woods are rarer and more expensive. Wood graining techniques are also useful in situations where use of veneers is impractical. The Woodgrainers art is therefore still very much in demand.

You can learn more about woodgraining here: Graining faux finish

The class is taught by Jo Poulton, a professional specialist decorator with over twenty years experience.