Techniques and Benefits of Faux Painted Masonry

Over the past few weeks, we looked at several different examples of where people have taken masonry facades and painted over top of the masonry facades with depictions of masonry. So on top of real masonry, they went and painted masonry that wasn’t real. Essentially, they painted, a portrait or a picture of masonry. In one particular case the building owner or contractor painted each individual brick by hand and then went and painted each individual mortar joint by hand to make it look different.

This must have been extremely tedious and laborious work, but it’s what they wanted and of course people, in most locations, have a right to paint their buildings the way they want. (However, that doesn’t always apply in historic districts here in Washington,  DC.)  

We were just really surprised to see some of these examples because so much work was invested into this tedious painting, just to create something that was almost a replica of what was being covered up with the paint. It doesn’t make sense in all cases, but today we’re going to look at something similar but different.

We’re looking at an example of masonry painted on top of an actual masonry wall, but it looks very interesting. Appreciation for art is very subjective, and not all people will agree with each other on what looks good and what doesn’t look good. The example we’re looking at today though required a significant amount of work and talent. In the picture below you can see an example of what appears to be an ashlar masonry column on top of a granite plinth. It’s actually just a painting though.

From a distance, the vaulted and and or coffered ceiling shown in the picture below appears to be real. The archway openings, also appear to be real, but they’re all fake. It’s all just a painting on the side of a relatively flat wall.

In some parts of the wall you can see reflected areas of light. These areas of light are like beams that are concentrated or focused on relatively small areas. Those spots of light come from the reflection of the windows of a neighboring building. The reflected light is being focused back across the street from one building to the next. If you look closely though, even if you believe the illustration, you can tell that it’s not real because of the pattern of this reflected light. The reflected light would take a different shape when hitting different parts of a building.

For example, at the depiction of the coffered masonry ceiling or the vaulted ceiling, the light would spread across that surface differently if it were at a different planar context to the reflected light from the adjacent building. This is one of the signs that the faux painting isn’t real. We can also tell because we had the opportunity to be there in person, but if you just look at the pictures, the painting is so good it could almost deceive the eye.

The next picture below shows an area where they painted Roman arches.

Here in the next picture below, you can see an area where they painted a floor system. It looks like a stone or masonry floor in a rectilinear form, essentially with actual masonry but at a terrace or floor system.

The next picture below shows an area where they’ve painted archways and openings that are clear to show the background through the facade.  The actual building itself might be impressive in other ways, but the scene depicted does look beautiful.

We can Help

Our company focuses on historic restoration more than modern building upkeep, maintenance, and construction, but our company understands both types of construction very well and a full picture well-rounded approach is needed in any niche in the construction industry.  Although we focus on historic restoration, repointing, tuckpointing and historic brick repair, our company also has technical knowledge and competencies in the areas of modern and contemporary construction as well as we become one of the leaders in that area of the market today.  Understanding both historic and modern or contemporary construction is useful because both aspects help understand the challenges and potential solutions for challenges in building science and construction.

We can help with a variety of historic masonry restoration needs and upkeep, from modest tuckpointing and or repointing to complicated and extensive historic masonry restoration. Infinity Design Solutions is a historic restoration specialist contractor specializing in both historic masonry restoration such as tuckpointing our repointing, and brick repair.  If you have questions about the architectural details or facade of your historic building in Washington DC, reach out and say hello and if we can help we’ll be glad to assist you.  You can email us or call us on the telephone at the following link: contact us here.