Hi everybody as promise a little article about the faux marble. I will show you the different steps, of course there is plenty of different way to do it, but i will show you the one i have learn. I'm not an expert like some, but i've done a few. The technique we'll see is good to match marble with veinings like white marble of Carrara.

We will work on a creamy base of marmorino (2 layers a fresco), to give a certain depth, overlay with several layers of polished stucco regularly veined with a mix of pigments and lime apply with a feather. 

Tools and materials:
-Trapézoidal trowel: its corners are round and the side sharpened it help to don't let any tool trace
-A feather, not to soft if possible
-Marmorino light grey
-Polished stucco white (natural color)
-Mars black pigments with lime's water
-Bee and carnauba wax
-Cotton rug



So let's go, we first have apply an acrylic primer with silicate to let the lime "breath" and give a good grip.
The first layer of marmorino is applied without attention on a thickness about 1mm, the marmorino is tinted a light grey ith a bit of pigment black mars.

Let's wait the first layer of lime to be "amoureuse" (that mean in love in french) i repeat for beginners that means the lime is still fresh but don't stick anymore to fingers. Then apply the second layers with more care. The black stain that you can see are spot of pigments badly diluted but in that case we don't really care, it will even give some more hue to the faux marble.

Of course wait the second layer to be "amoureuse", then polish the marmorino with the trowel, it will the be smooth. The marmorino is ready to receive a first layer of white polished stucco (it's the same composition as marmorino but the marble dust is thinner).

After one or two coats of polished stucco we can draw the first veining of our marble with black mars pigment diluted in lime's water with aid of a feather. After this wait the pigments to dry a bit, polished it, it will tone down a bit the colour and blurred a bit the veining.

The veining's draw must be irregular with a major vein, it must cross irregularly not like a road, it must be some split. When you draw withe feather you must continu the vein as there isn't anymore pigment on the feather; try to draw with a shacking hand in twisting sometimes the feather to thicken the vein. When you have polish the veining apply a layer of polished stucco. 
Repeat this operation a few times, rework a bit your original veining if you want give it some depth, add also some draw. Each Layers and veinig will add depth to your marble.

So lets continu like that, don't forget to polish the pigments to fix it in the lime, and to polish the stucco strongly when each layer are dry enough, it will smooth it and strengthen the color and the hue. When you polish it wait that it doesn't let any trace on the trowel, if some bubble appear let it dry it's the water that come out, don't insist on it you will tear it off, in a few minutes it will be alright.

After having it well polished, let the lime carbonate for the best 3 weeks otherwise 1 week and wax eat with bee wax and carnauba wax with a cotton rug.

I hope you've like it, of course there are plenty of different marble and you will see some very talented people reproducing marble with veins, stone inclusions, a lot of different hue, but i think it's pretty difficult to made it on a big surface and keep a consistency and to be honest you need to have a very good knowledge of marble that i haven't yet.

But sometimes this little tips could make a pretty wall or give a new style to an old furniture or match things with your fireplace... Anyway i think it's always a great feeling to be able to copy a bit the beauty of nature. 


Tell me if you like it, or if you have any suggestion to improve it. That was a first try and i'm pretty happy with it, but i keep in mind that the Carrara's marble is probably one of the easiest to copy. As you can see i've try a grey one it's looking great in reality but not really like marble, but in that case, only solution, try again!!

Et voilà!!!