The Decorative Finish III

 

Strie

In decorative painting strie is generally a dry brush dragged through a top coat of glaze color in a consistent vertical direction. It is sometimes called striping but there shouldn’t be any effort made to create stripes. It is more an attempt to suggest a texture rather than a pattern. And as in all decorative painting one wants to avoid patterns. It is best to have two persons doing the work... one applying the wet glaze the other dragging the brush from ceiling to floor. One of the most crucial points in the process is the addition of a new wet area next to an area just being finished...you want to avoid creating a color overlap, a darker vertical stripe. This technique works best with oil base paints. As these are no longer made in The USA an alternate method must be found to use with latex paints.

When painting scenery in the theater the strie effect is achieved by dry brushing the top coat of paint onto the painted base color. It is sometimes used for its decorative character and sometimes the dry brush work is used in painting faux bois.

Five or six years ago I would often sit for a spell in Conzatti Park observing the progress of a building under reconstruction on the west side of the park. When it was completed I was astounded to see that it had been given a finish coat of strie. But in this case I think it is not a glaze but a stain...it retains a transparency that only stain provides. Over the years I have been impressed that the building facade has maintained its pristine appearance. The soffit appears to have been color washed for contrast...but I’m not sure but what it is simply a fading top coat.



Oaxaca has a nice mix of older, colonial architecture, almost all of it replacement following the earthquake of ‘33, and modern, the modern having a wonderful interplay of geometric elements, solids and voids. This building is one of my favorites; small but somewhat monumental in the Louis Kahn tradition.

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