Decorative technique
Wood graining
Paint used to make common wood resemble more expensive species.
Quick answer
What is wood graining?
Graining is faux wood painting. Artists used brushes, combs or rollers to imitate the grain of expensive woods such as mahogany or rosewood on cheaper local materials, especially doors, moldings, baseboards and furnishings.
Process
How the technique works
- 1.A base coat establishes the underlying wood tone.
- 2.Combs, rollers or brushes drag darker pigment into grain patterns.
- 3.Glazes and highlights increase the illusion of depth.
Field guide
What to look for in a church
- Painted grain that repeats more regularly than natural wood
- Dark faux-wood doors or moldings
- Decorative wood effects on inexpensive pine or cedar
Documented examples
Churches connected to this technique
Texas decorative-painting literature documents this technique, but Texas Defined has not yet assigned it to an individual verified church without church-specific evidence.
Source evidence
Why Texas Defined uses this definition
Technique definitions are grounded in a named decorative-painting source. Church relationships are a separate evidence claim and are withheld when a specific attribution is not strong enough.
Austin PBS — Decorative Painting TechniquesRelated techniques