Several of my friends have asked about my "Fresco" technique. It is quite simple. First you paint or stencil a perfectly good image and then you mostly destroy it.
Stencil or paint image onto surface. Let dry. Mix 10 cups of builder's sand to one box of joint compound. With trowell scrape mixture over stencil, leaving a few spaces "open."
With plastic kitchen scrubber (the orange ball type) remove as much or as little of both the stencil and the joint compound for desired affect.
For best results, scrub hard. The sand helps. To enhance the antique look even further, mix a watery solution of beer and several colorants and apply to area with large natural bristle brush.
I believe that this image appeared in "House Beautiful" magazine, many, many years ago. Not only the stencil but the walls appear to have been treated in a similar technique as described above. Gina
