How to Effectively Spatter Paint

If you have a room to paint and have children who would love to help, then paint spattering is the perfect solution to make everyone happy. An adult can apply the base and primary coats of paint. Latex paint works best for this kind of work. And then everyone can join in to create the spatters.

First gather your supplies. You will need covers and drop cloths for everything in the room that is not getting painted because this is a very messy process. You will also need painters tape that you apply liberally to ensure you do not run paint where you do not want it to go. That said, the supplies you will need for this job are as follows:

Drop cloth

Painters tape

Latex Paint for the base color

Paint roller and cover with desired nap size

Paint tray

As many medium sized cans of latex paint as you need for the chosen number of splatter colors you will be creating.

Paintbrushes for everyone (fat artist brushes (standard size) work very well for this type of work

Rubber Gloves (optional)

Make sure the wall or surface you are painting has been cleaned and allowed to dry.

Apply the base coat with the paint roller and allow to dry completely.

Apply the top coat with the paint roller and allow to dry completely.

Now you want to gather your artist's paint brushes. To make the spatters you dip the paint brush into a mixture of paint and water that you have mixed together well. You want to have about three parts paint and one part water. This dilutes the paint enough to spatter effectively. You can make the spatters all one color, or as many different colors as you would like. To make large spatters, dip your brush into the mixture, scrape off any excess on the side of your paint tray, and use your finger (you can wear rubber gloves if you wish) to pull back the bristles and briskly let them go while they are aimed at the wall. To make smaller dots let the bristles go more softly. You can also tap two paint brush handles together to let the paint spatter. If you are using different colors, it is best to apply one color of spatters and allow to dry completely before proceeding to the next color. Make sure that you do not concentrate too many spatters in one area. You want the look to be consistent.