How to Tole Paint a House

Base coat a plaque or other object with a coat of primer or paint. The base coat should seal any pores in the object and make the item a uniform color. Use a paintbrush to apply the primer or paint. Allow the paint to dry for 24 hours so that it can harden before you paint over it with wet paints.

Draw the house onto the plaque using a pencil. Draw in all the house details that you want to paint. For straight lines, cut and press quilter's tape to the line. Rub along the edge of the tape so paint cannot seep under the edge while you paint. Tape off any straight edges.

Mix acrylic paints on a palette. Use a waxy-coated paper-style palette pad designed for artist acrylic paint. Spray water onto the pad several times to make different sized water droplets. Place your brush touching a water droplet to soakk up the water in the drop. This technique is used to add just the amount of water to the brush and paint as you desire.

Load the brush with paint. With tole painting, the artist will often create gradations of color by using more paint on one end of the brush and less or another color on the other end. This creates a blending of the paint as it leaves the brush. Practice the technique on scrap paper before painting directly onto the plaque.

Use a flat acrylic paint brush for painting along the edges of the tape and in areas where you want good control of the paint and brush in straight-line conditions. Mix the paint on the palette and attempt to create the paint coverage effect you desire in a single stroke of the brush. Move the brush along the edge of a design, like a door or window on the house, allowing the brush to look like siding or house trim with a shadow on the dark end of the paint and highlights on the light end of the paint.

Paint your siding first, followed by chimneys, roofs and foundations. Use a makeup sponge to soften edges and pick up extra paint. Add your window and doorway trims, fascia boards, shutters or other decorative trim pieces after the siding is dry. Finish with painting details in the windows, like flower boxes, curtains, glass, door knockers, door handles and other details. Paint intricate details, like porch railings and posts, front steps and landscaping, after the main body of the house has been painted.

Go over your painting with a small detail brush. Add in rocking chairs, rugs, a cat or dog, wind chimes, flower pots or anything else you want on the porch or visible through the railings. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly. Create a thin wash of gray. Use a wide flat brush to paint in porch shadows, fascia shadows, shrub shadows, railing shadows or any visible shadows. Your shadow layer should be transparent. The idea is to hint at the shadow, not make it really dark.