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Many of us are tackling more intricate designs, such as 3-D tile patterns with multiple borders. With patterns like that, there’s no concrete (pardon the pun) stopping point for hand brushing. Expansion joints help create stopping points but outside of that how can we brush large designs without the glaring brush marks?
Over the last couple of years, I’ve written articles on how I use math to break down design layout and my views of color theory. This time, I’m going to share one of the little details that help my projects look amazing — how to properly use a brush.
In a recent article, “Gray Area,” I talked about the significance of knowing the initial color you’re staining on top of, which oftentimes is regular gray concrete. However, many contractors prefer to use an overlay on every project they do. If that’s the case, then it’s the color of the […]
Now that summer is here I’m in full design mode on multiple projects that mostly involve basic tile patterns. Since I’m back in major math mode, I thought I’d share a challenging design project I did a couple of years ago for a client in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Gray seems to be dominating current color schemes for everything. As I’m not a fan, I hope this trend ends soon. Forcing me to work in gray almost makes me turn down jobs. But work is better than being idle so if gray is your prospect’s preferred hue, here are a couple of important points to think about when talking to clients.
Talking to a client about color choices can be difficult. Many times, clients say they want brown, which is about the vaguest statement a client can make. In the last article, we focused on asking if they wanted it to be light or dark. This time we want to know if they want a warm or a cool brown. Warm and cool attributes are very much like lights and darks.
So far, I’ve written a lot about math and my love for it as it is truly my favorite part of my decorative concrete work process. Recently, however, I’ve been getting requests to turn my attention to color, which I think would be a nice change of pace. Let me warn you in advance: If you thought talking math with me was complex, wait until you hear my take on color theory. I can go on for days.
For the first time in this series, I’m basing my article on a current job I just finished. In the last one, I introduced scrollwork as a design element. I was still focused on symmetry and using scrollwork as a larger medallion in a room.
The theory of using the coordinates to plot points can be used anywhere in the room. It doesn’t only have to be about medallions. This is where I ask you to question what a medallion is to you.
One of the most influential theories of math is called the Cartesian coordinates. The adjective, Cartesian, refers to the French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes who published this idea in 1637. Cartesian coordinates are the foundation of analytic geometry.
