Trying Different Texture Mediums

So I moved house recently, well I didn’t exactly move, I sold one place and am waiting on another so all my stuff is in storage. When I put it in storage I thought that it would only be a couple of weeks before I could get it all out again but now it is dragging on longer and it seems that I need my texture paste that is now sat in the back of a container!

Anyway, I thought I would try something different as I couldn’t get hold of my stucco paste that I usually use. I bought some general finishing plaster from Wickes in a 5kg packet – it was in powder form as this seems to be much cheaper than buying readymade plaster. I mixed it up with water and added some PVA to give the flexibility. Although it made a good plaster type paste, it was still a bit grainy. maybe I needed to mix it a bit more to get it smooth, I’m not sure. Anyway, I used it for the base of a painting and it has come out OK, although grainy. It is not what I am used to as I like the smooth stucco and also the stucco gives some nice cracking which I didn’t get with the plaster. I’ve put on a coat of white acrylic paint to cover it but am yet to decide on which colours to use for the painting so will do that in the next few days.

I think next time I will try the ready mixed plaster with some PVA added to see if that comes out smoother. I still don;t expect to get the nice cracking but I really need to find something that I can get in the UK that I am happy to use on an ongoing basis. If not then I will have to see if I can import the stucco from the UAE.