We hope this site will assist you in finding the information you desire to achieve your goals in the wonderful field of faux painting and decorative finishing. Whether you are an aspiring faux painting artisan just starting out or a practicing professional artisan wanting to advance your skills to the next level... we offer you the finest faux painting classes, workshops and studio in the world!

The Faux Finish School® was the first faux painting business program in the country that taught not only faux painting, but also the "business" side of this lucrative career. In 1995, The Faux Finish School's website was created and became the first faux painting studio and faux finishing school on the Internet. Today,The Faux Finish School® and its website have become the "model" for the faux painting industry.

Our site is divided into five sections to help make your visit an enjoyable experience. Feel free to click on any of the sections above to be taken directly to your chosen destination. Or continue to read the outline below which includes descriptions of each section you will be visiting .........

The Faux Finish School offers several decorative painting classes and workshops catered to your specific needs. Below you will find a few of the faux painting, mural, stenciling classes and workshops currently scheduled.

For a complete listing of our workshops....
CLICK:

to view all of the current classes.

All of our instructors are full-time, practicing finishers in the faux painting field. This experience in unparalleled in any other faux finishing program. This practical knowledge is transferred in the classroom in every workshop. Our staff has collectively over 75 years experience decorative finishing!

The Polished Portfolio - Art and Business of Faux Finishing for the 21st Century
Today’s the time to make a positive commitment and investment in building a lucrative design and faux finishing career.
This is a five day intensive decorative painting workshop teaching not only faux painting techniques, but also the business aspects of this lucrative career. This class is designed for those starting this business as well as self-taught and seasoned finishers!
25 of the most incredible finishes you have seen!
This is our most popular workshop giving students the motivation and business tactics to become successful faux painters!
View this faux painting workshop...

Our advanced class, "Designer Wall Finishes WorkshopTM is designed with the professional faux finisher in mind. We deem a professional faux finisher as one that is a practicing artisan, established, working in the field, and has a good clientele base. This workshop is not for the beginner. This is a five-day intensive advanced workshop of multi-layered designer wall faux finishes. Students will complete 20 - 25 different samples to add to their portfolio.

 Reactive Series...The Next Level
"The Ultimate Portfolio Enhancer™"
Are you ready to take your portfolio to the next level? Ready to "blow away" other decorative artists and designers?
This is the workshop for you!
These finishes are unlike any ever seen in this industry...
The remarkable characteristics of the Faux Effects® RS™ Series of products render them one-of-a-kind. Their performance and quality will surpass all faux and decorative finishing products you have used in the past. Created by Raymond Sandor, President and CEO of Faux Effects International, Inc., as well as a leading artist, inventor and innovator in the field of faux and decorative finishing, these products are the culmination of 35 years experience in the industry. Taught by Master Decorative Artisan, Martin Alan Hirsch
To view, click: The Ultimate Portfolio Enhancer™

Appetite for Design
"Gourmet Finishes for Walls and More......... "... New!!
Hungry for fresh inspiration?
Eager to tempt clients and designers with a tasty menu of marketable marvelous morsels?
Ready to serve palatable finishes to satisfy finicky palettes and everyone from commoner to connoisseur?
Our instructors' creative juices will really get you cooking, while their product knowledge and active field experience will give you the mad-scientist confidence to mix colors and materials to satisfy every palette.
In this 3 day workshop, students will whip up 12 new delicious dishes ranging from tempting traditions with a twist to seductive sophistications with shimmer and spiceall made with the finest ingredients, including old staples like Aquastone, Palette Deco and Lusterstone, in combination with the latest products from the RS line and Stucco Lux.
You'll leave our kitchen with 12 piping hot treats, a step-by-step cookbook of 24 recipes detailing unique interpretations of each creation, and tips to use up leftovers and improvise to suit every taste and budget.

Our Cabinetry & Furniture class, "European Designer Cabinetry and Furniture Finishes Workshop" The look of hand painted, custom finished furniture and cabinetry is in high demand! Cabinet refinishing is one of the most requested finishes in today’s faux painting market and a lucrative addition to your faux finish portfolio. Students will learn the proper preparation for a variety of surfaces, topcoat/protective options, and be introduced to products and techniques that will accomplish faux finished aged, old world and contemporary finishes. Techniques included are multi-layered faux finishes, chipped paint, crackling, distressing, glazing, creating wood tone finishes on painted surfaces, as well as several paint & stain techniques. Working on actual cabinet and trim samples, students will learn to create professional-quality faux finishes suitable for both new and previously finished cabinetry. Learn how to create to a truly professional finish that will satisfy even the most discriminating clients. .

  Fauxnominal Canvas Creations
"A Faux Finish School Exclusive Workshop".......
Faux finished canvas....For the artistic finisher who wants to broaden their abilities and tap into something inviting and profitable.... Five days of technique, application, theory, rendering and study...In this workshop, we will push to expand your passion for creation and design by working on one-of-a-kind contemporary art pieces and embellishments with unique finishes and applications... 20 pieces....in five days... You will learn to achieve the exact looks and properties needed to complement any interior. These canvases encompass the absolute beauty of the materials and they can be tweeked to exactly what many new construction, residential as well as commercial designers clients can't pass up for that room that didn't get a finish. .
View this workshop...

This biographical section discusses the director of Decorative Finishes Studio and The Faux Finish School, Martin Alan Hirsch.....his background, training and published works. Find out why you should study with Martin Alan Hirsch at Decorative Finishes Studio's Faux Finish School.

A communication section to assist aspiring as well as professional faux finishing artisans and former students with dialog areas concerning all aspects of faux finishing. In our Faux Finishing Public Message Forum, you may leave questions and answers concerning the art and business of faux finishing. Our Chatroom is open 24 hours a day, and is a free service of The Faux Finish School. The Faux Painting Message Forum and Faux Finishing Chatroom are both public, and frequented by artisans from all over the world! There are thousands of questions and answers within this forum.
And, a Guestbook can be found in this section, which we would appreciate you signing with your comments and suggestions after touring our site.

Our Private Student Message Forum is a message board that The Faux Finish School provides to thousands of former students in the business of faux finishing to contact each other concerning faux painting tricks of the trade, working on projects with each other, chatroom topic scheduling, as well as just staying in touch with each other! The Student Message Forum has over 10,000 messages from student to student concerning faux painting.. it is accessed by password only.

This area tours both the exterior as well as interior of the studio. Decorative Finishes Studio boasts a new two-story "Italian villa" fashioned after the great villas in Tuscany, Italy.......complete with faux finished old stone Corinthian columns, Italian plaster archways, engraved stone work, open flame lighting, rusted balcony railings and a walkout veranda! Michelangelo faux renderings have been created in a fresco style on the front of the villa, along with imitations of old, worn wood window frames.

There is not another faux finishing studio like this in the world!