Faux Finishing - valspar venetian plaster

I recently bought Valspar Venetian Plaster for my family room walls. Can anyone explain how to apply it? The brochure suggests using a trowel, but the person who sold it to me said to use a roller first. Thanks.

I'm not a huge fan, but its usable. You can roll the first coat on, which will put some texture on the wall. The biggest problem people have with synthetic vp's from the big box stores is that they don't have the walls properly prepped. YOu can't do a shiny vp on an uneven surface w/o every problem on the wall telegraphing through. If you roll on your first coat of vp (or use a texture paint on the first coat) you end up with a more randomly uneven surface so that the bad spots don't show up as much.

The valspar is thin and goopy, unlike other synthetic products. It applies a lot like thick goopy paint. Keep your layers thin, or it will crack.

Thanks for your info.