frescoes-msg - 10/11/09
Creating frescoes. Fresco being water-based paint on wet plaster. The color sinks in and produces a very pretty and long-lasting painting, which won't disappear until the plaster itself is worn away.
NOTE: See also the files: plaster-msg, Relief-Carvng-art, sculpture-msg, tiles-msg, pottery-msg, tiles-art.
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Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 22:54:10 -0400
From: Margo Lynn Hablutzel <Hablutzel at compuserve.com>
To: A&S List <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: source for pigment
This from Mistress Aidan, C&I Laurel from Calontir
now living in Al-Barran in the Outlands:
--------------- Forwarded Message ---------------
I just got a great catalog in the mail--chock full of "real" pigments,
in quantities from 100g to 1 kilo of ground pigments, at impressive
prices. It is the Sinopia Pigments and Materials catalog, Fall 97. They
also have a website (duh) at http://www.sinopia.com.
This outfit apparently specializes in sales to people who do art
restoration (!) and frescoes, thus the large quantity. They also sell
brushes and various equipment.
Just thought I'd pass this on to any interested illuminator types....
Ms. Aidan
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 12:15:12 -0600
From: Stephanie Cohen <olga at icon-stl.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Fresco
Ted Hewitt wrote:
> I attempted to help my 12 year old son, Edmond, experiment with fresco,
> where water-based pigments are applied to wet plaster. He did a fine
> job, but within a week, the colors faded away.
>
> I am unsure what happened because we did use a pigmented paint, not a dye
> - and we used it a high concentration. Any suggestions?
>
> Edwin, Full-time Idealist, Part-time Realist
> <brogoose at pe.net>
Ok, a correction to my earlier post: "The Artist's Handbook of Materials and
Techniques", Ralph Mayer. I've got the 4th editon, 1981 ISBN 0-670-13666-2.
There's an extensive discussion of fresco materials and process, including history and pigment lists. Yep, there's a *big* chemistry consideration- the final painting surface is slaked lime putty...*really* alkaline! Plaster of Paris is gypsum (calcium sulphate), while slaked lime putty is calcium hydroxide. I wonder if it's also possible that the different chemical properties would prevent getting a true fresco result- I bet that gypsum won't "lock in" the pigments the same way slaked lime does, but act more like the description of secco- painting on the dry plaster wall with water-based pigments ground with a binder, like watercolors or tempera.
Olga
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 18:29:35 +0000 (UT)
From: Sean Winchell <Paladainn at classic.msn.com>
To: SCA-ARTS at UKANS.EDU
Subject: Fresco
Although its not period, and is cheating to a degree, you may want to give the
surface of your canvas a light spraying of white paint from a spray can. This
may spread out through the material, allowing you not so much to paint on the
plaster, as on the white spray paint.
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 17:36:11 -0600
From: rockwallshire at webtv.net (Shared Account)
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Fresco
Regarding Fresco Painting:
My Lord, you will have little success with store bought temepra--which
isn't real tempera paint at all (Try the article I have resident at a
site I am building on illuminated manuscripts; the site is still majorly
under construction but the tempera article is complete, go to
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/2036/index.html and follow
the links for the article if you want an intoductory article on the
differences).
According to _The Craftman's Handbook_ (C. Cennini, translated by D.V.
Thompson and available from Dover), dry pigments were used, some mixed
with a bit of water, but clearly no type of paint containing any type of
binder was used in Fresco. Furthermore, Cennini lists a number of
pigments that won't work in the Fresco method, although there is no way
I can know what pigments your tempera paints were made from; in honesty,
however, I would suspect that they were all products of modern chemistry
and thus not something Cennini would have much to say about, since he's
been dead, lo these many years. Nonetheless, this, too, is something to
consider when asking "What Happened!?" The tempera's pigments may have
been incompatable with the technique. {Here is a list of modern dry
pigments that can be used in fresco painting: all Ochres; the following
Mars colors--red, yellow, orange, violet, brown, black; Venitian Red;
Iron Oxide red; the Umbers; the Siennas; Green Earth; Viridian Green;
Chromium Oxide Green; Ultramarine Blue; Colbalt blue; Cerulean Blue;
Ivory Black; Titanium White. MANY DRY PIGMENTS ARE EXTREMELY
POSIONOUS--DON'T INGEST THEM AND WEAR A FACE MASK WHEN WORKING WITH
THEM!}
Further, an excerpt from _Painter's Dictionary of Materials and
Methods_:
"Nature of Fresco Buono: In this technique, work is done on a wet,
freshly applied lime-plaster wall with pigments that have been ground in
water. The entire chemical reaction is based on the behavior of lime...
[chemisty stuff snipped]... this creates a semitranslucent surface into
which the pigments are bound."
Another educated guess as to what went wrong, then, might be that part
of the problem was the introduction of the cheap, filler junk and large
amount of water that is used to make modern "tempera" into a process
that is supposed to be performed simply with wetted, ground pigment
upon a fairly specific base material--lime-plaster.
I, too, have experimented in fresco with tempera paints. I work with
mentally retarded adults, and, one day, having finished our usual tasks,
I was looking around for something to keep us busy and learning yet not
something that would take major time commitment for me to teach. We had
tempera paints (I knew they were wrong, but this was an experiment!) and
plaster of paris (wrong again)--what we got was a runny mess (wet, thin
paint spreading through wet, goopy, plaster of paris) that broke apart
as soon as it dried. But we had fun, and my friends got exposed to
something new! Our paints did diffuse through the plaster, and the high
liquid content of the paint (used straight from the jar) was certainly a
contributing factor. Any wet on wet technique runs into that danger; the
line between "just enough" and "too much" is pretty thin.
Well, I hope this has been helpful to you, and that i am not just
repeating what someone else has told you, as I haven't finished reading
the thread..... Good luck with your project--if you can't find a source
for dry pigments, let me know, there are a couple of online dealers, but
I don't have the URLs to hand.
Your Servant, Merouda Pendray, writing through the Rockwall account.
-------------------------------
Visit our Web Site!
http://members.tripod.com/~Pendray/rockwall.html
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 10:36:00 EST
From: LRSTCS <LRSTCS at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Fresco Painting and Egg Tempera
Another good book to help with painting frescos is "The Materials and
Techniques of Medieval Painting" by Daniel V. Thompson, another good Dover
book. It was recommended in the Be Not Afraid, class given by Lord Wolfgang at
Penssic this year, I found it very helpful. If you grind your own pigments,
please take Merouda Pendray's safety advice but also wear rubber gloves.
If you don't want to grind your own, there is real egg tempera available in
tubes. This is not the tempera paints you mix with water that you find in the
school supplies. This is in the good gouache and oil paints section, it comes
in a tube just like the good stuff! I noticed it at Pearl art supply in
Atlanta, last time I was in there.
If this is of any use to anyone, I will investigate it further. I don't know
who makes it,(wasn't paying attention, just made a mental note that there is
egg tempera in tiny tubes like gouache) what's in it (preservatives if any),
I'll read the display info,the cost etc., and will be glad to pick a few tubes
and experiment with them and let you know how it works.
I'm a beginning Illumination student-If someone has already checked it out,
let me know if it's worth bothering with.
Lady Magge Reichenberg-Meridies
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 04:32:50 EST
From: <Strappo at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Fresco Painter - introducing myself
"The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques", Ralph Mayer.
This is a very good book. There are few other books, but out of print.
Big libraries have good selection but you have to look for file records
before 1935.
> where water-based pigments are applied to wet plaster. He did a fine
> job, but within a week, the colors faded away.
This happened due to the alkaline action of the lime - should use earth
pigments, ochras and mineral powders. If not sure about the pigment that
you have - test it by mixing with water and lime.
This is a small intro to fresco painting - for more detailed material,
step by step picks, fresco pictures, discussions and workshop go to <A
HREF=3D"www.truefresco.com">http://www.truefresco.com</A>
Affresco ( In English usage, "fresco" ). Painting done on
freshly laid wet plaster with pigments dissolved in lime water. As both dry they become completely integrated. Known as "true" fresco, this technique was most popular from the late thirteenth to the mid-sixteenth centuries.
The common assumption that all mural painting is fresco painting is an
erroneous idea. It is true that one can in fact paint on fresh plaster,
or intonaco, to make a painting in affresco or a fresco. In true fresco the
artist must start applying his colors on the wet (or fresco) intonaco as
soon as it has been prepared and laid on the wall. The colors can thus be
absorbed by the wet plaster. When it dries and hardens, the colors become one with plaster.
Technically speaking the plaster does not "dry" but rather a chemical reaction occurs in which calcium carbonate is formed as a result of carbon dioxide from the air combining with the calcium hydrate in the wet plaster.
Early morning hours. While Ian Hardwick is applying the final "skim"
coat - intonaco, Ilia Anossov is working on mixing right color tones for the
day ahead. This marks the beginning of painting day - giornata. Painting is
the final and most challenging, of course, stage in creation of the fresco.
Before the artist ready to pain several steps should be followed: 1). Full
scale detailed compositional rendering - cartoon should be developed and
pounced tracing made. 2) Color study should be created, it will be used for
mixing right color tones and general color reference. 3) Plaster has to be
prepared a few days in advance (the earlier the better - lime needs time to
"adopt itself to the sand and gain plasticity) in proportion of 8 parts extra
fine sand to 5 parts slaked (pitted) lime or so with the least water
possible. 4) Panel mast have three coats (scratch, brown/rough and float
(arriccio), coat names reflect the grade of sand - coarse, rough, fine) of
plaster put on previously with intervals of 5 days in between the coats or
"wet on wet". 5). It helps to grind the base pigments with water into the
paste in advance storing them in sealed glass jars, this way in the morning
(before the painting begins) will be more time to prepare tone mixes. Try
about 25 different tones. Use freshly ground dry lime mixed with water as
white (pigments mixed with lime and lime mixed for whites can not be saved)
all mixes should be done ONLY with distilled water. 6) I use soft long
bristle brushes of various sizes round and flat. 7) After the final
intonaco is applied it should be left for about 20min to settle.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
Late Morning - Ilia Anossov is working on monochrome under painting. After
preparation is done and freshly laid intonaco had settled it is time to
transfer the cartoon. Tracing from the cartoon pounced along the lines with
needle or pouncing wheel is laid over the plaster and dusted over with
charcoal or simply incised (pressed along the lines) by the opposite end of a
thin brush to provide the base guideline for the painting process. The
under-painting is done with terra verde (green earth pigment) with shadows
enhanced in umber (picture on the right) or with other colors, but remember
in fresco it is not possible to completely paint out a "wrong" color
therefore every tone should be carefully planned. Another thing to remember
is that plaster behaves differently during the day - it will need more water
in the tones at the beginning and the end of the day then in the middle and
do not keep to much paint on the brush - it will result in "blobs" squeeze
it slightly between the fingers before touching the plaster.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
Midday - under-painting is done and Ilia Anossov is beginning to apply
color. Major color values should be painted out first in the same manner as
under-painting - work the entire giornata gradually and keep it balanced,
also plaster will not take to much paint at once, let it "rest" between the
passes of a brush by working on different area. It should be about 25 tone
variations with light and dark with two mid tones in-between of each color.
The best working pigments in fresco are the earth oxides and other mineral
pigments. Some pigments will not work with lime plaster at all - some man
made greens change to yellow as being mixed, so as many other modern day
pigments except the ones that specially formulated for the use with plasters.
Test the colors in advance by mixing little portions of them with lime, also
most of art supply stores should have reference material on traditional
fresco palette.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
The End of the day. Ilia Anossov is finishing the fresco. He is putting the
last touches by picking up the details and accents. The end of the day for
the fresco painter is the most pleasant stage the plaster enters what is
sometimes called "the golden hour" - painting is 3/4 done and plaster is in
it's best stage. Time to finish the detail pickup and blend color tones by
passing over and over with lairs of transparent color at (this stage the
color mixes should be "wet" again). Painter must work fast and precise at
this stage because "golden hour" also means that plaster will soon "lock
up" - stop receiving paint (the paint will change to much lighter opaque tone
as soon a it touches the plaster - that is it put the brush down!). One thing
to remember is that in the next seven or so days following the painting the fresco will be undergoing the curing stage and this is a confidence test for
the Artist. Colors dry at different speed and plaster is naturally
compacted unevenly although it looks flat and perfect changes to white faster in more compacted areas. These are to of many other factors that make color in fresco change into discouraging cacophony for the first few days after the painting is finished. But do not worry in about 7-10 days it will look even more beautiful and just a little lighter then the day it was painted.
for this text with step by step pictures go to
http://www.truefresco.com/technique.html
Fresco Painter
<the end>