Painting the Fresco- Giornata

Before starting to pain a Fresco, you need to prepare all the tools and colors in advance, as after the paint process is started there are no time for changes. The paint is applied directly to the plaster while it is wet, which is only a 2-4 hour window of opportunity, after which the plaster starts to dry and it gets very difficult to paint. You will need work from the top down and try to do large areas like sky all at once because it’s very difficult to match colors the next day. This process is very difficult because once you apply the paint, it’s there and you can’t make mistakes or correct it afterwards. In fact, paint layers are thin to transparent as with watercolors, so the pigments are added in layers. Colors could also be mixed by doing this.

Only certain types of colors are good for fresco painting. These are chemically stable EARTH ( Terra naturale ) PIGMENTS like terraverde, yellow ochre, red, white, charcoal black. Other pigments would react with air and discolor – lead white turned black over time, azzurite blue turns green. Also by adding firstly light tones and after the dark ones you try to copy the shadows and create a 3 dimensional illusion of the image.

#Fresco #StudyAbroad