Jul 19, 2017 | BLOG, FRESCO
Having made dozens of portable frescoes on panels, I thought it was high time I tackled an actual wall. Fresco is, after all, a mural technique. Brick is the best and my studio building is made of brick. Unfortunately, it means working outside, which is not the best...
May 15, 2017 | BLOG, FRESCO
I had just put the finishing touches onto my fresco self portrait. As the plaster had already dried, I used secco (pigment and casein binder) to correct a few offending features and to add a tasteful floral cardigan. I was pleased with the result. It would be just the...
Apr 10, 2017 | BLOG, FRESCO
. Last winter, I- a Scottish fresco painter, and Carey Mortimer- an English fresco painter, made a trip to Rome, Naples and Pompeii with the intention of examining Roman wall paintings. We are both fascinated by the fine polished technique of this particular era of...
Nov 17, 2016 | BLOG, FRESCO
Sgraffito is an old technique which involves scratching through a layer of lime plaster to reveal a different coloured layer below. It is a bit like scraperboard! It has been used since classical times and was popularised in the 15th and 16th centuries and again...
Mar 23, 2016 | BLOG, FRESCO
For my latest test fresco, I am doing a figure from Piero della Francesca’s Legend of the True Cross. I chose it because I had a good sized copy of it in a library book. I love his pink outfit and how the folds look so complex. Julia talked me through how to build up...
Feb 15, 2016 | BLOG, FRESCO
I have become slightly obsessed with the frescoes at Pompeii and Herculaneum. I have never been there, but have got hold of some books with excellent reproductions. There has been some debate about the techniques they used to get the smooth, polished surface. I won’t...
