I was fortunate to receive a Creative Scotland Open Fund Award to look at how my oil paintings and frescoes influence each other.
In my practice, oil painting has generally allowed for corrections, changes of mind and layering whereas fresco has demanded a more direct approach. During the first six months of 2025, I have endeavoured to allow some cross fertilisation.
The Creative Scotland Open Fund Award has given me the opportunity to work with both oil painting and fresco at the same time, thus keeping an eye on how they influence each other. Previously I have done either one or the other at a time.
One of the main things to come out of this period of research is the use of distemper. This is pigment (and sometimes chalk) mixed with rabbit skin glue, which I paint onto canvas before adding oil paint. It is a direct influence of fresco, but it does not use lime plaster. It has allowed for opaque and translucent areas which can be washed out and layered, adding to the interesting marks in my painting repertoire. This is turn, has led to a more washy approach to my fresco panels with less planning and more layering. I have also used pigment mixed with egg yolk on top of the fresco which has meant that I can change my mind more and invent – something that I felt more restrained with previously as I was going for a more purist buon fresco approach.
Erosion of surface is something else I have been experimenting with in both my oil paintings and my frescoes. Washing out distemper with hot water, scraping back, blotting, mixing oil and water all lead to interesting ghost images which add to the narrative. With fresco, I have also been combining sgraffito (scratching through to black plaster below, collage, graphite and metal leaf to create more worn effects. I have used the technique of strappo to remove frescoes using glue and cloth. This results in some loss of image, although I have not yet transferred them.
Although I have come to the end of my award period, I have by no means come to the end of my research. I expect it will continue for some time to come, resulting in even more cross influence. I would love to try out some of my new-found techniques on a bigger fresco wall painting.
