13__Audra shows us how to paint fresco

Audra put up a fresco display on the campus of the University of Arizona, next to boothes from all the other academic departments, which together showcased much of the research at the university during homecoming weekend (Nov 4):



Earlier (Oct 29) she brought her materials to the Sculpture Resource Center to show us how she paints fresco panels. She had taken a class at The Fresco School, and thus did things somewhat differently.

She arrived with two commercial tiles, which fit perfectly in cardboard pizza boxes. She had plastered the rough back side of the tiles the night before, with a thin coat of arriccio (two parts sand, to one part lime):


She also mixed the intoanco the night before, using a little more lime, to make a "fatter" plaster:


She remixed the intonaco plaster:


Troweling the wet intonaco plaster onto the dry arriccio coat:


She applied a thin coat of intonaco, and did not worry about plastering all the way to the edges. She finished applying the plaster at 2:20 PM, and said that she had to wait and hour before painting:


Her selection of earth pigments:


She bought this motar and pestal in Pakistan, and used it to grind the pigments in distilled water. Here she makes "verrocchio" green from yellow ochre and black:


Audra copying her image onto tracing paper:


Incising the image onto the fresco surface. About 3:10, at this point the panel was cool, but firm, leaving no finger prints when touched:


Image pattern in very low relief:


Pouring colors onto a palette:


3:25 PM, started painting:


Sometimes artists mix their colors with lime water, or even add lime to the paint:


Image painted in:


Gonzalo joins to paint the second panel:


Gonzalo uses straight lime to outline a hand:


Working together:


Gonzalo sprays the fresco. Audra pooled water onto the surface of the fresco:


Close up:

Audra finished fresco:


Gonzalo's finished fresco the next day -- it did not crack!