If you get an impatient feeling of "I wish there were more pics to see, lady!"...do bear with me. I'll likely re-edit several posts and add pics. (I'm new to picasa and a new camera)I promise.
Now, for a lesson on fresco painting(from my basic layman's understanding):
Fresco is from the Italian word affresco, meaning "fresh".
1) The limestone plaster base or support. It's a limestone mixture that must be cured (taking time) a special way. Once the limestone is mixed with water, it's troweled on and smoothed much like drywall putty, but in fresco work a very thick (up to an inch thickness) layer of limestone material is applied. A lot of factors affect the plaster,but mainly heat and humidity. The temperature affects the drying times which affects the rate you paint at. You must keep it misted, so it doesn't dry too rapidly. You're painting WET into WET. That may sound like water color technique, but the end result is not blurry in the way watercolor work dries.
As the fresco artist paints, the limestone mix actually absorbs the paint pigment and a chemical reaction occurs. The paint doesn't just sit on the surface, it becomes ONE with the plaster. To quote Richard Maschal from his book *"Wet Wall Tattoos", he explains "As the lime plaster dries and ages, it gives off a subtle glow. Light doesn't just reflect off the picture as it does with an oil painting. With its own built-in source, a fresco gives off light." This is where the richness, the depth of color occurs.
2) The Paints: these have to be ground and mixed also. Ground and mixed similar to mortar & pestle fashion, folks! Not simply taken out of a tube and applied. You may have to get a color right from one day to the next.. Color shades can change on you, according to different factors. (Imagine painting a deep blue one day and not being able to match it quite right the next day, for instance.)
3) A giornata: The fresco artist can only do so much in a day's time. Remember the plaster must only be applied in segments, or patches, that must not dry out. (if the plaster dries too quickly or an error is made, the plaster has to be chipped out!)Thus, each segment of a day's work is called a "giornata"(in English it sounds like 'jornahtah'). If you know how to look for the daily outlines(giornatas), you can see them. But when a master works, you have to know what you're looking for because they don't stand out like sore thumbs, of course!
4) Transfer technique: The artist first makes both regular-sized studies, and then life-sized sketches of his work onto paper. Either he (or an assistant) punches tiny holes in the outlines of the work to be painted. The punched drawing is hung onto the wall. Transfer powder is applied to the punch lines only. As the drawing is removed, the powder applied to the punched holes remains. The outline is now on the wall and the artist has a reference point to begin painting.
Throughout the years, Ben has had some very dedicated pupils follow him. You'll see some of them in the video. I would have so liked to have been one of them. I could see myself mixing the plaster or the paints, washing out buckets, fetching lunches, doing whatever it took to help. Just to learn and to have any role in helping create works of such calibre would have been more than a thrill for me.
This is hard physically demanding work, folks. It's hours and hours holding your arms in the air, bending your neck UP...long days on end. Not only has he painted flat walls, but he's also painted ceilings or domes as well). Neck, back, shoulder and arms muscles -- all beginning to contract and agonizingly tighten on you, as you go along.
As much as I would love to do fresco painting, my arms would never cooperate. I can keep them in the air for but the briefest amount of time. How Mr. Long did so hour after hour...how Michaelangelo and the other masters did so... It astonishes me what one so motivated will endure for love of such work. You admire them all the more. (Slightly off-topic: I still want to become a masseuse, because I know how debilitating and painful knotted muscles can be).
The story of how Ben learned the intense art of fresco technique from his Italian teacher, Pietro Annigoni, is quite an amusing story in itself. Of which I hope to share, before long.
*pg. 11 in Wet Wall Tattoos: Ben Long and the Art of Fresco by Richard Maschal
Now, for a lesson on fresco painting(from my basic layman's understanding):
Fresco is from the Italian word affresco, meaning "fresh".
1) The limestone plaster base or support. It's a limestone mixture that must be cured (taking time) a special way. Once the limestone is mixed with water, it's troweled on and smoothed much like drywall putty, but in fresco work a very thick (up to an inch thickness) layer of limestone material is applied. A lot of factors affect the plaster,but mainly heat and humidity. The temperature affects the drying times which affects the rate you paint at. You must keep it misted, so it doesn't dry too rapidly. You're painting WET into WET. That may sound like water color technique, but the end result is not blurry in the way watercolor work dries.
As the fresco artist paints, the limestone mix actually absorbs the paint pigment and a chemical reaction occurs. The paint doesn't just sit on the surface, it becomes ONE with the plaster. To quote Richard Maschal from his book *"Wet Wall Tattoos", he explains "As the lime plaster dries and ages, it gives off a subtle glow. Light doesn't just reflect off the picture as it does with an oil painting. With its own built-in source, a fresco gives off light." This is where the richness, the depth of color occurs.
2) The Paints: these have to be ground and mixed also. Ground and mixed similar to mortar & pestle fashion, folks! Not simply taken out of a tube and applied. You may have to get a color right from one day to the next.. Color shades can change on you, according to different factors. (Imagine painting a deep blue one day and not being able to match it quite right the next day, for instance.)
3) A giornata: The fresco artist can only do so much in a day's time. Remember the plaster must only be applied in segments, or patches, that must not dry out. (if the plaster dries too quickly or an error is made, the plaster has to be chipped out!)Thus, each segment of a day's work is called a "giornata"(in English it sounds like 'jornahtah'). If you know how to look for the daily outlines(giornatas), you can see them. But when a master works, you have to know what you're looking for because they don't stand out like sore thumbs, of course!
4) Transfer technique: The artist first makes both regular-sized studies, and then life-sized sketches of his work onto paper. Either he (or an assistant) punches tiny holes in the outlines of the work to be painted. The punched drawing is hung onto the wall. Transfer powder is applied to the punch lines only. As the drawing is removed, the powder applied to the punched holes remains. The outline is now on the wall and the artist has a reference point to begin painting.
This is actual video of Ben Long at work. I became aware this video existed only recently after my trip in May. Thrilling to watch both Mr. Long and his dedicated apprentices at work. (Years ago when I first started to follow Mr. Long's work, the only thing I had were a couple precious magazine articles. Youtube didn't exist at the time. No one was making feature videos of his work, that I was aware of.) This, to me, is like being able to see Michaelangelo at work. Can you imagine if we had the big "M" on youtube video?! So you might begin to see why I'm happy to see a living fresco master at work!
Throughout the years, Ben has had some very dedicated pupils follow him. You'll see some of them in the video. I would have so liked to have been one of them. I could see myself mixing the plaster or the paints, washing out buckets, fetching lunches, doing whatever it took to help. Just to learn and to have any role in helping create works of such calibre would have been more than a thrill for me.
This is hard physically demanding work, folks. It's hours and hours holding your arms in the air, bending your neck UP...long days on end. Not only has he painted flat walls, but he's also painted ceilings or domes as well). Neck, back, shoulder and arms muscles -- all beginning to contract and agonizingly tighten on you, as you go along.
As much as I would love to do fresco painting, my arms would never cooperate. I can keep them in the air for but the briefest amount of time. How Mr. Long did so hour after hour...how Michaelangelo and the other masters did so... It astonishes me what one so motivated will endure for love of such work. You admire them all the more. (Slightly off-topic: I still want to become a masseuse, because I know how debilitating and painful knotted muscles can be).
The story of how Ben learned the intense art of fresco technique from his Italian teacher, Pietro Annigoni, is quite an amusing story in itself. Of which I hope to share, before long.
*pg. 11 in Wet Wall Tattoos: Ben Long and the Art of Fresco by Richard Maschal
No comments:
Post a Comment