During the Renaissance fresco used to be regarded as 'The Mother of All Arts'. Today we understand this as a glamorous statement since the fresco is so grand and we have all these gigantic palaces and cathedrals full of frescos. But at that time the true meaning of the title was that fresco painting requires working with pure pigments and natural elements and it teaches you the understanding of color and relation with itself, understanding of composition and perspective as well as everything else needed in art. Every medium we use today comes from this "simple" pigment and water technique. Then we added other mediums to adapt to other circumstances. But true understanding of color could only come from working with the pure pigment and understanding how it relates to others.
True fresco requires also understanding and mastery of composition, aerial and geometric perspective, all elements separately and in total...and drafting skillsand understanding knowledge of building up volume and shadows with a monochrome under painting (verddaccio), dead layer as in classic oil painting and basically all the structure of artwork and color is in fresco. And it was first. Therefore it is called The Mother of All Arts.
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Taking a particular fresco course does not mean that the artist would be limited to one particular medium. The fresco class sets a foundation for mural painting or event or theatrical backdrop painting related to how to build and treat its composition, how to work with perspective. For example, fresco color technique teaches painters of many other mediums relation of color and how to create pure sound colors as opposed to mud. It lets us understand when you go to the art store you see hundreds of blues available, but few people understand they all come from a few pure colors. Since you are working with pure pigment and water, you must understand the pigment, how to build color, build volume and shadows with color, and using just a few simple colors to accomplish the work of art. Fresco pigment technique teaches not only how to prepare and store the natural earth pigments, but how to match the same pigment like blue how to match the daily work to the next mastery of the pigment understanding of the color relationships next to one another and the planning necessary to create a successful work of art, whether in fresco, oil painting, a mural, abstract work, whatever the medium of choice. Fresco painting gives you the quintessence of free expression because all the preparation work is done ahead, and when you stand before the plaster there is just you, your soul and spirit working it out in a few short hours. There is no time for planning if it is not already there. Consequently no two frescos are alike.
Fresco painting lays the foundation of all the visual painting arts. Stylistic changes in modern art and fashions do not apply to fresco, because fresco is more monumental than these details, but they serve as experiments. When we go through all the struggles of modern times and we achieve some result, and the cultural and political turmoil comes to some resolution, fresco is always on the rise during that period. People by force or understanding adapt a certain concept of the age to fresco painting.
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Our goal is to equip artists to express this age and pass the techniques of fresco and related art forms on to the next, not only as pure art but as a foundation for the professional artists and artisans. And there is definitely a market for fresco today, because people want and deserve to live with art, high art not just visit it in a museum or another country.
iLia ANOSSOV
for commission info go here:
http://iLAdesigns.com
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